Our response to the House of Lords COVID-19 Committee’s letter to the Minister for Children and Families
News article from June 24, 2021
On Wednesday 23 June the House of Lords COVID-19 Committee sent a letter to the Minister for Children and Families, Vicky Ford MP, addressing concerns about the long-term impact of the pandemic on parents and families.
This followed an inquiry with a number of organisations working with children and families – including School-Home Support.
Our response
Our Chief Executive, Jaine Stannard, said: “We were very appreciative that we had the opportunity to provide evidence to the House of Lords COVID-19 Committee. It is great to see that the concerns raised have now been addressed in this letter to the Minister for Children and Families.
“In particular we were very glad to see that the Committee raised concerns about local authority children’s services and third sector organisations not having the resources required to respond to the increase in need. It is very welcomed that the Committee advised that the Government should work with local authorities to identify and provide additional funding for children’s services that will be required as a result of the pandemic, both in the next 12 months and in the next two to five years.
“As said in our submission, in order to successfully close the attainment gap, we need to look at what has been going on at home. We have almost 40 years of experience listening to children, young people, families and carers. From this we have learnt that the emotional wellbeing of not only the child but also the family needs to be met and supported in order for the child to focus on their learning. In doing so, we will enable families to emerge from this pandemic stronger.”