What was your own childhood like?
I was born in Bristol and attended the local secondary modern school. I failed my 11 plus and I suppose in a sense that’s given me a passion to ensure that all children have the opportunity to do their best. I’ve always had concerns about a system that separates and selects children at the age of 11, because there’s plenty of evidence around that children who went to secondary modern school had enormous potential but did not show it at that time. Children show potential at different ages and so.I have an abiding interest in an inclusive approach to education which encourages all children to reach their potential.

Did you go on to Further Education?
I came to education late and took my Open University degree in my late twenties when I had a young family, so I’ve never been full time at university but I enjoyed the experience. It’s opened lots of opportunities for me I would never have experienced otherwise, so that’s why I think Lifelong Learning and the opportunities for people to return to learning are really important.

When did you move to Wakefield?
I applied for a job here in 1996 and moved with my wife, two children, a dog and a horse, which was quite an upheaval! We settled here very happily and now consider ourselves to be honorary Yorkshire people.

How did you become involved in local government?
I left school at 16 and joined the Co-op bank. I worked there for 18 months before I came into local Government and have been in local Government ever since. I started off in the Transport & Cleansing Department, so I know a bit about clearing drains and collecting refuse! I then moved into the Education Department and have worked in all major parts of the service. I have also lectured in a college of Further Education.

There are a lot of changes that the Government are putting through at the moment relating to children and young people. Can you tell us the background to this?
In 2004, the Government published Every Child Matters, the national framework for building services around the needs of children and young people. Every Child Matters followed the Children Act 2004 and provided the basis for all the changes that the Government are making, and they are now implementing the Change for Children Agenda. There are quite a number of dimensions to the Children Act, one of the most important being for Early Years and Childcare and the development of Sure Start Children’s Centres. Another important part of it is about all the agencies working together and putting the child at the centre. Along side that are a number of other initiatives. One is the Youth Matters Green Paper, which is about support for youngsters aged 13 to 19. Another is the Child Care Bill, that’s going through Parliament at the moment, which is a long term programme of providing universal childcare for young people and implementing a programme of Extended Schools, to ensure schools of the future provide a much wider range of services for their community.

What are the aims and outcomes of Every Child Matters?
Every Child Matters: Change for Children is a new approach to the well being of children and young people from birth to nineteen. What has happened historically is that different services have developed, each with their own agenda. There have been assessments for physiotherapy, education and social work for individual children, that have all happened independently and with independent solutions for the children and family needs. As a result of the changes now under way, all services for children and families will work much more closely together within a common assessment framework, which means that families with children in need will receive just the one initial assessment.
There are five outcomes that we want to see:
• To ensure that children are safe in their community.
• To ensure children to have healthy lifestyles.
• To enjoy and achieve and to have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of leisure time opportunities
• To make a positive contribution towards society and
• To achieve economic well being and be independent and successful economically, regardless of their circumstances or background.

Who are the other Partners that are involved?
Principally, it revolves around health, education and social services but there are other partners involved, including the police and the youth justice services. The voluntary sector, particularly agencies concerned with children, including organisations such as Barnardos, Pre-School Learning Alliance and Home Start will play a particularly important part in delivering services. There are also services that are aligned to the local authority, like our youth services, and agencies such as housing services and the parks service which impact on children and families. We have good social services, educational services and health services but they don’t always work together and one of the tragedies is that you will find strong evidence nationally that those agencies don’t co-ordinate their work effectively enough, although they all work hard to support children. That’s what we can do better and with the Children Act and the change for children in general in Wakefield, we are confident that we will achieve that. Then along side that, there is the Children’s Centre agenda and the Early Years agenda.

Tell us about the Children’s Centre and Early Years agenda?
The Children’s Centres and Sure Start programmes are about providing help to parents and families from the very earliest days, before the child is born and working with mothers and fathers through the antenatal and post natal process so that they get the help and support they need and want. If a child has special educational needs for instance, they can get additional specialist support and advice. Alongside that, we have the Childcare Bill.

What is the Childcare Bill?
The Childcare Bill proposes that by 2010, we will provide universal childcare for all parents who need it. There are two principal reasons for this. Firstly, that we can give children the social interaction that is so important right from the earliest stages and also to enable parents, the opportunity to return to work or to have time to meet with other parents, because parents can become very isolated.

Are you building new centres that will be able to encompass all those services?
We hope to have twelve Children’s Centres in the Wakefield District by 2006 and twenty one by 2008. The centres will be for 0 – 5 year olds and their parents, and will provide education and childcare at a single location wherever possible. We’ve invested very significantly in development of our Sure Start Centres and also a number of schools which are going to be Children’s Centres. Not all parents will want to access something that they see as a local authoritybuilding, so a strong feature of what we’re doing is providing outreach to places where parents, young mothers and families go, so we can talk to them on their own grounds. We will also be providing the extended Schools programme, which is expanding the range of services that are offered through schools.

Tell us a little more about the Extended Schools Programme
The Child Care bill proposes that by 2010, every secondary school will be open between 8 in the morning and 6 in the evening for 50 weeks of the year and in doing so will be opening up the school premises to the community as well. Extended Schools are therefore well placed for the delivery of a wide range of services within Every Child Matters: Change for Children programmes. Extended Schools recognise that they need to work with others to improve outcomes for children and young people, their families and communities. Of course, it will be important to ensure that the primary aim of our schools, to raise the achievement of all of their pupils, is not compromised by the changes ahead.

What would your message be to parents in Wakefield about the way that education is moving forward?
We have many excellent schools and not only are we keen on raising the attainment of all children, we are very inclusive, and have a system in Wakefield where virtually all the children who live within the District are able to access good quality local provision. We now have a new Director of Children’s Services in place and so are well placed to ensure we put the needs of all children at the centre of our agenda.

What are your own aspirations as far as education and your own future are concerned?
At long last we have the opportunity in this country to join up services in imaginative and exciting ways and I am looking forward to playing a part in ensuring all children and young people within the District have the opportunity to reach their potential.