Thank you for inviting me along today and for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself to you as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the new Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Regardless of their background or circumstances, every child has the right to a good education. Every child has the right to be safe. And every child has the right to be cared for.

I know that the NSPCC is passionately committed to that cause and I want to thank you for your hard work on behalf of children and young people.

Through the great range of work that you do – including your helplines, online counselling service, training and consultancy, your campaigning, and work with Local Safeguarding Children Boards, NSPCC helps to protect thousands of children every day.

Your is work that our new department is passionately committed to, and I’m pleased to have this opportunity to be part of it.

I hope that you will see our new department as a signal of the government’s commitment to improve the lives of children and young people.

Our basic goal is to help every child to achieve their full potential. Not just with a focus on schools and educational attainment, but by ensuring that every child is safe, healthy, happy, and has an equal opportunity to prosper.

It is, as our Secretary of State Ed Balls has put it, the ‘Every Child Matters department’.

I am happy to confirm that those commitments are reflected in the new Government Public Service Agreements announced last week – six out of 30 will be for my department to coordinate.

Building on the reforms and successes of the last decade, those new agreements aim to secure the wellbeing and health of children and young people, achieve world class standards in education, close the achievement gap between disadvantaged children and the rest, help children to achieve their full potential, and keep them on the path to success.

I’m particularly pleased to confirm that we have been able to set out for the first time in a Public Service Agreement our priority of improving children and young people’s safety.  This will be a focus on making progress, and measuring progress, across Government towards keeping children safe. It’s something I know the NSPCC has been calling for over several years and in fact some research the Government commissioned from the NSPCC last year helped us to pave the way for the Public Service Agreement.

So the new direction is set. And we must continue the excellent partnership-working that already exists between NSPCC colleagues, local authorities, and the staff in my department, to deliver right across the board for children.

I want to briefly outline some ways in which I think we can work together, to improve the lives of children, young people and families.

The first is to empower children and families, and make sure that their voices and concerns are heard.

We want children to have a higher profile in government, and have the opportunity to have a say in decisions that affect them.

In September, the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State launched a national debate – Time To Talk – about how we can improve children’s services over the next ten years. 

We want to tap directly into the experience and expertise of children, young people, parents and the professionals who work with them to find out what they see as the big issues that need to be addressed.

Those views will feed directly into the development of the Children’s Plan, which will define how we will continue to improve children’s services, and ensure that every child has the chance to fulfil their potential.

We are seeking the views of young people, parents and professionals on the specific issues of safeguarding in our ‘Staying Safe’ consultation, which is running until the end of this month. Again, those views will feed in to future policy development as we look to publish our Staying Safe Action Plan.

In launching our consultation we have been very keen to improve the quality of the debate about the risks facing children. The Secretary of State has said we don’t want to wrap children up in cotton wool. I echo that sentiment. It is imperative that in our desire to keep children safe we don’t stifle childhood.

At the same time we know the threat of harm does exist, and we must ensure that our safeguarding systems are rigorous, and that the professionals working with children receive training of the highest quality and pose children no harm.

And we must offer parents and children advice, guidance and support, directly through resources like the NSPCC helplines, and through schools and children’s services.

The Government is fully committed to supporting those vital services, and as I said before, that support is reflected in the excellent partnership working between NSPCC colleagues, local authorities, officials in my department, and right across government.

Demand for those services is high. I know that between 1^st March and 31^st May this year ChildLine counselled 42,632 children. We want to extend that work even further.

We are backing those support channels with £30 million over the next 4 years, to build on the excellent work that you are doing, to modernise the way the services are delivered, and to enable those services to reach out to even more children and young people who turn to them for help.

With the right information and advice, we can equip children and parents to take responsibility for their safety, and make the right choices.

But, sadly, there are always children who are more vulnerable than the rest; who are disadvantaged by poverty, social exclusion, or are unable to be cared for by their own families.

The second way we must work together, is with a relentless focus on those groups, to ensure that they get the same opportunities and support as the rest.

You will know, through the work that you do, how often it is the case that those who need our help most are the most difficult to reach.

But our aim should be that no child is left without proper care and the chance to achieve their aspirations.

I want institutions which care for children and young people to be the best of parents. I want leaders of local authorities, children’s services directors, and government ministers to care as much about the exam results of children in care as they would about their own children’s achievements.

Children in care are five times less likely to achieve 5 good GCSEs, and eight times more likely to be excluded from school; less likely to progress into higher education, and more likely to end up in prison.

It is our moral responsibility to do something to change that.

Our children in care white paper – Care Matters – outlined a vision to do just that.

And we are seeking the earliest possible opportunity to introduce new legislation concerning these young people in and around care.

Next month we introduce a bill which will increase placement stability and quality, and the educational experiences of those in care.

It will ensure that local authorities maintain effective contact with children in care by extending the duty for social workers to visit children placed in children’s homes and those in youth custody. We will also ensure appropriate and continuing supervision of children in long term residential placements.

This will help to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place and provide a mechanism to respond to the individual needs of children in care.

And the Bill will make ‘independent visitors’ available to a wider group of looked after children than those out of touch with their birth families (particularly those who are placed at a distance from their home or are in residential care).  Independent visitors offer children a means of accessing advice and support from someone outside of the system in which they are cared for.

We will also pilot new social work practices to see if we can improve services to children and young people in care.

At the same time we will be acting to implement the broader recommendations in the white paper – designed to improve stability for children in care and leaving care – including educational allowances and Child Trust Fund payments.

We also face the challenge and opportunity of implementing the Safeguarding and Vulnerable Groups Act and the new Vetting and Barring scheme to safeguard children.

I recognise the scale of the challenges we face, and I also recognise that as a government we need partners to tackle those challenges.

Every single member of society, whatever our role as citizens, parents, professionals and volunteers – must help to safeguard our children.

It’s not an easy job, but it is an essential one.

I look forward to working with you in the future to make that a reality. Thank you.