§ 5. Ms Hazel Blears (Salford)What plans she has to ensure that initiatives to tackle social exclusion work together to integrate their activity with mainstream programmes. [120438]
§ The Minister for the Cabinet Office (Marjorie Mowlam)The targets contained in the social exclusion unit's reports on rough sleeping, school exclusion and truancy and teenage pregnancy are included in the relevant Departments' public service agreements. That means that the targets will form an integral part of the mainstream business of each Department. The framework consultation document on the national strategy for neighbourhood renewal proposes that core public services, such as schools, police and health services, should be the Government's main weapon against deprivation.
§ Ms BlearsI am grateful for that reply, but is my right hon. Friend aware that, in Salford, we have an education action zone, a health action zone, a single regeneration budget programme and the sure start initiative, all of which tackle social exclusion? That can mean that families in crisis are visited by a health visitor, a welfare rights officer, a housing officer and a social worker. One of our ideas is that multi-skilled workers should carry out that range of tasks so that families in difficulty have a single worker who is their advocate and ambassador, helping to improve their lives and ensuring that all the initiatives work for them.
§ Marjorie MowlamI thank my hon. Friend for that example. Many local authorities choose different mechanisms to deliver the policies that now exist for them to implement in their communities. We have cited Salford as an example of good practice, but other authorities use different mechanisms more suited to their communities. We are doing our best nationally to join up the policy targets as well as ensuring that the money available from different Departments goes down to local areas in one go. I am sure that that will make a difference.
On regeneration, some communities and local authorities have community focus and leadership. I firmly believe that there must be a buy-in from the community if those programmes are to work. In communities where that is not happening, we are trying, through the national strategy for neighbourhood renewal, to spread good practice, encourage leadership and make progress in all local communities.