§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the key priorities are for the Social Exclusion Unit in the next 12 months. [14880]
§ Mrs. RocheThe Social Exclusion Unit has three key priorities for the next 12 months. The first of these is to deliver four new reports on areas of cross-cutting work to address issues of social exclusion. These areas are: reducing the rates of re-offending among ex-prisoners; developing a more effective system to prevent young people from running away and to help those that do; improving the educational achievement of children in care; and removing the transport barriers that prevent people accessing work and critical services.
The Social Exclusion Unit's second priority is to work closely with the implementation units in other Government Departments to ensure that there is effective implementation of previous work carried out by the unit. This relates to projects carried out on rough sleepers, school exclusions and truancy, providing opportunities for 16 to 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training, and the national strategy for neighbourhood renewal. To support this work the Social Exclusion Unit will communicate with members of the public, the voluntary and the business sector, local government and key professionals regarding the Government's policies on social exclusion and ensure that they receive accurate, up to date information about the work of the unit.
The third priority for the Social Exclusion Unit over the next 12 months is to plan to deliver new areas of cross-cutting work to address specific issues of social exclusion as directed by the Prime Minister.