The East Sussex Children and Young People's Plan – What do you think?

Improving outcomes for children and young people in East Sussex

Read through our key priorities below and then answer the questionnaire online, or print off a copy of the questionnaire.

In East Sussex, all agencies that work with children and young people are part of Children's Trust arrangements. Together, we want to make East Sussex a really good place to grow up in and to improve outcomes for all children and young people. We know that everyone who works with children and young people, or on services which affect them, wants the same. We would really like to hear your views about what needs to happen to make our aims a reality.

Children and Young People's Plan for 2006 to 2008

In March 2006 we published the first Children and Young People's Plan for East Sussex. It sets out the actions that all agencies that work with children and young people in East Sussex will take to make life better for children and young people them. The plan is a two year plan and it is nearing the end of its term.

Children and Young People's Plan for 2008 to 2011

We are now preparing a new plan for 2008-2011. We would like to hear your views about whether we have identified the right priority areas for children and young people across the county, and if there are any area-specific issues that we have missed. The priority areas are arranged under six headings and are detailed on the following page. These are not the only things we will be working on over the next few years, but they are some of our most significant challenges.

We have drafted these headline priorities based on feedback we have received from various consultations with a range of people, and through our analysis of data about outcomes for children and young people in East Sussex.

In developing the plan, we will also be talking to children and young people, their families and other agencies that provide services for them to find out what they think. We will use everyone's feedback to help us write the Children and Young People's Plan for 2008-2011 and to inform the way we work over the next few years. We will publish the plan on the Children's Trust Express website in June 2008.

We want to know what you think

If you have comments about the priorities, or about issues in your local area, please complete this form and send it to us by the end of term four - Wednesday 2 April 2008 .

To talk to us about this consultation, please call Penny Beynon on 01273 335342 or Diana Francombe on 01273 481902.

Our suggested county-wide priorities for children and young people 2008-2011

Be healthy

We want children and young people to live free from the avoidable causes of poor health and unhappiness.

a. Promote good physical and mental health for children & and young people enabling them to make healthy lifestyle choices & and avoid risky behaviour, such as excessive alcohol consumption.

b. Reduce the teenage conception rates among young people under 18 years of age.

Stay safe

We want to keep Keeping children and young people safe is a key priority.

c. Identify problems early and take action to prevent harm to children and young people.

d. Offer more help to families by increasing the range of family support services.

e. Reduce the incidence of bullying experienced by children and young people.

Enjoy and achieve

We want all children and young people to achieve their potential and enjoy their time in education.

f. Increase take up of early years nursery education places in our most deprived neighbourhoods.

g. Raise educational achievement and aspirations at all key stages for children of all abilities, and reduce the attainment gap for children and young people from vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds.

h. Increase the percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs at A*-C or equivalent including English and mathematics with a particular focus on Hastings and Eastbourne.

i. Increase the range of choices for vocational and educational learning opportunities in order to encourage young people to stay in education, employment and training.

j. Provide more positive activities and experiences for children and young people, including more opportunities for those with learning difficulties and disabilities to participate in and out of school.

Economic wellbeing

We want all young people to stay in education, employment and training until they are at least 18 years old. When they leave school we want them to have the skills they need to prosper.

k. Reduce the proportion of 16-18 year olds who are Not in Education Employment or Training (NEET) with a particular focus on reducing the number of children and young people who are NEET in Newhaven, Eastbourne and Hastings.

We want all children and families to live in suitable accommodation.

l. Prevent and respond appropriately to youth homelessness.

Make a positive contribution

The majority of young people are not involved in criminal activities but we want to reduce the harm caused by youth crime to those who are victims and to youth offenders themselves.

m. Reduce anti-social behaviour as measured in the perception survey.

n. Reduce the number of first time entrants to the criminal justice system.

Overarching priorities

We want all the services for children and young people to be delivered in a fair and co-ordinated way.

o. Improve the way we work together through the Children's Trust arrangements, including agreeing joint policies and clear structures to drive integration.

p. Ensure equal access to services.

q. Increase the participation of children and young people in East Sussex in decisions that affect them.

r. Develop a world - class workforce providing services for children and young people.

s. Improve access to information, advice and guidance.

Go straight to the questionnaire