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Children and Young people

Children and young people make up around 23% of the population of East Sussex. Much has been done to improve their quality of life with many significant achievements, but child poverty, low educational attainment and low aspirations remain in parts of the county. Children and young people are our future so we must ensure that they not only have access to education, leisure, transport and other services they need, but are also engaged in planning the future and enabled to flourish and reach their potential.

Our priority is to ensure children and young people are well cared for, have healthy life styles, achieve their potential, and grow into confident, empowered, responsible adults – able to contribute to the economic prosperity of the county.

Our key tasks are to:

  • Improve access to services, especially in rural areas.
  • Help children and young people to make healthy lifestyle choices and reduce health inequalities.
  • Reduce teenage conception rates across the county.
  • Protect children and young people from harm.
  • Reduce bullying towards children and young people wherever it occurs.
  • Improve support to children and young people on the edge of care, especially vulnerable teenagers.
  • Establish integrated services for children under 5 and their families through a network of children’s centres and increase take up and quality of early years education.
  • Provide positive activities for children and young people and to increase opportunities for children and young people to be involved and participate in decisions which affect them and their communities.
  • Tackle youth homelessness, and provide better housing and housing related support for young people.
  • Reduce child poverty by 2011 and eradicate it by 2020.
  • Raising the aspirations, confidence and motivation of families and communities as well as individual children and young people.