Background
In March 2022 the Ofsted inspector’s rating of Children’s Services was: ‘needs improvement’. Children’s Services in York have been in decline since 2016. According to statistics released by the End Child Poverty Coalition, 4,188 children in York Central and 2,374 children in York Outer are now considered to be living in poverty. We have above-average levels of self harm amongst 10-20s in York compared to the rest of the UK Funding is cut to the bone and we are really concerned about the ability of parents who have children with special educational needs and disabilities to be able to access support.
Pledge – Ensure every primary school child gets a free school meal.
Labour will lead a council that cares in a crisis.
We’ll ensure every primary school child in York gets a free school meal.
We’ll build a community fund supported by key institutions and employers across the city.
The council will act as the lead co-ordinator and a financial contributor.
We will be the ‘corporate parents’ that York children need us to be: children who have experienced care have been let down in York:
• We’ll commission early intervention services for children at risk.
• We’ll offer council tax exemption up to age 25 for young people that have experienced living in care.
Labour will support our most vulnerable children – too many are overlooked:
• We’ll commission services to support children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
• We’ll invest in fostering services, adoption and kinship care.
We’ll make our City the family-friendly place we know it should be:
• We’ll provide experiences, places and spaces across the city for kids and teens to do the things they enjoy, designed by them and for them, and provide relevant advice and information on mental health and wellbeing.
• We’ll work to provide concessionary fares up to age 25 on local buses.
• We’ll work with city-wide providers to co-ordinate the youth provision across the city.
We’ll support our schools to support our young people:
• We’ll establish a new Kitemark scheme for schools to celebrate achievements across the whole curriculum.
• We’ll invest in links between schools and social workers. • We’ll fight for better funding for York schools and colleges.
• We’ll lobby hard for increased amenities and services for young people to help with their mental health and wellbeing.
We want more of this for York! Young Thugs is a recording studio, record label & promotor with community at its heart. In 2019 they set up a community interest company. We want to support more initiatives like this in York for young people to access culture & have fun!
