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Kids will
benefit from budget
• I am delighted that this year Camden Council’s budget
will deliver significant investment for children and families
in Camden. This money will help support some of the most vulnerable
families in the borough – to the benefit of the whole community
- as well as delivering a cash boost for the many universal
children’s services Labour Camden provides.
An extra £200 000 this year is the final installment in
a £1.8 million programme which means that every child
under four in Camden and their parents can now access SureStart
services wherever they live in the borough. We know the difference
that these services can make to a child’s ability to develop
and flourish, whilst parents testify to the improvements to
the life of the whole family as a result of SureStart.
An extra £170K will mean we are able to continue our popular
‘Families in Focus’ projects.
We want to ensure that the money we invest delivers results
and are delighted that more than 50 per cent of the young people
referred to the project because of anti-social behaviour are
no longer getting into trouble – results which benefits
the whole community.
The budget will also enable us to offer help to families, often
with very complex needs, at an earlier stage. Although this
work will only affect a small number of people directly, the
impact of these sorts of difficult home circumstances can blight
the lives of individuals well into adulthood and may well be
felt by the whole community in the longer term.
Finally, the issue of youth provision has rightly been a subject
of much debate recently and extra investment means we can continue
the successful kids clubs on estates across the borough. In
addition – this year we are delighted to have a specific
pot of money which young people will be able to use to provide
the sort of activities they want – a really exciting opportunity
for young people in Camden.
The investment into these services represent Labour’s commitment
to securing a good start in life for all children and young
people in the borough. By working with our most vulnerable families
intensively as well as investing in universal services like
SureStart, youth provision and our schools, we are trying to
tackle immediate need whilst investing longer term in services
which help build sustainable and successful communities.
Cllr Geethika Jayatilaka
Executive member for children
Camden Council |
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