The Red Book: background and resources

Background

David Cameron's Coalition Government has made a commitment to support the lives of the most vulnerable, since coming into office in 2010.

We know the Government wants to support families and individuals before problems escalate or become entrenched, and it has put in place policies and initiatives that aspire to achieve this.

However these commitments were made at the same time as there being; unprecedented public spending cuts, radical reform of the welfare state and public service delivery, and at a time when there is a changing relationship between the individual and the state.

One year on, we have published the Action for Children Red Book, which looks at the impact of the coalition Government's decisions based on what is happening in our services and what the children, young people and families we work with tell us.

Resources

• The full text of The Red Book

Individual chapters and topics:

• Introduction
• Executive Summary
• Growth, fairness and reform
  A commentary on the the themes outlined by the coalition Government in its 2010 spending review.
• The end of the beginning?
  Outlines the broader economic context, identifying the impact of the 2010 spending review, written by the Social Market Foundation.
• The difference a year makes
  Outlines our research findings, which looked at the impact of Government decisions on services supporting the most vulnerable children, young and families. Our research brings together the views of over 200 Action for Children front line social care professionals, managing services in the heart of communities throughout the UK.
  It specifically covers:
  1. Crucial support services - children's centres and intensive family support
  2. The most vulnerable and disadvantaged - care leavers, young carers and disabled children
  3. Experiences of child neglect
• Addressing the false economy
  Outlines the economic arguments of why it is a false economy to not intervene early the prevent the problems children, young people and families face early before they become worse and entrenched.
• Conclusions and recommendations
• Appendix