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Council unveils new plans to tackle child poverty problem across Notts

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New plans to help reduce poverty for the county’s 26,000 children whose future life chances are at a disadvantage in terms of their health, education and finding work, are set to get the go ahead by Nottinghamshire County Council’s children and young people’s committee on Monday.

Government data, at the time these plans were being drawn up, highlight that 15.9 per cent of children (ages 0-18) are living in poverty in Nottinghamshire, slightly below the national average of 18 per cent and 17 per cent across the East Midlands.

However child poverty levels are higher than the national average in Ashfield (21.5%) and Mansfield (21.8%)

The council’s plans include offering more employment support for adults with mental health issues, piloting ways to help take the stigma out of poverty in schools and ensuring that next year’s universal free childcare for three and four year olds has a high take-up.

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All the schemes are in Nottinghamshire County Council’s ( NCC) latest Child Poverty and Life Chances Action Plan.

More than 20 actions are being proposed as part of Nottinghamshire County Council’s ( NCC) latest Child Poverty and Life Chances Action Plan – underlining its commitment to continuing to tackle the causes and mitigating the effects of poverty especially in the areas of highest need.

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Rachel Clark, child poverty and parenting manager for NCC said:  “Child poverty is something no one wants to see, which is why we are continuing a strong partnership approach to help tackle this problem, as it cuts across many social and economic issues. Ultimately, we want to help break the cycle of child poverty and prevent poor children becoming poor parents.

“We are working hard in particular to ensure that we are ready for the roll out of the extension of universal free childcare for three and four-year olds next September 2017.

“We’ve already had positive feedback from more than 1,700 local families via our recent survey targeting parents who have toddlers coming up to the eligible age range. The majority confirmed that the forthcoming 30 hours of free childcare will allow them to work longer hours or go back to work, with 77 per cent of families telling us that the free childcare would significantly reduce their childcare costs.

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 “This is great news for those working families on low incomes as a key route to getting out of the cycle of poverty.

 “We also know that accessing childcare helps children to be ready for school and can get off the best start possible. Good educational attainment is another way of preventing poor children becoming poor adults.

“NCC, partners from the voluntary sector and district councils have been training over 300 frontline staff who work closely with families to ensure that these staff are fully prepared to help families in poverty.

“We are also continually updating information on www.nottshelpyourself.org.uk  which is a partnership website bringing health, voluntary sector and Nottinghamshire County Council information and advice together in one place, to ensure families can get the right support when they need it. This is especially important as we approach Christmas, with the extra financial pressures that this brings.”

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