On the 6th March Lancashire County Council agreed to establish an Independent Fairness Commission. The purpose of the Commission is to provide an independent perspective on inequality in Lancashire and to make recommendations to increase fairness to the County Council and its partners. Over the coming six months the Commission will hear evidence about fairness over the life course, in particular around Starting Well, Living Well and Ageing Well.
At its meeting on 27th August the Commission will be hearing evidence relating to the Starting Well theme. This includes pre-birth, early years and teenage years, and the transitions between starting well and moving into the living well stage.
Our call for evidence around starting well will focus on:
· Laying the foundations for good parenting including a healthy pregnancy;
· Early years development that supports children from 0-5 and their families build their skills and resilience so that they are ready for school;
· Support to teenagers and adolescents to build life skills and personal resilience to prepare them for the transition into adult life.
We would like to invite you submit evidence to the Commission. There are a number of ways in which experts and members of the public can submit evidence including on the website at http://new.lancashire.gov.uk/fairness-commission/have-your-say/
If you would like to submit more detailed evidence it would particularly help the Commission if you could focus your submission around the following questions:
- What specific evidence do you hold about how austerity prevents children from having the best possible start in life?
- Do you have any evidence about how austerity has adversely affected teenagers in Lancashire?
- Based on your evidence what is your or your organisation's analysis of the cause/s of inequalities for children and young people in Lancashire
- Are there any examples of good practice in relation to reducing inequalities and increasing fairness (from within Lancashire, elsewhere in the UK, or overseas) that the Commission should be aware of?
- What do you or your organisation believe would be the best way to tackle inequalities and increase fairness in Lancashire?
The Commission asks that you limit your submission to a maximum of 2500 words and it would be helpful if you could provide a bullet point summary at the start.
By 'evidence' we are not referring solely to data and statistics, although that may be an aspect of your evidence. The Commission will be highly focussed on the possible actions to reduce inequalities. It is therefore particularly interested in evidence of what has and has not worked, in the past or elsewhere, and in proposals that could be applied to Lancashire today to increase fairness or reduce inequalities in the County.
I'd like to stress at this point that written evidence submitted will not be heard at the meeting, but, if received by our deadline of Tuesday 19th August it will be included for consideration by Commissioners in advance of the Starting Well Meeting. The evidence you submit will form part of a suite of evidence the commission will receive and consider in relation to starting well. All of this evidence will be analysed and the Commission will produce its final report by February 2015.
If you wish your evidence to be shared with the Commissioners before the meeting on 27th August, please submit evidence by Tuesday 19th August. If not then please feel free to submit evidence anytime between now and end of October. For more information about the work of the Commission please contact:
email: Fairness@lancashire.gov.uk
post: Fairness Commission,
Lancashire County Council
Level 1 Christ Church Precinct
County Hall
Preston
PR1 8XB
internet: http://new.lancashire.gov.uk/fairness-commission.aspx
Please be aware that we plan to publish all the written evidence that is submitted to the Commission. We will not publish the personal details of individuals but we do intend to publish the names of organisations who submit evidence. If you wish to submit evidence that you believe is sensitive and needs to remain confidential please state this clearly and outline the reasons why you believe the information should not be made public. You should be aware that evidence submitted to the Fairness Commission could be subject to a Freedom of Information request.
Yours sincerely,
The Very Reverend Christopher Armstrong
Chair Lancashire Fairness Commission
