'Making London Better', launched on Tuesday, sets out a framework to develop policies, services and facilities for children and young people and aims to 'contribute to the ambitions set out in the recently published national Green Paper for children, Every Child Matters'.
Work will focus on listening to and providing a voice for children and young people in the capital, and developing a better understanding of their lives. The strategy will be driven by the new Children's and Young People's Unit, which will be part of the Greater London Authority.
Mr Livingstone said, 'Across Europe and internationally, there is a move to place children's needs and rights at the centre of planning our cities.
This development understands that if our major cities are to become places where families choose to bring up their children and where all young people feel valued and included, we must listen to their concerns and act on them.'
The strategy follows consultation with children, young people and key stakeholders in children's services between last April and July.
Nine in ten of the children responding said they wanted more space to play, with safer and better looked-after parks. Children also called for safer public transport and good health services and for transport, housing and neighbourhoods to be more child-friendly.
The charity London Play is now to develop a children's play strategy for the capital, working with the London boroughs, Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships, Children's Fund boards, Health Action Zones, the charity Kidsactive and voluntary play associations.
The mayor's vision for improving access to affordable childcare for parents through the London childcare strategy, with funding for those in greatest need, and improving access for families to key services, is seen as vital in tackling child poverty and income inequality.
The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has already reaped the benefits of the mayor's childcare plans with 290,000 of funding from the London Development Agency for its new regional centre opening under the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative in Hounslow this spring (see Special Report, pp10-11).
NDNA project manager Patricia Jackson said, 'This is the first regional development agency to acknowledge the contribution of childcare to regeneration. This is down to the London Childcare Strategy, which mayor Ken Livingstone has been integral in developing.'
The setting, based on the Children's Centre model, will offer training and community and health facilities, as well as 98 childcare places and breakfast clubs and after-school clubs.
The mayor's children and young people strategy is on the website www.london.gov.uk.
