Reforms introduced in the next session of Parliament will be part of the Children and Families Bill, expected to be introduced in early 2013.
Many of the proposals have been outlined by ministers previously.
They include plans to improve support for children with special educational needs and their families, which were set out in the Support and Aspiration Green Paper put out for consultation in March last year.
The Government is due to publish its formal response to the SEN Green Paper and a timetable for reform next week.
Twenty SEN pathfinders to trial the reforms were set up in September 2011 in 31 local authorities, and their work will inform any changes to the law made in the bill.
The interim evaluation will be published in the autumn, with a final evaluation in 2013.
Other measures introduced in the bill include proposals to speed up the adoption process and family justice system.
The bill will also introduce flexible parental leave, enabling fathers and mothers to share leave entitlements after 18 weeks. The provisions would apply to England, Wales and Scotland.
The role of the children’s commissioner will become more independent and will be strengthened, with the new remit to promote and protect children’s rights as set out in the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child.
The role will also be expanded to include the functions of the Children’s Rights director in Ofsted.
In future, the children’s commissioner will report directly to Parliament.
However, children’s charities said that there was not enough in the bill to support families with real problems.
The Child Poverty Action Group said that there was little in the bill that would make life easier for families.
The charity's chief executive Alison Garnham said, ‘More ‘choice’ on special educational needs is welcome, but the urgent need is for the Coalition to stop targeting disabled children with their austerity politics. In Britain, 40 per cent of disabled children already live below the poverty line.
'From next year, low income families with a disabled child will face a massive cut of £1,400 a year to disability additions when they are moved onto universal credit. This will mean a total cut of £22,000 by the time a disabled child is sixteen, which will do far more harm to health, learning and life chances than you can remedy by changing how "choice" works in education.’
There was also a mixed reaction to plans for shared parental leave. Working Families said that cutting maternity leave to 18 weeks was ‘a step too far’, while the Family and Parenting Institute said that making leave more flexible for parents was welcome.
A selection of comments from the children and families sector are published below.
‘We want to see more choice and flexibility for fathers to share the care, and more paternity leave would be a great step forward. But the Government consulted on cutting maternity leave to 18 weeks which is a step too far. Pushing women back to work too soon will bring hidden costs to employers. There’s still time for the Government to change their minds and guarantee six months for mums.
She added, ‘We’re disappointed that there was nothing about extending flexible working rights in the Queen’s speech. Good employers already offer flexible working to all their employees because they know that it leads to high performance and reduces costs. We urge the Government to include an extension of the right to request flexible working in their programme to boost economic growth and help everyone get the work–life balance they need.’
Sarah Jackson, chief executive of Working Families
‘4Children has long campaigned for flexible working for parents; faster, more efficient resolution of custody and adoption cases; and for an expanded role for the Children’s Commissioner – and we will watch this bill closely to ensure that the changes it is claimed to offer really do deliver for families across the country.
‘However, we are concerned by the limited scope of this bill – at a time when families are facing dwindling incomes against rising prices, growing unemployment and cuts to vital services, this bill does little to address the real problems families are facing. ‘Though the changes outlined in the Bill are welcome, they will not help families put food on the table, or heat the house. None of them will replace a closed Sure Start centre, and none of them will provide reasonably priced childcare to allow families to get back to work.
‘These changes are welcome but if David Cameron and Nick Clegg are serious about making Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe, they will need to do much more than this. Poverty of ambition and want of vision from government will never tackle the poverty and want families are facing across this country. This bill must prepare the way for greater help next year.’
Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children
The Government’s focus on families is positive and probably reflects a recognition that it’s a Government that’s been so unfriendly to families in the last two years, but in truth there’s little here that will make life easier for families or make good the losses family budgets have suffered through massive cuts to help for the working poor and those unable to find work. It will be cold comfort to families targeted by the Coalition’s austerity politics.
‘Parents need jobs, not new laws to make it easier to fire people; and parents in low paid jobs need help so that work pays – six in ten children in poverty have a parent in work.
Chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, Alison Garnham
The focus on family-friendly policies in today’s Queen’s Speech is very welcome. Making parental leave more flexible is good news for parents hoping to both balance work and family commitments. They deserve greater choice.
However, these welcome measures come at a time of great pain for families. Families are facing a triple squeeze of tax and benefit changes, increasing living costs, and high childcare costs.
‘Last year, the Prime Minister announced the introduction of a ‘family test’ to ensure all domestic policies supported rather than undermined family life. The most important family test will be whether families feel they have had their lives improved by this Government, and whether the UK is becoming a more family friendly society.
Dr Katherine Rake, chief executive of the Family and Parenting Institute
Commenting on the Government’s plan to strengthen the role of the children’s commissioner Maggie Atkinson, Children’s Commissioner for England, said:
‘This welcome move follows the Independent Review our office by Dr. John Dunford in 2010, which recommended the creation of a stronger, more independent, and rights-focused Office of the Children's Commissioner for England. We therefore look forward to a Bill that reflects the support of the wider children’s sector, which supported Dr. Dunford’s recommendations.
‘Future legislation that brings together the current Office of the Children’s Commissioner and the Office of the Children’s Rights Director into a new single body will build on the current work of both organisations and ensure that all children, particularly the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society, are treated in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Child. By working with others in the sector, strengthening the role of the Children’s Commissioner has the potential to positively influence policy affecting all children.
In accord with the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement published following Dr Dunford’s review, my Office is already working in the spirit of his recommendations. As a result we will continue to support other Government proposals outlined in the Queen’s speech where we believe this to be in the interests of children and young people. This includes our support for the clear focus on families in the Government’s plans, and our shared desire to see the lives of the children involved in the family justice system, those with special educational needs and children in the adoption process improved. As part of our role to promote and protect children’s rights we will undertake a number of Child Rights Impact Assessments on some of the Bills outlined in today’s Queen’s speech.
‘Given that the legislation for the new Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England is likely to take some months before it is introduced in Parliament and then many more months to pass, my Office will continue to deliver its ambitious Business Plan for 2012-14. This includes continuing work on the inequalities in the school exclusions system, work on gang and group related child sexual exploitation and child poverty.’
