Every Child Matters & Youth Matters
Children and young people have told us that five outcomes are key to well-being in childhood and later life - being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and achieving economic well-being. The Government's ambition is to improve these outcomes for all children and to narrow the gap in outcomes between those who do well and those who do not. These five outcomes are central to the Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme, and they are at the heart of the Children Act 2004, which provides the legislative foundation for the programme.
Culture, sport and play activities provide "things to do, places to go" for children and young people, but they also have an important role to play in delivering the Change for Children programme by contributing to the achievement of the five outcomes. DCMS is working through its sponsored bodies to mobilise the culture, sport and play networks in responding to the challenge set by the Change for Children Programme.
The Youth Green Paper, Youth Matters was published in July 2005, followed by Youth Matters - Next Steps in March 2006. Youth Matters proposed a statutory duty on Local Authorities to secure the provision of positive activities for all young people and legislation for statutory guidance setting out ' national standards' covering activities that should be available to young people. These include a range of cultural, sporting, recreational and enriching experiences, as well as provision for young people to make a contribution through volunteering.
DCMS is working with the Department for Education and Skills and others across government as well as cultural and sporting bodies on the design of the statutory guidance and the development of the 'youth offer'.
Contact - General Enquiries: 020 7211 6200
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