Speakers

Christian Guy is Managing Director at the Centre for Social Justice. He has led work on a number of CSJ publications including as editor of the 2011 first year report card on the Coalition Government, Building a Social Recovery?, author of the 2010 reports The Forgotten Age and the Green Paper on Criminal Justice and Addiction, and co-author of 2009's prison reform report Locked Up Potential with Jonathan Aitken. He led the pre-general election implementation planning for CSJ criminal justice and addiction policy, and was speechwriter to former CSJ Chairman Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP. Christian is Assistant Director of Jonathan Aitken's Westminster Forum.

Before joining the CSJ he worked as a community organiser for a partnership of local authorities, police, schools and voluntary sector organisations in Surrey, and undertook a 12 month political internship in East London. He read Politics and International Relations at the University of Reading.

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Daniel Silver is co-Director of the Social Action & Research Foundation, which aims to co-produce policy to address poverty. Recent work has included delivering the Reading the Riots Community Conversations in Salford and Manchester, which involved over 250 participants from the community and voluntary sector, local residents, academics, public sector workers and senior police and council representatives. Daniel personally brings experience from the voluntary and community sector, as well as work with a local authority, of promoting equality and participation in policy development at local, regional and national levels.

Presentation: Co-producing social justice

This will assess the government's recently published Social Justice Strategy and provide some insights into how this could be successfully delivered in our communities. This will involve the notion that individual responsibility requires wider social responsibility in order to create the right conditions for an effective and accountable welfare state, which promotes active equality at a local level and in which the voice of those living in poverty is truly valued. A transformative model of co-producing public services is required to deliver on a social justice strategy that is comprehensive, integrative, and programmatic.

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Rhian Beynon is Head of Policy and Campaigns for Family Action, a charity which has been providing support to disadvantaged families since 1869. Previously she worked in policy and external communications roles at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Age UK, Christian Aid, and Amnesty UK.

Family Action works with over 45,000 vulnerable families and children a year by providing practical, emotional and financial support through over 100 community-based services across England. Much of this work consists of supporting vulnerable families with multiple complex needs holistically in the home, providing early intervention services that strengthen families and promote children's outcomes by assisting parents to take more responsibility for their lives, parent their children, and where appropriate, helping them to move towards employment. Additionally in 2010-11 the charity distributed grants totalling £290, 913 to families and individuals in financial hardship and £339,490 in education grants throughout the UK. (Find Family Action on the Web at www.family-action.org.uk.)

Presentation: Supporting troubled families

The government is particularly keen to support families with multiple problems, concentrating on recovery and independence rather than maintenance. A programme has recently been introduced to focus on early intervention and prevention. Multi-agency delivery is key.

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Zoe Mawson is the Head of School at Heaton Children's Services in Bradford. This integrated provision for children and families incorporates: Heaton Primary School with 750 children on roll; Heaton Children's Centre (family support and childcare services); The Acorn Centre which offers specialist Emotional and Behavioural Support for 10 children and Heaton Forest School (working to promote self awareness and emotional intelligence for children and adults).

Having worked at Heaton for 11 years, Zoe has a deep understanding of some of the challenges that face children and families in this deprived ward. As a result, the opportunity to work on a year long programme with the Innovation Unit to try and alleviate some of these barriers to success was well received, particularly at a time when the projections for public sector funding are not as positive.

Her presentation will summarise the work towards a "Different, Better and Lower Cost model" of support for families, with the aim of providing better life chances for children.

Presentation: From ineffective late intervention to cost-effective early intervention

Early intervention offers a real opportunity to make lasting improvements in the lives of our children, to forestall many persistent social problems and end their transmission from one generation to the next, and to make long-term savings in public spending.

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Oliver Newton works at the Department for Education as the Head of the Raising Participation Unit. The Unit has responsibility for policy to raise the participation age and reduce the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). Oliver has been working on this policy area since April 2008 and particularly enjoys the opportunity it gives him to work closely with operational colleagues in local authorities, learning providers and Jobcentre Plus.

He has worked in the department and its predecessors for six years, on areas including the Academies programme, in Private Office and on the establishment of the Young People Directorate.

Presentation: Addressing education and social exclusion

The number of young people not in education, employment or training is continuing to rise. It is essential that they are offered viable options for the future.

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Early in 2011 a small Social Justice team of 5 people was set up in the Department for Work and Pensions to develop this new Government agenda and support the work of the newly formed Social Justice Cabinet Committee. As work progressed towards the publication of a Social Justice Strategy, the team grew rapidly in size and prominence in the Department and across Government. The significance of the work on social justice was reflected in the internal reorganisation of DWP at the end of last year, and by the time the Strategy was published in March this year the Social Justice Directorate, numbering around 125 staff, had been established. The Directorate is now working with colleagues across Goverment and beyond to take the Social Justice strategy forward.

Presentation: Taking the Social Justice Strategy forward

The new Social Justice Strategy sets out 'an ambitious new vision for supporting the most disadvantaged individuals and families in the UK', focusing on prevention throughout a person's life, with carefully designed interventions. Local leaders across the country are being encouraged to consider what more they can do to embed the principles of the strategy in the way they fund and commission services. This session presents an opportunity to engage with the social justice team from the Department for Work and Pensions, featuring an overview of the strategy and a discussion about how best to take it forward, and what support is required from central and local government.

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Nikki Bradley set up Tower Hamlets Family Intervention Project in 2007. In 2009, the project won the Guardian Public Service Award for an innovative partnership with Poplar Housing and Community Regeneration Association. Nikki steered the FIP away from its reliance on grant funding in 2011 and into a model of partner funding that is helping to build both its sustainability and its relevance to today's climate of localisation in a time of austerity. Tower Hamlet's FIP now works cross borough to deliver a range of services that are designed to both enable vulnerable families to reach their potential and to support services to change the way they deliver to those who are hardest to reach in the community.

Nikki worked for 21 years as a qualified social worker across London, predominantly in mental health and child protection work. She has contributed to the Middlesex University social work degree since 2005. In 2010, she worked for the DCSF as a Specialist FIP Adviser to the Families at Risk Division. She is currently leading Tower Hamlet's operational response to the government's Troubled Families agenda.

Presentation: When family intervention means business

Nikki Bradley presents the business case for the family intervention model demonstrating how this award winning service can save money and change lives.

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Constructively controversial but always acting with a positive intent, Mark Darby breaks the mould on your typical social entrepreneur. An author of a leading book on partnering, with a background originally in the private sector, he now focuses most of his time on improving public services. Mark is Chief Executive of Alliantist. It equips probation, police, police authorities and local authorities, as well as private and voluntary sector players across the public service ecosystem to work better together. They all use pam, a software platform for accelerating change and relationship success.

Whilst leading Alliantist, Mark has become even more passionate about how to address the problems and opportunities facing society. As such, he recently created a Community Interest Company (Achieve More CIC). This organisation aims to equip vulnerable yet critical partners in the public service ecosystem with the mindset, tools and technology to forge stronger communities together.

Presentation: Rejuvenating Broken Britain

Broken Britain can't be rejuvenated by working alone, no matter how good one individual or organisation has been in the past. With an austere economic climate, agenda of open public services, payment by results and outcomes-based commissioning, we need to work better with others. Whilst there are many forces inhibiting this vision, there are exciting opportunities to harness collective assets too.

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Robin is Programmes Director at the Centre for Social Justice, where he provides a management consultancy service helping councils to transform some of the most deprived wards and estates in the country. This experience is being written up as a paper for publication in June 2012. Robin has been a District Councillor in Suffolk since 2003, where he holds the Families and Community portfolio and oversees development of forward planning policy. He is a former Mayor of Newmarket and was Chairman of Scrutiny for five years. In 2007 he set up a Community Interest Company to invest in the future of children and families in Newmarket. He has also held positions as Board member of sub-regional economic development body, trustee of Relate and governor of a primary school and leading Further Education College.

Presentation: The role of local government in the social recovery

Following the Localism Act, policy delivery will happen more and more through local government. The most effective solutions are often designed and delivered at a local level. Local authorities will have an even greater role to play in mending broken Britain.

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Joe Irvin was appointed as Chief Executive of NAVCA in January 2012. NAVCA champions and strengthens voluntary and community action by supporting its members in their work with over 160,000 local charities and community groups.

Joe has experience of working in the public, private and voluntary sectors prior to taking on the role of leading NAVCA. Prior to working for NAVCA, Joe was Political Secretary to the Prime Minister and was previously special adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister. This has allowed Joe to bring considerable political skills and knowledge to NAVCA.

He worked for the Transport and General Workers Union for a number of years, becoming Director of Policy. Joe worked in the voluntary sector as RSPB's Director of Parliamentary Affairs and also has private sector experience through his work for BAA. Joe's community activity has ranged from serving as a school governor to setting up a centre for unemployed people and roles in the Child Poverty Action Group and APEX Trust (a charity helping ex-offenders into work).

Presentation: Working together to improve services

Voluntary and community action offers solutions to the challenges Britain is facing. Action rooted in communities can bring local people together to campaign, volunteer and provide services.

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Peter is an Associate Director at Social Finance, having joined in September 2010. He is mainly involved in the development of the Social Impact Bond market, looking at the application of this financing tool in the criminal justice system, drugs recovery and employment sectors. Previously, Peter spent six years working in auditing and consulting roles at KPMG, most recently focussing on commercial due diligence and strategy consulting projects. In addition, Peter has worked in the microfinance field, helping to set up a micro-lending programme with BASE, a Nepali NGO. Peter is a Chartered Accountant and has a BA in History from the University of York and an MA in History from Brown University in the United States.

Presentation: Social value through social impact bonds

The recent Social Justice Strategy focuses on the role of early intervention, social investment, payment by results and multi-agency delivery in achieving its ambitions. Social finance is laying the groundwork for the development of a market for social impact bonds, which will support the social justice agenda.

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