The event – the first of its kind to be held in the Island – saw Youth workers, government officials and schoolchildren come together at the Hotel de France to work on shaping a policy for young Islanders.
Nigel Robinson, who overhauled Leeds Children’s Services, said that Jersey was taking the right initial steps towards creating a safer Island for young people, as it responds to the recommendations of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry.
Last July, the inquiry released its damning report, which found that children in the Island could still be at risk and made eight core recommendations for improvements.
In 2009, a similar review of Children’s Services in Leeds found that dozens of children were at risk of neglect and abuse following the rape and murder of a two-year-old girl. The city was also criticised after it emerged that Jimmy Savile had abused children at hospitals across Leeds over a period of six decades.
Mr Robinson, who joined Leeds City Council the following year, said: ‘When you start with adversity, you can put things right by putting a disproportionate emphasis towards what needs to change. Our clear vision was to put children at the heart of our strategy in Leeds. The questions that seem to be being asked [here] now are “what if we put children at the heart of the growth strategy in Jersey?”.
‘Nowhere can be perfect – but certainly you can create a better and safer place for children to grow up.’
He added that the real test for the Island, following the inquiry – like it was for Leeds, following its negative report – was how it responded and ensured that the exploitation of children in Island care homes could never happen again.
Andrew Heaven, the States’ director of children’s policy, said the transformation of Leeds could provide important lessons for Jersey and that four priorities had been suggested in the draft Children’s Plan – health and wellbeing, learning and achieving, safety, and ensuring that children have a voice.
He said: ‘The Leeds story has elements in it that we can take and learn from. The care inquiry said we need to be looking outwards at models of good practice.
‘One of the messages that came from Leeds was about being specific about what your focuses and key priorities are, sticking to them and using the data you gather to show whether those policies are making a difference.’ He added that Jersey had to tailor its children’s policies to fit the Island’s needs and that children must be allowed to ‘influence the agenda’.
