Posted: 30.09.2008

Speakers:

Dr. Harry Burns, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland
Louise Marryatt, Researcher at the Scottish Centre for Social Research

Location:

Friday 28th November 2008
10.30am - 1.00pm
The Queen's Hotel, Dundee,

Followed by the Annual General Meeting of
One Parent Families Scotland at 2pm

A chance to talk

These are defining times for Scotland's Lone Parent families with fresh opportunities appearing alongside welfare reforms which threaten parents with onerous responsibilities linked to Job Seeker's Allowance. This conference is a perfect opportunity to discuss these big issues in the company of influential experts.

Background

The Scottish and UK Governments have both signed up to eradicating child poverty by 2020. The Scottish Government is producing policy frameworks on early years and early intervention and poverty and, has published Equally Well: the Report of the Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities. This calls for action on poverty in families by health staff.

Children in lone parent families are most at risk of poverty, impacting on their opportunities and aspirations.

The conference focuses on the relationship needed between the Scottish Early Years, Poverty Frameworks, the Equally Well recommendations and the UK Government agenda of addressing lone parent poverty by requiring lone parents to actively seek work when their youngest child is 7 and over.

As a background, the conference will study evidence available from the Growing Up in Scotland data. This will reveal the similarities and differences between lone and two parent families and how services need to be developed to take account of these differences.

Engagement with lone parents is critical to improving those services that matter to them. A presentation at conference on how OPFS has engaged with parents and on the information gathered will thus be of special interest to anyone involved in shaping and delivering services.

Discussion sessions will explore key issues and examples of good practice which can now inform policy and service development. Delegates will receive a special analysis of GUS data for lone parents and Fact Sheets on Welfare Reform.

The conference will be of special interest to staff working in health, early years, on poverty, regeneration and employability.

Fees:

Conference:
voluntary organisations: £20 without lunch / £27.50 with lunch.
statutory organisations: £30 without lunch / £37.50 with lunch.
Lone parents: Free.

OPFS AGM:
Free.

Crèche:
Free (No lunch provided).

Booking:

Contact OPFS direct 0131 556 3899 (ask for Rory) or; download booking form.
Prospective attendees can be invoiced for fees on request by completing the Invoice form and returning it with the booking form.
Please return booking forms to us by no later than Friday 21st November.

Related Documents:

Lone parent families with young children: Findings from the Growing Up in Scotland study (PDF document) to be discussed on the day.