The Work
During the passage of the Health and Care Bill, Barnardo’s – one of the UK’s leading children’s charities – faced limited internal capacity at a critical moment. Inflect stepped in to support their public affairs work, acting as an extension of the team and working closely with in-house lead Jess Asato, now MP for Lowestoft. Together, we mobilised parliamentary support to ensure that children and young people’s needs were reflected in the legislation.
Through targeted engagement and collaboration with stakeholders, we helped secure key amendments. The final Health and Care Act 2022 included several provisions central to Barnardo’s priorities: Integrated Care Boards are now required to outline their approach to children and young people in their five-year plans, appoint an executive lead for children’s services, and report annually on safeguarding performance. This was a significant advocacy success and strengthened Barnardo’s influence on national health and care policy.
