FEW people would find fault with the idea that the welfare, development, health and education of Jersey’s children should be high on the list of governmental priorities.

It is also likely that, on first principles, a majority of Islanders will welcome the new Children’s Plan which has been drafted and is now available for public scrutiny and comment.

Although it is evident that children being brought up here enjoy privileges unheard of in so many other parts of the world, there has in recent years been serious concern about our community’s ability to do the best for each and every one of its young people.

If those doubts had not existed, there would, for example, have been no need to invite childcare expert Andrew Williamson to report on the nature and possible shortcomings of our child protection services.

The new plan now on the table stems in part from the Williamson review, but it encompasses not only child protection but also just about every other facet of life that might be considered relevant to the up-and-coming generation.

It has something to say on subjects as diverse as diet and obesity, patterns of offending and youth employment.

However, although the Children’s Policy Group, whose members are Health Minister Anne Pryke, Home Affairs Minister Ian Le Marquand, and Education Minister James Reed, have quite clearly put together a comprehensive document – which, with a slightly suspect hint of jargon, they describe as a ‘strategic framework’ – the truly hard work remains to be done.

Drawing up a plan is comparatively straightforward; putting that plan into action is where the difficulty lies.

Devising overarching strategies has become hugely fashionable among Island politicians in recent years. Equally fashionable is the practice of exposing these strategies to public examination in consultation exercises.

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with either of these approaches to framing policy, but our policy-makers must bear in mind two vital points – writing down a series of desiderata and pious hopes is no substitute for action and consultation is of questionable value if the public’s suggestions are simply ignored.

The Children’s Policy Group could well be aware of the dangers of authoring plans and then consigning them to gather dust on some obscure shelf.

The group might also be aware of the fruitlessness of consultation that leads nowhere.

That said, the Island faces a long wait before it can assess just how worthwhile the new grand plan for its children is going to be.