Agenda item

This Council Meeting:

·         Acknowledges that Child Poverty is a high priority for this Council, and that its strategy was recently updated to reflect the requirements of the Labour Government’s Child Poverty Act 2010, legislation which was passed with all-party support;

·         Is pleased that the issue Child Poverty in our Borough is now receiving more attention, after severe criticism from the Audit Commission in the 2009 Comprehensive Area Assessment, in which Stockport was given a “red flag” for failing to do enough to help our poorest communities;

·         Notes that according to this Council’s own figures, 15.2% of all children and young people in Stockport currently live in poverty; and

·         Further notes that since Stockport is a highly polarised Borough, with very poor and very prosperous areas, strong overall performance compared to national and regional averages tends to mask severe problems in our most deprived areas and in particular ‘pockets’ of poverty.

Given the above, it is of great concern to this Council Meeting that as a direct result of Coalition Government policies, this strategy is under threat from:

·      The abolition of Educational Maintenance Allowances;

·      The loss of certain targeted grants to fund the Pupil Premium resulting in funding cuts for some schools serving our most disadvantaged communities;

·      Rising unemployment, with a disproportionate effect on Stockport’s most disadvantaged wards;

·      The impact of “readiness for work” testing for those on Income Support and disability benefits;

·      The effective withdrawal of Council Youth Services from many areas of our Borough; and

·      The introduction of the non ring-fenced Early Intervention Grant, which represents an 11% (or £50 per Stockport child) reduction on its predecessor grants, resulting in the current proposals to downgrade Sure Start provision and centres across the Borough.

This Council Meeting further notes the respected and independent Institute for Fiscal Studies’ October 2011 report “Child and Working Age Poverty and Inequality in UK: 2010” which forecasts that child poverty will continue to rise significantly over the next decade, along with what it describes as “an unprecedented collapse in living standards” brought about by high inflation and weak earnings growth.

This Council Meeting therefore requests the Executive Councillor (Children & Young People) to commission an urgent review of Stockport’s Child Poverty Strategy to take full account of the impact of these Coalition Government policies, and to develop measures to respond effectively to issues identified by the review, with the full involvement of the appropriate Scrutiny Committee.

Moved by:                  Cllr Andrew Verdeille

Seconded by:           Cllr Paul Moss

MOVED AND SECONDED

This Council Meeting:

·         Acknowledges that Child Poverty is a high priority for this Council, and that its strategy was recently updated to reflect the requirements of the Labour Government’s Child Poverty Act 2010, legislation which was passed with all-party support;

·         Is pleased that the issue Child Poverty in our Borough is now receiving more attention, after severe criticism from the Audit Commission in the 2009 Comprehensive Area Assessment, in which Stockport was given a “red flag” for failing to do enough to help our poorest communities;

·         Notes that according to this Council’s own figures, 15.2% of all children and young people in Stockport currently live in poverty; and

·         Further notes that since Stockport is a highly polarised Borough, with very poor and very prosperous areas, strong overall performance compared to national and regional averages tends to mask severe problems in our most deprived areas and in particular ‘pockets’ of poverty.

Given the above, it is of great concern to this Council Meeting that as a direct result of Coalition Government policies, this strategy is under threat from:

·      The abolition of Educational Maintenance Allowances;

·      The loss of certain targeted grants to fund the Pupil Premium resulting in funding cuts for some schools serving our most disadvantaged communities;

·      Rising unemployment, with a disproportionate effect on Stockport’s most disadvantaged wards;

·      The impact of “readiness for work” testing for those on Income Support and disability benefits;

·      The effective withdrawal of Council Youth Services from many areas of our Borough; and

·      The introduction of the non ring-fenced Early Intervention Grant, which represents an 11% (or £50 per Stockport child) reduction on its predecessor grants, resulting in the current proposals to downgrade Sure Start provision and centres across the Borough.

This Council Meeting further notes the respected and independent Institute for Fiscal Studies’ October 2011 report “Child and Working Age Poverty and Inequality in UK: 2010” which forecasts that child poverty will continue to rise significantly over the next decade, along with what it describes as “an unprecedented collapse in living standards” brought about by high inflation and weak earnings growth.

This Council Meeting therefore requests the Executive Councillor (Children & Young People) to commission an urgent review of Stockport’s Child Poverty Strategy to take full account of the impact of these Coalition Government policies, and to develop measures to respond effectively to issues identified by the review, with the full involvement of the appropriate Scrutiny Committee.

AMENDMENT MOVED AND SECONDED

Delete all after “This Council Meeting:” and replace with:

·         acknowledges that tackling Child Poverty has always been a high priority for this Council, despite the levels in Stockport being significantly lower than the National, Greater Manchester, or North-West averages;

·         acknowledges that, in its Comprehensive Area Assessment in 2009, the Audit Commission gave the public sector and other partners in Stockport a “red flag” for not improving the life chances of residents in poor neighbourhoods fast enough;

·         notes that the Audit Commission’s report stated that solutions to this problem are difficult and highlighted the good work this Council was already doing, but called upon partners to work more closely together; and

·         notes that this Council took a lead by creating a shared senior management post with the local Primary Care Trust and continues to work hard to bring all partners together in tackling inequalities and other priorities that cut across the public sector.

This Council Meeting also:

·         acknowledges the very difficult financial situation that the country now finds itself in, and notes that Alistair Darling, the former Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, regrets that his government failed to act over bank regulation, the growing deficit in public finances and a looming recession in their final years of office;

·         notes that, despite their efforts over 13 years to reduce inequalities, the gap between rich and poor was wider when Labour left office;

·         recalls that on 12th August this year, Ed Milliband, the current Leader of the Labour Party, speaking on the Radio 4 ‘Today Programme’, said “I deeply regret that inequality wasn’t reduced under the last Labour government”;

·         regrets that the coalition government have had to introduce a whole range of measures to reduce the deficit in public finances and, in particular, the need for this Council to find around £50m of savings over 4 years; and

·         regrets any negative impacts on relative poverty levels within the borough caused by cuts in Government spending.

However, this Council Meeting acknowledges the efforts made by the Council through its budget processes to:

·         protect the needs of the most vulnerable groups in our Borough by continuing to prioritise services to those groups;

·         use the funds that are available to the best effect by, for example, targeting Youth Services to early intervention withthose young people most at risk of failing to achieve their potential, including those that live in our most disadvantaged communities;

·         continue supporting the wider economic growth of the Borough through a wide range of initiatives focussing on some of the most disadvantaged areas, including a recent investment of £0.5m to help to regenerate the Town Centre.

This Council Meeting:

·         recognises that the move to focus on early intervention work with children and families is likely to have a positive impact on reducing child poverty and addressing inequality across the borough;  

·         notes the involvement of the Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Committee in formulating Stockport’s Child Poverty Strategy, which was adopted with all-party support in April;

·         notes that this Strategy comes due for its annual review next April; and

·         recognises that it is not the role of Executive Members to commission Scrutiny Reviews.

This Council Meeting therefore calls on the Children & Young People’s Scrutiny Committee to consider whether a review of this recent Strategy is needed and, if so, for them to determine how to conduct this.

For the amendment 38, against 18.