Health inequality in Reading the worst in Berkshire

Readers of this blog will know inequality - particuarly health inequality - in Reading is an issue that matters a great deal to me.

Since I took over as the Chair of the HHCC Scrutiny Panel in May 2008 I have been campaigning to raise the profile of this issue and to get the Labour-run Council and other partners to do more to close the gap in health outcomes between the richest and poorest neighbourhoods in the Town.

After 12 years of a Labour government and even longer of a Labour-controlled Council that gap has widened.

And local people are suffering as a result.

Today, an independent assessment published by the Audit Commission and other inspectorates has underlined the points I have been making in it's summary of the health profile of the local area:

'There are substantial inequalities between the most and least prosperous neighbourhoods in Reading. Poorer health, low levels of skills and persistent poverty are features of some of the most deprived parts of the town. Only 44 per cent of people feel they belong to their neighbourhood...

The gap in health between the most and least affluent areas of Reading is the largest in Berkshire. On average people in the poorest parts of Reading live six or seven year less than those in the wealthiest areas'

The inspectors hedge their bets and say 'it's too early to say' whether or not the work local bodies and partners i.e. Council and PCT are doing to reduce inequality is working.

I would argue the evidence is already staring us in the face here in Reading.

This is that Labour politicians have run out of ideas and energy needed to try and bring about the kind of changes that local people really need.

I am particularly worried about the impact that this is having on children's health - linked to poverty.

Our scrutiny review into this issue is ongoing and is putting a spotlight on improving outcomes for the neediest children and families in Reading.

While I think a lot of the work the Council does is well-intentioned and officers work very hard to deliver good services locally (which the inspectors have rightly praised),I think that the political leadership of the Council lacks the vision to tackle the big issues from housing to climate change.

You can read the inspector's report about the Reading area and the performance of the Council, the PCT and other partners on the new Oneplace website.

Nationally, the gap has widened too and a report' Monitoring poverty and social exclusion' published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation last week provided yet more hard evidence that Labour has failed to deliver on it's promises on fairness and equality:

• The number of people unemployed or otherwise wanting work is the highest since 1997. The unemployment rate among 16- to 24-year-olds is now higher than at any point since this series began in 1993.

• These increases did not begin with the onset of recession. Unemployment has been rising since 2005, and the young adult unemployment rate stopped falling as long ago as 2001.
• Even before the start of the recession, the number of people living in low-income households rose again in 2007/08. The number of people in low-income households is now as high as it was in 2000, having risen by 1.3m in the last three years.

• The number of children in low-income households where at least one adult works is, at 2.1m, the highest it has ever been. Half a million higher than in 2003/04, it is this increase that has stalled progress towards the Government's child poverty targets – again, prior to the recession.

As Nick Clegg said in PMQs earlier today millions of people have been let down by Labour.  

 And we know, thousands of them are living here, in Reading, in poverty and poor health.

To quote the Speaker: 'Mr Nick Clegg must be heard!' Fairness matters.