Plea to his Islington Council ‘parents’ from the young man who grew up in care

Published: 14th January, 2011
by TOM FOOT

THE young man in the red sweatshirt at the back of the hall stood up in front of more than 300 people at a Fairness Commission meeting on Tuesday and demand­ed better support from his “parents”, who in his case are Islington Council.

The 22-year-old, who grew up in the care of the Town Hall, called for more work experience placements for Islington’s “looked-after children”.

He said: “Most people think children in care have something wrong with their heads, but that’s not true. Work experience helps so much with self-esteem.

“Looked-after children have no parents. Islington is our mother and father, corporate parents if you like. 

“A father and mother would bring up a boy or girl and help them the best they can to get on in life. So why don’t you give us more work experience?”

About 300 people packed the assembly room of Highbury Grove School as Islington’s “hidden voices” revealed themselves to the commission.

The body – a panel of politicians, academics, experts and union reps – has the task of bridging the gap between rich and poor.

Its chairman, Professor Richard Wilkinson – co-author of the critically acclaimed The Spirit Level – said he was overwhelmed by a “barrage of unmet needs” which were “an expression of how far society had got in being unable to meet these needs”.

Speakers called for greater community spirit in the face of massive public sector cuts and for volunteers to step in when services disappear.

But Prof Wilkinson said the concept of the Big Society would only work if the chronic pay gap in Islington was bridged.

“Perhaps, in another kind of society, friends and neighbours could volunteer and cater for these needs,” he said. “The idea of the Big Society is very nice. But there is so much research that shows the bigger the income difference, the less cohesive a society is. The weaker community life, the less people trust each other, the more violence there is. All those things are well established in research.

“If we are trying to get a society where at least some of these problems can be taken care of by neighbours, where they don’t have so many unmet needs, where people aren’t so out of touch, we need an equal society. That is why the commission has been set up.”

Prof Wilkinson told the Tribune after the meeting that the commission needed to “narrow its focus” and concentrate on bridging the pay gap. His co-author Kate Pickett travelled from York for the meeting.

The commission began with taped recordings of examples of Islington’s “hidden voices” – a destitute rape victim and an asylum-seeker in search of “status” – each raising concerns over problems of access to council services. 

The meeting heard calls from panel member Frank McLoughlin, principal of City and Islington College, for a special tax on rich residents.

He said: “What we do with young people in bad times is a critical issue. We’ve got to find collective solutions. We need some sort of levy on the rich.”

Commissioner and Lib Dem councillor Tracy Ismail said: “The real hard people to reach are the wealthy. They are sitting there behind close doors. They don’t come out much in Islington, and don’t really contribute that much at all.”

The next meeting of the commission will discuss health inequalities at Bemerton Estate Community Centre in King’s Cross on February 15. For more information, visit www.islington.gov.uk/council/councilfairness