Findings of year-long probe into social inequality and poverty are welcomed

Published: 6th May, 2011
by ANDREW JOHNSON

THE draft report of Islington Council’s year-long investigation into social inequality and poverty in the borough was broadly welcomed at a meeting on Thursday – but many thought that even more could be done.

A packed Assembly Rooms at the Town Hall considered the findings of the Fairness Commission, which has spent the past 12 months investigating the gap between rich and poor in Islington.

In its draft report the borough was described as the “two Islingtons” – one wealthy, healthy and with a long life expectancy, and the other home for the marginalised and poor, who can expect to die earlier, stay unemployed and suffer illness and disability.

While many have welcomed the work of the Commission, others have doubted whether the Town Hall will have any real power to deal with the problems the report outlines.

On Thursday, Professor Richard Wilkinson, of Nottingham University, who is chairman of the Commission, said that some issues, such as the level of retirement pensions, was a job for wider society to deal with.

“The report can be more inspiring by pointing out the scale of the difference between rich and poor in parts of this borough,” he said. 

Many at the meeting called on the voluntary sector to help plug the gaps in services, such as in childcare, which is considered a key issue in whether parents are able to go to work or not. The report recommends that affordable childcare should be more widely available in Islington.

On safety, it was suggested that crime and socioeconomic conditions go hand in hand.

“The police are not the only solution,” said Chief Superintendent Mike Wise, the borough commander of Islington Police. “The root of some of the issues are socioeconomic and the solution needs to reflect the socioeconomic conditions that people find themselves in.”

On housing, there were concerns that even more people will be priced out of the borough when the Coalition Government’s housing benefit cap is introduced. It was suggested that Islington should try and persuade private landlords to keep rents under the cap as well as campaigning for fairer rents and to increase the supply of affordable housing.

Pensioners campaigner John Worker complained, however, that there was not enough in the report about the elderly.

“I’m extremely disappointed with the report,” he said. “There is very little in there about pensioners. Pensioner poverty is a known problem. There is nothing in that report that can do anything about it. Nothing in there that addresses health for the elderly.”

He was challenged by the Commission’s deputy chairman, Andy Hull, who said the report mentioned the elderly 10 times. 

Daniel Baker, of the Cubitt Gallery in Angel, said that the role of the arts in helping with health and wellbeing had been overlooked. 

“Arts organisations have a huge amount to offer,” he said. “There are lots of high quality arts programmes around Islington that do engage with the wider community but don’t see themselves as part of the third sector. A lot of these arts organisations go looking for partnerships. We need to make that process even more joined up.”

Leonor Fishman, who lives in Islington, said that too much emphasis was being placed on the voluntary sector to fill the gap. 

She added: “They are already squeezed and are facing cuts. How about asking the private sector for a bit more of a hand for a change?”