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Local government is often critical of central government's belief that it is the only driver for change in social policy. A good illustration of this is the debate on child poverty. This year's Budget has reignited a welcome discussion about how the 2020 target to end child poverty can be met, but the role of local government has barely been mentioned. In reality, many of the services which local government has responsibility for can help act as a catalyst for change. Even more significantly, councils' role in leading the development of thriving and sustainable communities means the fight to end child poverty has to be central to their mission. A startling one in three children in the UK grows up in poverty. As well as material deprivation now, it affects a child's chances later in life of being healthy, happy, well skilled and employable. A new pamphlet Turning up the volume on child poverty, published last month by the national charity 4Children, sets out some of the issues. It presents us with a clear picture of the challenges which child poverty brings, and reminds those of us who have responsibility for children's services not to lose sight of the fact that tackling it remains a prerequisite to achieving better outcomes for children. Poverty and place are heavily interdependent, Pockets of deprivation throughout the country are marked by bad housing, poor local amenities, high crime rates and a lack of job opportunities. Life chances are heavily associated with place – and this was recently brought home to me forcefully when I looked at the astonishing differences in life-expectancy rates across Westminster. The life expectancy of men living in some of the wealthier parts of Knightsbridge and Belgravia is 83.1 years. But a couple of miles away, in Church Street Ward, it is below 70. The impact on an adult's life chances according to whether or not they grew up in poverty as a child can be dramatic. We cannot allow this state of affairs to continue. We spend an estimated £3bn a year on children's social care, and a further £3.6bn on children with special educational needs. These budgets are perennially under pressure. It is no surprise to find that expenditure is heavily concentrated in areas of relative poverty. Our preventative strategies assume that if effective action is taken to tackle the underlying social causes which lead to poor outcomes for children, the pressure on these budgets in the longer term will reduce. Then there are the wider, knock-on costs to society in terms of lost tax revenue potential, reduced labour market potential and reduced high-street spending. Again, it has been estimated the cost to the wider economy of the current cohort of 16 to 18-year-olds who are ‘NEET' – not in education, employment or training – is a staggering £10bn. Eradicating child poverty is not only a moral duty. It is a key economic issue. Just as the problems of child poverty cut across a number of levels, so must our strategies in tackling it. Local authorities, with their knowledge and understanding of local needs and dynamics, are in a prime position to lead on this agenda. Our Local Strategic Partnerships need robust local economic development strategies which tackle worklessness through partnership. These strategies need to tackle the poverty of opportunity which many poorer children face by making high-quality cultural, social and educational activities available to them. And they need to listen to the young people themselves. Local authorities are thus uniquely placed to create the big picture, by making sure children's services are integrally linked to other areas of social policy in the drive to tackle child poverty. The new network of children's centres and extended schools, with their dual emphasis on childcare and child development, is ideally placed to join up children's work with local economic development and employment strategies, under the auspices of the local strategic partnership. But we do need to take the opportunity to create this bigger picture. What is needed is a fully-integrated approach, where all partners focus on improving outcomes for the hardest-to-reach groups as part of a comprehensive community strategy. Around the country there are, as always, some examples of great practice. But we need to do more to share this good practice, so we can make it the norm rather than the exception. The 4Children pamphlet sets out both the arguments and the challenge, and reminds us not to lose sight of what we are here to do. David Hawker is Westminster City Council's deputy chief executive and director of children's services. Click here for more on Turning up the volume on child poverty

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CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Suffer the children

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