Council holds debate on plan to address child poverty in Camden

This debate provided a vital opportunity to continue to prioritise tackling child poverty, which is increasing in London and Camden despite a long history of tackling inequality and decades of council investment.

Growing up in poverty affects every aspect of a child’s life and their future life chances, including their health. On the other hand, a happy and healthy childhood increases the likelihood of lifelong good health and wellbeing.

To understand the differences in health among Camden’s children and young people, the council commissioned an independent report.

Published earlier this year, the report highlighted the impact of poverty on Camden’s children and included a series of recommendations to reduce child poverty and improve the health of children living in the most deprived circumstances in the borough.

In response to the report, Camden established the Raise Camden Taskforce co-chaired by the Council Leader, Councillor Richard Olszewski and Sir Michael Marmot, Director of the Institute of Health Equity and Professor of Epidemiology at University College London.

The taskforce is the first of its kind in Camden and brings together partners and experts from in and outside the borough to test, learn and find solutions to child poverty.

In partnership with the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL), Camden recently launched a one-year pregnancy grant, supporting families in the greatest financial need with a £500 cash transfer before their child is born to help them with the cost of pregnancy and preparing for a baby. Eligible residents are contacted at around 28 weeks.

Sophie Livingston from local charity Little Village, Don McGibbon, Executive Head at Rhyl Community Primary and Fleet Primary School, a young ambassador from the Young Camden Foundation and Anna Feuchtwang from the National Child Bureau joined the debate, alongside local councillors and Council teams.

“Child poverty is a growing issue in Camden and across the country and it’s critical that we highlight the issues and come together to address it. No child should experience poverty and through the Raise Camden Taskforce we are doing everything we can with partners, experts and residents to urgently address this.

Through our schools, voluntary sector, children centres and family hubs and Camden Council, we all provide help and advice for families who need it – we have invested an extra £600,000 to support families in poverty in the first 1001 days, as we know this is key to shape lifelong outcomes.

We are also working closely with schools every day to support vulnerable families, including with food support – our Magic Breakfast scheme has helped more than 3,000 pupils who need it access a free breakfast at school every day.

We want every child to be given the right opportunities to thrive. We will continue to push forward with this work so every child in Camden has a happy, healthy and hopeful childhood.”

Councillor Marcus Boyland, Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families

“We want to end child poverty in Camden and we are committed to continuing to invest in support for families and other residents who are most affected by the high cost of living. This targeted support for people on the lowest incomes includes £500 payments via our £2million Cost of Living Fund; our Council Tax Support scheme, one of the most generous in the country, which stops 16,000 residents paying council tax; and £500 Family Hub Pregnancy Grant payments to support families in the greatest financial need with the cost of preparing for a baby.

This debate gives us a vital opportunity to raise awareness of the growing issue of child poverty, but there is so much more we must do to put this work into action; we will continue to work alongside partners – from health partners, schools and local charities – to come up with urgent solutions to tackle child poverty once and for all.”

Councillor Camron Aref-Adib, Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living

Read the full report

Find out more about Camden’s Children Centres and Family Hubs at: Families – Camden Council

For more information about the £500 Camden Family Hubs Pregnancy Grant, visit: families.camden.gov.uk/support-for-parents/parent-health-welfare/pregnancy-grant

Find out more about the Raise Camden Taskforce at www.camden.gov.uk/raise-camden

For Cost of Living support, head to: www.camden.gov.uk/cost-of-living-support