Local Authority responds to our deputation, but fails to acknowledge our demands

On the 29th January 2021, our spokesperson Carlie Goldsmith made a deputation to the full council meeting. You can watch it here.

The council responded at todays Children, Young People & Skills Committee meeting with this;

Class Divide welcome the news that work on the strategy to close the gap between disadvantaged pupils in Brighton and Hove and the rest of the city's children is now starting after five years. We are also pleased that this work will have a limited amount of resources attached. It was not made clear if the £25,000 mentioned is additional funding. If it is not, then there’s no specific investment for children and young people in our estates.

We are disappointed that there was no commitment today from the Children, Young People and Skills Committee that a specific plan is devised and implemented to address the devastating levels of inequality ALL children and young people face, not just those who fit the disadvantaged category, in the East Brighton Communities of Whitehawk, Bristol Estate and Manor Farm. There was no mention on support for adults wanting to reconnect with learning, nor any mention of support for families navigating the education system.

This inequality impacts all of us. It means we are not using the drive, ambition, and talent we know that is found in the children and young people growing up on social housing estates. And not just ours, estates across the country. Given the multiple crises, and the radical changes that must take place to build a future that provides for all safely and sustainably this is a criminal waste that leaves our city and this country weaker. We must do better.