Milton Keynes Labour Party has pledged action to tackle increasing levels of child poverty.
The pledge comes after shocking figures revealed that the number of children living in severe poverty has increased in MK by more than a fifth since 2010 to 16,645, according to leading national charity End Child Poverty.
Around 60% of children in poverty have parents who work.
Now Labour are promising to tackle child poverty with a number of pledges in their manifesto for the upcoming local elections including:
• Funding to tackle hunger in schools
• More youth outreach workers
• Providing a safety net for people forced into poverty by Universal Credit
• Building more affordable housing for local families
• More support for families and parents to return to work or improve their skills.
MK Council has already taken a number of actions to tackle the issue including paying a living wage, increasing help to those who need housing support, and introducing free sanitary products for young women in period poverty. Milton Keynes is also the only council in the country to keep every children’s centre open.
Cllr Pete Marland, Leader of MK Council said: “It is truly shocking that in a city like MK, around one in four children now lives in poverty.
"Over 16,500 children in poverty is a disgrace, and we know that figure is up by 21% since 2010, a direct result of Tory austerity. The majority of those children are in families where parents work.”
He continued: “Labour-led MK Council has a record of trying to tackle this issue, we pay the living wage and we’ve introduced support to help stop families becoming homeless, as well as being the first council to introduce free sanitary products for young women in period poverty.
"We are also the only council to keep open all our children’s centres and they provide a vital link between parents and accessing support.”
He concluded: “Action on child poverty is one of our priorities. If elected in May, a Labour Council will tackle hunger in schools, we’ll provide a safety net for those being forced into poverty by Universal Credit, and we’ll build more affordable housing for local families.
"We will also support people into training so they can find better jobs.”
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