In the UK 3 Million families are expected to be unable to heat their home this year. This is equivalent to one person from Thanet per 20 family without heating. Even if we were all nicely well off this is a poverty problem of a scope that we would still not be to cover.

Sadly a large portion of Thanet makes up a share of this number. Families, possibly in your road or mine that are unable to keep warm due to economic hardship. Posh knobs might simply ignore this by saying "get a job" but let us be honest about the fact that the work in Thanet does not exist and is likely to become ever more scarce.

The UK poverty rates are 50% higher than France and more then twice as high as Scandinavian countries and yet the UK is the fourth richest nation. Three quarters of a Million children will go without a warm waterproof coat or proper shoes this winter and around 42% of these children are from single parent families. Raising children is hard enough if you are living in a nice house, with a good income and a partner to support you. On your own with none of this it is infinitely harder.

According to Capacity (from whom I obtained this data) "Children growing up in poverty are more likely to leave school at 16 with fewer qualifications." Do you know what sort of work exists in Thanet for those with few qualifications? Yes, that's right - not a lot.

Back to the problem of the prior generation...

"If we are serious about improving the life chances of the poorest children, we have to do much more than worry about the curriculum."
Experiences of Poverty and Educational Disadvantage, Joseph Rowntree Foundation

This is where the Sure Start program is trying to make a difference. This does not mean that you and I should sit back and "let the bleeding hearts get on with it" - far from it! Ever effort not expended at breaking this cycle in Thanet is one more nail in the coffin of our local economy. The same is true of every part of the UK.

But these issues are not faced by us alone. A relatively new act of parliament known as The Childcare Act 2006 places a number of requirements on local authorities to tackle this issue. That includes Thanet District Council who, should you ask them to, must be able to show what they are doing to fulfill this requirement.

"Measures in the Act formalise the important strategic role local authorities play through a set of new duties. These duties will require authorities to improve the five ECM outcomes for all pre-school children and reduce inequalities in these outcomes; secure sufficient childcare for working parents; and provide a better parental information service. The Bill also reforms and simplifies early years regulation and inspection arrangements providing for a new integrated education and care quality framework (for pre-school children) and the new Ofsted Childcare Register. The aim is that the Act's main provisions will come into effect in 2008."
Childcare Act 2006, surestart.gov.uk, link

If the only thing we do is not let our local authority forget their duty then we have done something towards changing the world.