Shadow minister comes to town to talk poverty

Kate Green MP, shadow minister for equality and chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for poverty, was invited to the town by Warwick and Leamington MP Chris White, the committee’s vice chairman.

The conference brought together charities, voluntary organisations and council representatives to see what can be done to help reduce poverty in the community and was attended by around thirty people from organisations such as the Salvation Army, Mayday Trust and South Warwickshire Credit Union.

Mr White said: “We are fortunate to have many excellent community organisations working hard to tackle poverty and support some of our most vulnerable residents.

“As the local MP, I hope this conference has helped to raise awareness of this issue and will continue to do what I can to keep it at the top of the agenda in Westminster with the help of colleagues such as Kate.”

The conference looked at a range of issues such as homelessness and housing, supporting families and how organisations could collaborate better.

Mrs Green, who represents Stretford and Urndon, visited the Brunswick Healthy Living Centre, the Salvation Army and the Mayday Trust.

She also saw the work of the Satkaar Asian Elders Day Care Service, charity LIFE’s offices in Mill Street and the Fry Housing Trust.

The visiting MP said: “What’s obvious is that there are lots of people doing really good work for some very disadvantaged and deprived people who are beset by systems that don’t work.

“We heard about people struggling to find work and housing and the pressures that affect people’s lives.

“We need to start moving away from knowing the problems are there and thinking about how we do the problem solving, getting local authorities and all the different service providers to work together more coherently. Local decision makers need to think very carefully about the impact of their policies and the way they design services.”