A SOCIAL disaster – that is the assessment of child poverty figures by a councillor who represents the city’s most impoverished area.

City and county Labour councillor Alan Amos said there should be moral outrage and widespread anger that 549 youngsters in Warndon alone – 36 per cent of the young population living there – come from struggling families and he has called on local leaders to do more to get them into affordable homes.

Councillor Francis Lankester, the cabinet member in charge of housing on the city council, said efforts are being made to do that but said he will not be pressured into ploughing limited funds into a project to build a small number of homes.

We reported on Wednesday how there are 3,600 children in Worcester living in poverty. As well as those in Warndon, there are 509 in Rainbow Hill (31 per cent), 431 in Gorse Hill (34 per cent) and 443 in St John’s (26 per cent) in families who are struggling to meet basic needs such as food, heating, transport, clothing, school equipment and trips.

The figures were unveiled in a report from the Campaign to End Child Poverty which defined poverty as a household with a combined income of less than £15,000.

At a meeting of the city council’s performance management and budget scrutiny committee, Coun Amos said: “This is a social disaster and cause for moral outrage. I hope everyone around this table is angry.”

Coun Amos questionned how the council was going to break the cycle of deprivation and asked why it was not embarking on a programme to build houses to alleviate the pressure of waiting lists.

He said: “We have a very serious situation here. We have a social problem of grotesque proportions and I don’t see anything on paper that will change that. It will cost this council more money to do nothing than something.”

Conservative councillor Mr Lankester, the cabinet member for safer and stronger communities, reinforced his position that it is better to use limited resources for infrastructure rather than housing as that will deliver more benefits for all in the long term.

He said the council recently approved a proposal to use eight empty flats at 19-21 Park Street, off Wyld’s Lane, as temporary accommodation for the homeless and the council was also setting up a social lettings agency.

Coun Lankester also agreed with city MP Robin Walker that the best way to tackle poverty is to get people off benefits and back into work.

We also previously reported how Worcester Community Trust is working with children’s centres, schools, housing and public health departments to tackle poverty.