An independent assessment of the government's record on social exclusion since it came to power warns that although progress has been made in key areas, Britain remains a very unequal society.
New Labour has taken poverty and social exclusion very seriously and made genuine progress in reducing disadvantage, especially among families with children, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation commissioned report finds.
The study includes a detailed review of policy areas includes education, employment, health and neighbourhood renewal, as well as economic disadvantage. It draws on more than 500 separate sources from evaluations of policy initiatives, government reports and statistics and academic studies.
Stakeholder Response: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Professor John Hills, director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion and co-editor of the study, said: "There are substantial differences between the policies pursued in the years since 1997 and those followed previously. In some of the most important areas, the tide has turned and policy has contributed to turning that tide. This is no mean achievement.
"However, it does not follow that policy has already succeeded, or that Britain has yet become a more equal society. In virtually all of the areas discussed there is still a very long way to go to reach an unambiguous picture of success. Sustained and imaginative effort will be needed to make further progress and to reach groups not touched by policy so far."
Dr Kitty Stewart, a research fellow at CASE and co-editor of the study, said: "While highlighting evidence of undoubted progress, our assessment of the government's record reveals recurring problems. These include the conflict between targets for raising standards for all, and those that aim to reduce differences between disadvantaged groups. For example, overall improvements in health and education can leave the most disadvantaged lagging even further behind.
"Other problems relate to the growth of means testing, where a focus on those 'in greatest need' may be thwarted by low take-up, or create new disincentives to work or save. At the same time, the continuing decision to link social security benefits and tax credits to prices, rather than living standards, has created problems for groups like childless working-age claimants who do not receive any extra, targeted help. More generally, there is no overall strategy for 'poverty proofing' policies to ensure that action for tackling social exclusion is treated as a mainstream priority in every area of government."
Stakeholder Response: Help the Aged
Paul Cann, director of policy at Help the Aged, said: "In general terms, there has been progress in tackling poverty overall since 1997, but relative poverty among older people has remained stubbornly high and, more worryingly, the indicators of persistent poverty have not moved at all under New Labour. In particular, the government's use of means testing as the foundation of its strategy of targeting assistance to those who need it most has always, and will continue to, bypass a large number of the poorest pensioners.
"What concerns us most is that there have never been specific and measurable targets for the reduction of pensioner poverty such as those that have helped to tackle poverty among children. The unavoidable impression is that the government has concentrated its efforts on some vulnerable groups, notably children and young people, but has failed to extend this commitment to other groups, and particularly to older people.
"Help the Aged believes that the combination of rising household bills and other costs of living, low take-up of benefits and Pension Credit and the prevalence of means testing will see persistent poverty continuing to blight the lives a large proportion of the older population. Indeed, as utility bills and council tax soar again this year, we may well see more older people dragged into relative poverty and that poverty becoming worse among those already suffering from it.
"The next government - of whatever political hue - must set itself the challenge of making real progress in tackling persistent pensioner poverty."
Stakeholder Response: Voice UK
Kathryn Stone of Voice UK said: "There is indeed still a long way to go before we can say we have an equal society. Our work with vulnerable adults in the criminal justice system demonstrates that although there are new practical measures to achieve greater equality the real obstacle is about hearts and minds.
"Until everyone believes that ,for example, people with learning disabilities have the same right to equal access to the criminal justice system as everyone else then inequalities will remain."
