The recent publication of a report showing that a quarter of children and young people in Brighton and Hove are classified as living in poverty (The Argus, March 17) is bad enough, but what’s worse is nothing on the report produced by Brighton and Hove City Council says how they intend to address this.

To simply say they have fulfilled all their responsibilities by gathering the data is not good enough.

Child poverty is a generational and complex issue that has to be consistently tackled over the long-term. It should not fall victim to the vagaries of short-term political thinking.

The Labour Government quite rightly made reducing child poverty a key pledge and supplied the infrastructure in the form of children’s centres, childcare linked to helping parents into work, and significantly raising educational attainment in schools.

Young people from poorer backgrounds were helped into access college courses with the Educational Maintenance Allowance, support from Connexions career guidance and practical work experience from the Future Jobs Fund – all now scrapped under the coalition Government.

Currently one in five 16–24-year-olds in Brighton and Hove is not in education, employment or training and, if nothing is done, there will be an even bigger poverty gap.

Actions speak louder than words and, with the council embarking on a programme to commission all of its services, there must be a clear plan showing how services to reduce child poverty will be jointly commissioned and how these actions link into local policies and support the city’s economy.

This is too important an issue to let slip and if nothing is done, we risk a lost generation in Brighton and Hove.

Councillor Pat Hawkes, Brighton and Hove Labour leader for children and young people