Enfield Council debates 'shocking' borough inequality

8:30am Friday 13th November 2009

By Rebecca Lowe

MORE must be done to solve endemic inequality in Enfield, according to the Labour group.

Both main parties debated the issue for an hour at Wednesday night's full council meeting, at the Civic Centre, in Silver Street, in an attempt to find common ground.

The Labour party raised the subject in a priority business issue report, which outlined five actions it felt would help create a more equal borough.

The party proposed free school meals for all primary school pupils, business rate rebates and rent reductions in the seven most deprived wards, and more funds to be set aside for grants in these wards.

It also suggested that more of the council's environment and education budget should be dedicated towards these wards to encourage inward investment and improve opportunities.

Speaking at the meeting, Labour leader Jeff Rodin said: "I was horrified and shocked by some of the information innocently asked for, which outlined the differences between certain parts of the borough.

"We need to look at ways that we as a public body can direct funds to where the greatest needs are.

"I would argue that all these things, if done, won't solve the problem, they won't change Edmonton Green into the Grange, but they could certainly begin to address the problem."

According to Vivien Giladi, Labour spokeswoman for education, Enfield now has the highest infant mortality rate in the north London sector, at 6.7 per 1,000 births.

She advocated "upstream intervention" to help solve the problem, which she defined as helping children "pre-school or even pre-birth".

She added: "No council can be indifferent to the cutting off, not just of life achievement, but of life itself.

"The council can use its spending power and investment potential in deprived areas and help increase economic growth."

Labour's report was written in response to new Government legislation, currently going through Parliament, which will put greater responsibility on local authorities to deal with socio-economic disparities.

There is currently a 10.7 per cent gap in unemployment rate between Edmonton Green - the most deprived ward in the borough - and Grange, and an 8.8 per cent gulf in life expenctancy between Edmonton Green and Highlands.

A quarter of households in Edmonton Green earn less than £15,000 a year, compared to only 6.5 per cent in Winchmore Hill.

Council leader Mike Rye acknowledged the pressing problem of inequality in the borough, but discounted Labour's five points.

Providing free school meals for all children would take funds away from those who needed them the most, he argued, while business rates rebates were nationally controlled.

He claimed reducing business rents would be ineffective because most of the money goes into the housing revenues account, meaning any cut in income would force rent up across the board.

Mr Rye said: "There is a concern that if local government tries desperately to deal with socio-economic problems in these ways it will deal with the symptoms and not the causes.

A better solution, Mr Rye argued, would be to revive grammar schools, increase Government university subsidies and encourage more mixed social housing similar to that created in Winchmore Hill in the Nineties.

Councillor Terence Neville, cabinet member for the environment, denied the east of the borough had been neglected.

According to a council spokesman, the borough has secured more than £62m from Government, European Union and private sector funding to regenerate Enfield's most deprived wards.

This money has helped create 570 new jobs, 323 apprentices, and 14 new businesses.

In addition, around £33.4m of capital money has been spent in the east and Bowes ward since 2003 on road and pavement resurfacing, street lights, trees and road safety schemes.

Mr Neville said: "This notion that we spend nothing in these areas invades every serious debate about issues, but it's really not true.

"If we're going to tackle these major social problems, we need a truthful base."