‘Work always pays’ myth
AS soon as I spotted the headline that child poverty in Middlesbrough had risen by 16.7% since 2015 (Gazette 06/06/2023) I simply knew what the reply would be – even before I read it.
Middlesbrough has the second highest increase in child poverty in the whole of the UK.
Conservative MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Simon Clark does his usual ‘’cut and paste’’ job bragging that unemployment is down by one million and that the employment rate is at a record high. However, reading the report one thing did grab my attention. The bit where it says almost seven in 10 of children living in poverty in the region are from working households, instantly dispelling the myth that “work always pays’.’
Sadly, we live in a society of low working hours, or no hours at all. Workers today are a disposable commodity, used then tossed aside.
Working a couple of hours a week may get the employment rate up for those number crunchers, but it does little for anyone’s standard of living. And even Universal Credit removes 55p for every extra quid you earn above your threshold.
Teesworks got a mention though, with the (supposed) thousands of well-paid jobs coming in hydrogen, solar energy and a few hot air ones too.
These will have little to zero effect on child poverty today, as the youngsters will be old-age pensioners by the time those jobs land.
Stephen Dixon, Redcar
Residents deserve to have answers
I HAVE long campaigned for transparency in the dealings of Stockton Borough Council, particularly in the case of financial matters.
Again, the issue concerning the financial state relating to the council-funded hotel has raised further serious concerns (Council-owned hotel sparks debate again, Gazette, 08.06.23).
Residents can be forgiven for asking the question, “Just what is going on?” Why does there appear to be a culture of subterfuge and lack of transparency?
What have the Labour controlled council and officers to hide from the electorate?
It would appear to be a great deal when details about the financial drainage relating to The Globe and the hotel and, more recently, the criticism that has been levelled at Labour councillors and council officers in relationship to the validation of a planning application for the building of 700plus houses at Wynyard.
It seems quite clear that the failure of Stockton Borough Council to be open about questions relating to financial matters leaves the council and its officers open to criticism.
It is quite clear, from the information provided on the initial application for the building of a “new town” at Wynyard, that the application failed to satisfy the bare minimum of good planning practice with inaccurate information and clearly contradictory information being supplied by the applicant.
Why were these fundamental errors not immediately identified and the application rejected?
Surely, such blatant “oversights” wouldn’t have been accepted in an application for a minor house extension, never mind a multi-million pound building programme.
Again, the question, “What is going on?”
Local residents have every right to have their questions answered as they, and their children and grandchildren, are the ones who, ultimately have to supply the funding to cover the eye-watering debts.
Tony Maxwell, Billingham