OPPORTUNITIES for children from low-income families in Droitwich are among the lowest in the country, with the area being dubbed a ‘coldspot’ for social mobility, a damning report has revealed.
The findings, in the Social Mobility Commission’s State of the Nation report last Tuesday saw Wychavon fall into the bottom 20 per cent of local authorities in the UK.
Wychavon is the worst district in Worcestershire and the worst area in the whole West Midlands for social mobility according to the report. According to the figures, it ranks below Redditch, Worcester and Malvern Hills while Bromsgrove is near the top of the charts. Rankings from early years education provision through to average wages earned in working life were used to determine the figures and reveal areas for improvement.
The commission said: “On the whole, the urban areas surrounding Birmingham rank in the top third of the country, due to very strong education outcomes, while sparsely populated areas, such as Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, fall in the bottom third.”
Despite the low ranking for education and early years, it appears Wychavon does close the gap when young people reach employment age with figures for adulthood rated much better than other areas.
Concerned council chiefs confirmed earlier this year that a pilot project had been launched to tackle the issue.
Deputy council leader Coun Lynne Duffy said: “We are very concerned about social mobility and this is why we have launched a pilot with our partners to support families and young people.
“We have started this in earnest in an area of Droitwich – working with schools, the police and other agencies.
“Improving social mobility takes time however, but we will focus on projects that we feel will have the biggest impact long term.”
Droitwich’s MP Nigel Huddleston told the Standard he was disappointed with the ranking and expressed his concern for the region as a whole.
“The problems this report reveals are exactly those the Government and local authorities are trying to address. The report also shows social mobility is not just an issue for urban or inner city areas but an issue that needs to be address in leafy rural areas and shire towns, too.
“Housing affordability is an issue locally, and while there has been a significant increase in housebuilding in the Wychavon area recently, we need to focus even more on affordable homes and on schemes to enable people to get on the housing ladder for the first time.”
He added while the worrying trends should not be ignored, the area should be hopeful the efforts are making significant strides to address the problems and there would be a more positive outlook for social mobility in the area in the future.
