[UK] Charities welcome social exclusion minister

from The Guardian

Matthew Tempest, political correspondent

Charities today welcomed the announcement today by the prime minister that he is to create a new, cabinet-level post of minister for social exclusion.
Help the Aged, Shelter, Mind and the Child Poverty Action Group were among groups all giving the decision a cautious thumbs-up, although both the Tories and Liberal Democrats accused Mr Blair of chasing headlines with the announcement.

Speaking at the Aviemore at the Scottish Labour party conference, the prime minister slipped the unprecedented announcement of a new ministerial job into his keynote speech - although he refused to name the new minister.

Speculation at Westminster suggests the job will go to Hazel Blears who is currently a minister at the Home Office with responsibility for communities, anti-social behaviour and anti-terrorism, and long tipped for a cabinet post.
Another contender could be David Miliband, who is already in the cabinet as minister for communities and local government.

The PM was making his first trip north of the border since the disastrous Dunfermline byelection earlier this month, which saw Labour lose a rock-solid constituency to the Lib Dems.

Pointedly, Mr Blair made no mention of the defeat, although he did castigate the Lib Dems - who are in a coalition executive with Labour at the Scottish parliament - in unusually harsh terms.

He told activists: "Show them a political opportunity and they'll take it. Show them a tough decision and they'll fake it."

Copying the Scottish executive, which has had a minister for social exclusion since its creation in 1999, Mr Blair said: "We need, in the UK government and in partnership with you in Scotland, to examine again their light - in our case with a cabinet minister pulling the work together across government."

Caroline Spelman, the Tories' local government spokeswoman, pointed out this appeared to echo the PM appointment in 1999 of Mo Mowlam, then Cabinet Office minister, to head the Downing Street social exclusion unit and ensure "joined-up government".

She accused the government of "reheating" old announcements.

There remained 50 different funding streams for regeneration and social exclusion, she said.

"We welcome any genuine step to help the disadvantaged in our society. But I fear this is yet another attempt by Mr Blair to grab the headlines with a quick fix, reheating announcements he's made before.

The Lib Dem local government spokeswoman, Sarah Teather, said: "If this post signals a real commitment to take issues of exclusion seriously, it must be welcomed.

"Sadly, Labour's record so far has been one of increasing exclusion."

But charities involved in the sector were more optimisitic, with caveats.

David Sinclair, policy manager at Help the Aged, said the post was "excellent news".

"A minister at cabinet rank will be armed with the authority and capacity to link relevant government departments together and ensure that the report is properly implemented and not left to gather dust on a Whitehall bookshelf."

He added: "The government has made progress in tackling social exclusion among older people but a lot more needs to be done to end the scandal of pensioner poverty."

Shelter's director, Adam Sampson, called on the new minister to address the issue of housing.

"Bad housing is a central driver of social exclusion, trapping families and children in a lifelong cycle of poverty," he said.

"With more than one million children growing up in emergency, unfit or overcrowded homes that ruin their health, education and future chances, the first priority for any new social exclusion minister must be to tackle Britain's housing crisis.

Kate Green, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), said that this was "a much needed and welcome move".

"Although the social exclusion unit established in 1997 has done some good work, it has often lacked political clout.

"CPAG looks forward to working with the new minister, but they must be given the resources and political will to deliver real improvements for the poorest and most socially excluded people in our society

Dr Marcus Roberts, of mental health charity Mind called for mental health issues to be put at the core of the social exclusion agenda.

He said: "Particularly at a time when the government is looking to reduce its welfare bill, it's crucial that the minister is able to foster a recognition of the problems people with a history of mental health problems face in getting in to work. The government's hopes for incapacity benefit reform will come to little if the largest single group of claimants, people with mental health problems, continue to face discrimination from employers despite the desire of many of them to find work.

"The minister must quickly set about implementing the recommendations in the social exclusion unit's report on mental health: a proper programme to tackle stigma and discrimination and giving people with mental health problems a real chance of employment.

"If this minister is to take on responsibility for part of the Respect agenda, we would hope that they take seriously the concerns of many in the mental health field over the misuse of Asbos, too often issued to people who need treatment, not punishment."