Solihull Council now has a legal responsibility to tackle child poverty. The Child Poverty Act received Royal Assent on 25 March 2010, and requires the Council and other statutory partners to prepare a joint strategy to tackle child poverty. But Solihull Council is ahead of the game; with nearly 5,000 children living in poverty in the borough the council realised it was time to act.

Last November the council ran a workshop on child poverty with colleagues from the statutory and third sectors. In that workshop they decided that the best outcome for Solihull would be to produce a borough wide strategy to incorporate all residents, communities and services and not just those linked to children. So the process to creating a holistic ‘Action Against Poverty Strategy’ for Solihull was started.

This strategy will cover everyone experiencing poverty in Solihull but it will have a strong focus on eradicating child poverty. Through the strategy the council aims to:

• Encourage the conviction that poverty is ‘everybody’s business’

• Work across the Solihull Partnership to develop and deliver solutions.
• Have a clear understanding of the drivers of poverty in Solihull.
• Be set within the context and link into the refresh of the Sustainable Community Strategy.
• Build on what we are already doing.

A project team has been established to work on the strategy and is currently concentrating on producing a needs assessment and developing the approach to engagement. 

We want to identify groups or individuals who may engage with us to help understand the drivers and effects of poverty. If you, your organisation and/or any of your service users would be willing to contribute to the consultative process please contact the AAPS team by email at aaps@solihull.gov.uk or telephone 0121 704 8549.

Many of our organisations involved in supporting people will understand the impact that health, well-being, addiction and other issues can have on the income to a home and how that can, in turn, affect children. Please consider whether your organisation might be able to assist with this important programme.