POLITICIANS, health chiefs, teachers and police have got together in a bid to tackle child poverty.

With 4,655 York children classed as living in poverty, 15 people from key local organisations that work with children and young people held talks at the Guildhall yesterday on how to close the gap between the city’s richest and poorest.

Representatives from City of York Council, NHS North Yorkshire and York, North Yorkshire Police, Barnado’s, the youth offending team, Jobcentre Plus, and primary and secondary school teachers, were among those who joined forces at the YorOK meeting.

The group aims to look at ways of improving young people’s academic achievements, health, safety, and general well-being, for those that live in the less affluent parts of the city.

Although the number of children classed as living in poverty in York is, at 14.2 per cent, well below the national average of 19.9 per cent, the council says five wards still fall short of the State target.

These are Guildhall, Westfield, Hull Road, Heworth and Clifton – with Kingsway West, Acomb, rated as being in the lowest ten per cent of the most deprived areas nationally.

Coun Carol Runciman, the city council’s executive member for children’s services, said: “The most important thing is that we have a wide breadth of people from all services who are involved in the meeting and tackling child poverty.

“It is not just governors or teachers – we have health people and the police, who all have a vital role in working with the children in the city.

“We have to all work together to tackle the most disadvantaged areas in the city and work towards a better future for children in these areas.

“It is about raising awareness of the problem and tackling it.

“We also have high-level strategic people at the meeting and hopefully the points we raise will filter back to their members of team and be put in action on the front line of children services in York.”

Measures announced in a council’s report presented at the meeting included working with Jobcentre Plus to encourage parents to get involved in its various advice sessions, courses, volunteering programmes and apprenticeships.

The council hopes to provide better services to improve the health and development of children of teenage parents, help with parenting skills and education.

Young people’s drop-in sessions are also planned, where teenage parents can find help to “break the cycle of poverty, reduce teenage pregnancy and avoid homelessness”.

The initiatives are all part of the council’s four-year Children and Young People’s Plan.

This initiative has already seen eight children’s help and advice centres set up, along with child care provision for vulnerable two-year-olds.

The Government’s definition of poverty is any family living on less than 60 per cent of the national average income, which is measured by halving the difference between the highest and lowest incomes in the country.