A Question of Morals

In 2013, just 650 recognised food banks were operating in the UK. In 2024 that figure has risen to 2500. In 2013 the waiting list for CAMHs was just over 21000. The number is now more than a quarter of a million. The link between poverty and poor mental health is well-known and well-evidenced. Labour’s election manifesto described the lack of support for children and young people as shameful- promising specialised mental health support in every school.

TACaccess works with schools and colleges across the nation- some of them supporting our most deprived young people. In at least one of those colleges, it has taken sustained support from local charities to add to existing capacity and ensure that those in direst need have access to therapeutic help. It has been an awe-inspiring piece of work but still begs the question, is it acceptable in modern Britain that the basic needs of the young have to be met through charity? Writing in his X feed this week, Oasis leader @Steve Chalke said:

“It’s time to bury the old idea that every school is somehow obligated to scramble around to raise extra cash from charity for the essential welfare of children.”

At a time when local authority budgets have reached crisis point though, it’s no wonder that we are looking to charities to fill the gaps. Analysis by the BBC shows local authorities are making £3bn in savings this financial year, but still face a funding shortfall of more than £5.7bn by 2026-27.

Local government experts said councils had carried out "all of the easy cuts" years ago and were now struggling to protect vital children's and adult social care services.

Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said: 

"Children must not pay the price for balancing budgets.”

There are many powerful, influential voices with much to say and to contribute to this debate and they have done much in their spheres and nationally to ensure that this critical issue is known about and understood.

What’s required now is unifying leadership and cohesion. Without it, all the efforts of individuals, experts, pressure groups and charities will be of little use. The lifetime cost for a generation of children will be incalculable. In the words of the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer,

The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.