All children, no matter their background, should have access to an education that will see them fulfill their potential.

Access to too many good schools are dependent on being able to afford middle class property.

The Prime Minister's announcement that the expansion of grammar schools will include a requirement to take a proportion of children from low income families means that places in these schools will be determined by merit, not home ownership.

Karl McCartney, MP

In leading a Parliamentary debate on the gender education gap this week, I called on the Government and the education sector to give the same level of focus, leadership  and action as it has done on equality issues affecting women and girls, such as the gender pay gap and female representation on company boards.

My view is that closing this gap, which started thirty years ago, is a One Nation, fairness and equality issue. Continuing to fail to address it means a continued negative effect on boys, their families, communities, business and the whole country.

The existence of the gender education gap can be seen throughout education and its impact can be seen by fewer boys than girls taking up apprenticeships, university places and more becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training).

The education sector has to ensure they are boy-friendly in how they teach and ensure they have a better understanding of what makes boys tick. There is a need for male teachers, long-term apprenticeships and more support for parents from low incomes.

Governments of all colours have not done enough to acknowledge this issue let alone tackle it and the education sector itself has done little. The time is now for concrete action, not more words. We need the Government to create an Implementation Taskforce to find solutions and put them into action.

Karl is the Member of Parliament for the City of Lincoln, a member of the 1922 Executive and the Transport Select Committee.

Education is an important gateway to social mobility and a core tool in breaking the poverty cycle.

Through several major reports the Centre for Social Justice has made the case for changes to the way our country supports the most disadvantaged children in their school years.

Our Requires Improvement report found that boys, particularly white working class boys are falling further behind than other students and are at risk of becoming an educational underclass.

In Closing the Divide we lay out recommendations to achieve aspirational education for all including improvement to early education, the quality of teaching and schools and increased learning between schools so that the best can help others solve the challenges they face.

We are committed to ensuring all children have access to an education that prepares them for the next steps in life and able to enter meaningful employment.

CSJ Report: Requires Improvement: The causes of educational failure

CSJ Report: Closing the Divide: Tackling educational inequality in England

A secure, stable home is fundamental to the life chances of all of us, but particularly to the life chances of the poorest. Without it, adults can struggle to maintain employment or provide the sort of home that is crucial for the nurture and flourishing of children.

The Centre for Social Justice is currently undertaking a piece of work looking at eradicating homelessness, focused particularly on the area of rough sleeping.

In the House of Lords on Wednesday evening, Philippa delivered a speech asking the Government to consider Bob Blackman’s Private Member’s Bill aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness.

She commended the Government’s commitment to a robust social justice agenda and considering better ways to prevent homelessness including improvements to legislation.

Philippa encouraged the Government to consider a twin approach of early preventative action and Housing First for those who have fallen through the net providing immediate permanent accommodation and wraparound support to help people maintain their tenancy.

You can read Philippa’s speech in full here.

Read Researcher Hannah Gousy's CapX article on homelessness.

By Amy Smail

Around the UK there are thousands of charities fighting the root causes of poverty in their communities and tackling some of the most serious social problems. International Day of Charity on 5 September provided a chance to celebrate and reflect on the valuable contribution charities make but also to look at how we can better support their work.

Our Social Solutions report provides practical ways for Government to support the charity sector in its vital work and unleash significant untapped potential towards combatting the social problems which blight our most deprived communities.

• Increasing the role of the social sector in providing public services, helping the most innovative interventions to develop their impact and evidence base so they can be commissioned, and removing barriers for the smallest organisations.
   
• Rebalancing the distribution of charities and charitable resources throughout the country, tackling cold spots where there are few or no organisations and less funding for charities.
   
• Extending the vital role the public and businesses have in resourcing the sector and ensuring that the smallest organisations are able to make the most of these opportunities.

The CSJ Alliance

Our Alliance of over 350 poverty-fighting grassroots organisations informs and inspires our policy work, showing us both what is happening in some of the most deprived communities, and their innovative solutions to ingrained poverty.

Applications for the 2017 CSJ Awards will open soon.

We champion the work of Alliance members at the heart of government and celebrate and reward outstanding organisations through our CSJ Awards.

Each winning organisation receives £10,000 and the rare chance to have their work profiled  to an audience of high-ranking politicians, celebrities, major philanthropists, leaders from the private and voluntary sector and the media.

The CSJ Awards have brought over 90 winning voluntary groups to the attention of the national media and policy makers and nearly £500,000 has been given out to date.

Email awards@centreforsocialjustice.org.uk to receive more information.

CSJ Report: Social Solutions: Enabling grass-roots charities to tackle poverty