Cllr Angela Argenzio, Chair of Adult Health and Social Care Committee – Speech at Taking Action on Poverty Summit 28/03/25
It is not coincidental that our first summit after the launch of the Fair & Healthy Sheffield plan is about taking action on poverty.
The link between poverty and its effects on the health and wellbeing of people is well documented.
We know that the poorest in our society are also the sickest, they have the worst health outcomes and live the shortest lives.
The key word in our plan to tackle health inequalities is fair: we want to live in a city that is fair and affords opportunities to all.
There is already a lot of excellent work happening and we have committed as a city to the radical shifts necessary to deliver equitable and just health outcomes for the people of Sheffield.
Myself and others in positions of leadership need to constantly challenge the system, that does not allow us to lift people out of poverty.
We have to be brave & call out the status quo and the populist narrative that puts the blame on those who are not given opportunities. A system that perpetuates social injustice.
We must challenge the intersectionality of poverty, as those who are the least well off are more often than not from minoritised communities, disabled, women, pensioners.
We must challenge the narrative that blames migrants for the structural injustice of our society.
This means that we as leaders must have the courage to call out this injustice: the injustice of cutting benefits for disabled people or winter fuel payments for the elderly, the injustice of keeping the two child benefits cap.
I look forward to a constructive and positive afternoon looking at what good practice already happens in the city and what shifts we need to make so that we can do everything in our power to build communities where everybody can thrive.
Cllr Angela Argenzio chats with Dr Zak McMurray – the two co-chairs of Sheffield’s Health and Wellbeing Board
