NO one should be proud to say that Weymouth and Portland has one of the lowest average weekly salaries in the UK.

Nor should they be proud that funding for education in Dorset is also among the lowest.

When these facts are presented, it is not at all surprising that many of our young people decide to leave the area.

It begs the question, why is the cry for funding in our schools and public services still being ignored?

It is an issue which was highlighted by inspectors at the recent Ofsted visit at our school and is a national scandal needing the government’s urgent attention.

Creativity is being squashed out of the curriculum as head teachers are forced to cut arts, technology, music and sports.

This, combined with the stress of exams, is unhealthy for our young people and their teachers.

Class sizes are up in 73 per cent of local authorities in England and yet teachers are expected to manage with less time and fewer resources.

The other problem is poverty which is undeniably present in Weymouth and Portland.

High paying engineering jobs, such as those at the navy base, have left our area leaving zero-hour contracts and unstable seasonal jobs.

This means that people don’t know if they will be paid on week to the next leading to debt and depression.

Linked to this, the people in Weymouth and Portland have the lowest life expectancy in the county of Dorset, which is common in areas of deprivation.

For the last 100 years life expectancy has been increasing but now, life expectancy has declined.

Despite all these threats to mental health, authorities are considering major cuts to services which including Portland Community Hospital and the Linden psychiatric unit.

Amongst all this gloom, however, there are organisations such as Weymouth and Portland Action on Wages (WeyPAW) which is campaigning for change.

This is an issue for the whole of our area, not just those of us it will affect in the future.

For more facts and ideas, Professor Danny Dorling of Oxford University is giving a talk at Weymouth Fire Station on the Saturday, October 13 from 12pm until 4pm.

By Jo Orrell