BURY North MP James Frith has called on the government to do more to address 'the UK's social crisis'.

Mr Frith is a member of the cross-party Education Select Committee, which has produced a report calling on the government to give more powers to the Social Mobility Commission, the government body which promotes social mobility in the UK.

The committee is calling for the SMC to have greater resources and powers to enable it to publish social justice impact assessments on government policies and to proactively advise ministers on social justice issues, rather than just at the request of ministers as currently is the case.

Speaking after the publication of the report, Mr Frith said: “My Labour, Conservative and SNP colleagues from the Education Select Committee are united in our view that without stronger powers, the Social Mobility Commission will be unable to tackle social injustices and give the most vulnerable in society the chance they deserve to climb the ladder of opportunity.

“We are calling on the government to lead from the front on tackling social justice, with a minister given specific responsibility for this area of work and the creation of a new body inside government to drive forward initiatives across Whitehall to ensure social justice is delivered across the country.”