Like the Danes, we need to pay for the society we want

Karin Blak responds to an article about children’s homes in crisis and what can be learned from the Danish system

As a Dane who went through Danish children’s services, and later worked in Sure Start centres as a family therapist in England, I found your article particularly resonant (English children’s homes are in crisis. Does Denmark hold the answers?, 1 November). Adopting similar care here requires two changes: our attitude to paying tax and our electoral system.

Denmark’s basic national income-tax rate and average municipal income-tax rate together amount to about 37%, almost twice England’s 20% basic rate. Although allowances and other contributions make this an imperfect comparison, we need to acknowledge Danes’ willingness to pay for the quality of services that underpin a stable society. Tax-funded services benefit us at every level of society, including care we hope neither we nor our families will ever need.

But funding alone is not enough. Working in Sure Start centres, I saw the gradual dismantling of a service that should have been the pride of the country. Children’s services need sustained investment, experienced staff and policies that last beyond the next election. When successive governments dismantle or redirect their predecessors’ work, vulnerable children bear the consequences.

Denmark’s proportional electoral system requires parties to work together. I believe proportional representation at Westminster would help us build the broader agreements needed to sustain social provision through changes of government. It would not guarantee good care, but it would help improvements endure.

We need the willingness to pay for the society we want, and a political system that encourages parties to take responsibility for its future together. Children who have already experienced instability and neglect deserve that much. Karin Blak Market Harborough, Leicestershire