THE number of children who start school unable to go to the toilet or put on a coat by themselves is “shocking”, Alan Milburn has warned.

Just 26 per cent of the poorest pupils in the North-East – and 48 per cent from wealthier backgrounds – are ‘school ready’ at the age of five, official figures show.

Now Mr Milburn, a Government adviser, has urged “timid” ministers to get tough by introducing ‘parenting classes’, warning the burden of teaching the basics is falling unfairly on schools.

The aim would be to make 85 per cent of children ‘school ready’ by 2020 and all of them by 2025 – requiring a massive improvement in this region and elsewhere.

Alan Milburn, the head of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, told The Northern Echo: “These figures are lamentable and shocking.

“Too many kids, by the age of five, are not ready to start school – they can’t say no, or use the toilet, or get their coat on, for example.

“Most parents do a great job, but some do not, and there has been a reluctance to call out bad parenting or to support more parents to develop their parenting skills.”

The lowest numbers of poor five-year-olds are ‘school ready’ in Gateshead (18 per cent), Stockton-on-Tees (20 per cent), North Yorkshire (23 per cent) and County Durham (24 per cent).

The adviser, in his latest ‘state of the nation’ report, also raised the alarm over the stubborn attainment gap between rich and poor pupils at GCSE.

For example, in County Durham, only 38 per cent of pupils receiving free schools meals achieve five good GCSEs, including English and maths – while 68.2 per cent of other pupils do.

Mr Milburn called for a 25 per cent pay rise for teachers willing to work in “the worst schools in deprived areas”, to help end illiteracy and innumeracy.

The aim should be for at least 50 per cent of poorer pupils to achieve the GCSE benchmark by 2020. At present, the highest figure is in Darlington (just 41.8 per cent).

Overall, the former Darlington MP and Cabinet minister delivered a stinging rebuke to all parties for leaving Britain “on the brink of becoming a nation permanently divided between rich and poor”.

Depressingly, the 2010-2020 decade was likely to be the first since records began to see a rise in absolute poverty – from 2.6m households to 3.5m.

Mr Milburn also recommended:

  • Implementing a living wage by 2025 at the latest.
  • Each Budget should be assessed by the independent Office of Budget Responsibility for its impact on the working poor.
  • Long-term youth unemployment to be ended by 2020 – with half of all workplaces with more than ten staff offering quality apprenticeships.
  • Unpaid internships to be made illegal by 2020 – with 5,000 more pupils from a free school meals background going to university.