THE number of Southampton children who start school unable to go to the toilet or put on a coat by themselves is “shocking”, says a Government adviser.

Just 35 per cent of the poorest city pupils – and 53 per cent from wealthier backgrounds – are ‘school ready’ at the age of five, official figures show.

And the problem is just as stark across Hampshire, where 36 per cent of youngsters receiving free school meals – and 59 per cent of the rest – arrive unable to perform simple tasks.

Now Alan 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 Hampshire and elsewhere.

Mr Milburn, the head of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, told the Daily 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.”

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

In Southampton, only 35.6 per cent of pupils receiving free schools meals achieve five good GCSEs, including English and maths – while 63.9 per cent of other pupils do.

And that gap is even wider across Hampshire – with scores of 27.4 per cent and 62.7 per cent, respectively.

The adviser 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.

Overall, the former Labour 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”.