Asked by
The Lord
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the review by the Church of England Making the case for a child
poverty strategy, published on 28 April; and what plans they
have, if any, to introduce a child poverty strategy.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth
and Development Office and Department for Work and Pensions
() (Con)
My Lords, I confirm that no specific assessment has been made. We
are completely committed to supporting low-income families and
will spend £108 billion on welfare support for people of working
age in 2022-23. With record vacancies across the UK, our focus is
firmly on supporting parents to move into work and to progress in
work wherever possible, as we know that this is the best way to
tackle poverty, particularly where work is full-time.
The Lord
I thank the Minister for her reply. In the Church of England
child poverty review, we present a consensus from across the
political spectrum that child poverty is a complex issue that
must be strategically dealt with across all departments but in a
locally facing way. One group cautioned in its response that the
feasibility and success of a child poverty strategy will be
dependent on the will of the Government, so my question is this:
is there enough will to produce a specific, targeted strategy
that aims to end child poverty?
(Con)
My Lords, Ministers and officials engage regularly across
government to ensure a co-ordinated approach to this very
important issue. We keep all priorities under review, but, as I
said, with almost 1.3 million vacancies across the UK, our focus
is to ensure that we can fill those vacancies with people who can
work so that they can become independent. The latest available
data on in-work poverty shows that, in 2019-20, a child in a home
where adults were working was around six times less likely to be
in absolute poverty before housing costs.
(Lab)
My Lords, recently the Prime Minister admitted that we cannot
level up without tackling child poverty, and the Deputy Prime
Minister declared himself heartbroken at the story of Emma, whose
son provided her with a bowl of cereal because he had not seen
her eat for days. Does this not underline the urgent case for a
child poverty strategy? According to the Social Mobility
Commission, England is the only country in the United Kingdom
without such a strategy. Does that not also make the case for
immediate urgent help for children so far lacking in the face of
the cost of living crisis?
(Con)
The case study the noble Baroness relays is definitely harrowing,
and I wonder whether I might meet with her to talk more about it
and to understand it in more detail. However, the Government are
absolutely committed to dealing with the issues of poverty. We
have just allocated another £15 billion support package. This
will include a £650 payment to more than 8 million low-income
households and a £300 increase to the winter fuel payment.
Individuals receiving disability benefit will receive £150 as a
one-off payment in September, and this will not be taken into
account for tax purposes on benefits. We have cut the taper rate,
and we have also given a non-repayable £400 reduction in energy
bills. Those in houses in council tax bands A to D will get £150,
and for other people who do not get that there is a further £144
million. We understand the issues of poverty, and we are placing
vast sums of money to do what we can to help.
(Con)
My Lords, during the passage of the Welfare Reform and Work Bill,
my noble friend said that focusing on
income-based poverty measures fails
“to tackle the root causes of child poverty.”—[Official Report,
25/1/16; col. 1054.]
He promised regular reports on family instability, inter alia, to
hold the Government to account for their actions and progress.
The Government have not yet fulfilled that promise. Can my noble
friend assure me that they recognise that family instability is a
driver of poverty and are concerned not just about parental
conflict?
(Con)
I completely agree with my noble friend about family instability
and how it drives poverty. That is why we are investing so much
in family hubs, and I pay tribute to my noble friend for the
activity he has had with those. I am meeting the Minister
responsible for family hubs next week to see how the rollout is
going and how the DWP might work with them. But I have to say
that through the reducing parental conflict programme, in which
we will invest £33 million, we have supported over 4,400 parents
since 2019. We are confident that we have gleaned sufficient data
from this to continue to roll out the programme and to ensure
that we support people with difficult relationships.
(CB)
My Lords, the review’s recommendations range across a number of
policy areas, including the importance of addressing educational
inequality in tackling child poverty. With the conclusion this
year of the five-year opportunity area programme, could the
Minister tell the House what lessons have been learned about what
works to level up opportunities for those children born into
areas of persistent poverty and deprivation, and how these
learnings will be incorporated in future policies?
(Con)
Opportunity areas caused great excitement when they were
announced. They are a matter for the Department for Education, so
I hope the noble Baroness will be happy with me asking my noble
friend Lady Barran to give her the information she requests.
(LD)
My Lords, in government, Liberal Democrats delivered on free
school meals and ensured that every child between four and seven
was provided with a free school meal regardless of income. In any
child poverty strategy, will the Government commit to extending
eligibility for free school meals to every pupil whose parents or
guardians are in receipt of universal credit, and to pupils from
low-income families whose parents or guardians have no recourse
to public funds?
(Con)
In 2019 the Government introduced new eligibility criteria for
families on UC following a consultation. It is estimated that
this will be more generous in its reach by 2022 in comparison
with the legacy benefits system. Further to this, we included
generous protections which mean that any family eligible for free
schools meals transitioning to UC from a legacy benefit will
continue to have access to a free school meal even if they move
above the earnings threshold.
(Lab)
One of the important recommendations in the strategy was to
ensure that the hidden poor and those with no voice, such as
victims of modern slavery, the homeless and victims of child
abuse, are not missed. Does the Minister support this
recommendation for implementation within her department, and what
steps are being taken to lift these groups out of poverty?
(Con)
I am not able to make a commitment right now, but I know that the
department is looking at all the recommendations and will respond
to the Church in due course. I reiterate that we will be spending
£64 billion on benefits to support people who are unable to work
or who are on a low income. Another point I would like to make—I
ask all noble Lords to help me on this—is that we urge people to
check whether they are receiving all the benefits to which they
are entitled and to be aware of the wider support this opens up,
including help with transport, broadband and prescription
costs.
(GP)
My Lords, the report highlights the widespread agreement among
concerned organisations that the two-child limit is a significant
cause of child poverty. Given that this is an explicitly punitive
measure directed at children, should the Government not be taking
this advice to end that policy?
(Con)
It is important that we support families. I note the point the
noble Baroness makes about the two-child policy, as did the right
reverend Prelate the , but it is important that
we are fair to the many working families who do not see their
budgets rise when they have more children. This does not apply to
child benefit nor to the disabled child element, and statistics
from the Office for National Statistics show that in 2021, 85% of
all families with dependent children had a maximum of two
children, and for lone parents the figure was 86%.
(Con)
My Lords, my noble friend has rightly spoken about getting people
out of poverty through work, but what steps are the Government
taking to help those who are in work but are low-paid and
low-skilled to better themselves?
(Con)
Another exciting initiative is the in-work progression offer. We
have in-work progression champions working with every jobcentre
and district to help people to get a job, and then to get a
better job which pays more and helps them with their cost of
living.
