- New ministerial taskforce to hit the ground running on delivering the child poverty strategy
- Taskforce to be led by Work & Pensions Secretary and Education Secretary
- Comes after Work and Pensions Secretary meets with leading charities and campaigners to hear how they can shape the strategy
The Prime Minister has today [Wednesday 17 July] appointed the Work & Pensions Secretary and the Education Secretary as the joint leads of a new ministerial taskforce to begin work on the Child Poverty Strategy.
A new Child Poverty Unit in the Cabinet Office - bringing together expert officials from across government as well as external experts - will report into the taskforce. The new unit will explore how we can use all the available levers we have across government to create an ambitious strategy.
Recognising the wide-ranging causes of child poverty, Secretaries of State from across government will take part in this work, with the first meeting set to take place in the coming weeks.
In the immediate term, the taskforce is expected to consider how we can use levers related to household income as well as employment, housing, children's health, childcare and education to improve children's experiences and chances at life.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
For too long children have been left behind, and no decisive action has been taken to address the root causes of poverty. This is completely unacceptable - no child should be left hungry, cold or have their future held back.
That's why we're prioritising work on an ambitious child poverty strategy and my ministers will leave no stone unturned to give every child the very best start at life.
To get this urgent work underway, the Work and Pensions Secretary has met with leading organisations this morning including Save the Children, Action for Children, Barnados, TUC, End Child Poverty Coalition, Resolution Foundation and UNICEF to invite their views on how they can shape the strategy.
Work & Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said:
Too many children are growing up in poverty, blighting their lives now and damaging their future prospects.
Developing an ambitious strategy to tackle the problem is vital and urgent work which starts today.
We will turn the tide on rising poverty levels, so that every child no matter where they come from has the best start in life.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of breaking down barriers to opportunity and improving the life chances for every child.
For too many children, living in poverty leaves them not ready to learn and robbed of opportunity. But child poverty reaches far beyond the school gates and alongside the Work and Pensions Secretary, I am determined to drive the work forward to support families and communities.
This is a shared mission across government and our Taskforce will work closely with parents, charities and civil organisations as part our ambitious strategy to remove the stain of child poverty from our country."
Child poverty has gone up by 700,000 since 2010 with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. This not only harms children's lives now it damages their future prospects and holds back our economic potential as a country.
That's why we're committed to delivering an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start at life.
Government ministers will continue to engage with leading organisations, charities, and campaigners in the coming weeks as we begin work to develop the strategy.
