Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a UK-wide Future Generations Commissioner to promote (a) long-term policy planning and (b) intergenerational fairness across Government departments.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
All children should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter who they are, where they’re from, or how much their parents earn. The Opportunity Mission will give the next generation the best start in life, help them achieve and thrive in excellent schools, and build skills for opportunity and growth. The mission has taken a number of steps to help ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed. These include expanding government-funded childcare, allocating £1.4bn to rebuild our schools, launching the curriculum review, announcing the creation of Foundation Apprenticeships and launching the first round of funding for 300 school-based nurseries. The government has also set-up a Ministerial Taskforce on Child Poverty, bringing in academia, local government and other sectors to develop a joint strategy on child poverty. There has been no specific assessment by the Cabinet Office of establishing a UK-wide Future Generations Commissioner.