Oral Answers to Questions

Andrea Leadsom Excerpts

Monday 23rd January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Maria Miller]

As I have already said, the Government are not really into the forecasts that the hon. Gentleman is looking at, but we are firmly committed to eradicating child poverty. The IFS projections do not tell the whole story; they do not take into account fundamental things such as behaviour change, or our significant investment in early intervention, our education reform policies and our policies in other areas.

[Andrea Leadsom (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

Bearing in mind the great importance given to the issue of child poverty across the House, will my hon. Friend tell us what steps she is taking to assess the amount of child benefit being paid to the non-resident children of EU workers in this country? What can be done to ensure that those benefits are minimised?

[Maria Miller]

We all want to ensure that the money available goes to the children who need it most, and I am sure that we will look carefully at my hon. Friends’s question.