Baroness Hughes of Stretford
Main Page: Baroness Hughes of Stretford (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Hughes of Stretford's debates with the Department for Education
(9 years, 5 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, I find it very surprising that today the Opposition have decided that the Statement on child poverty made in the other place by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions should not be repeated and discussed here. The Statement details the Government’s approach to tackling the root causes of child poverty and improving the future life chances of young people. Instead of debating child poverty as a matter of public importance, the Opposition have chosen to have a debate about procedural matters, when the Government have already made it quite clear that they have responded to their request to defer the Report stage of the Childcare Bill to October.
Would the noble Baroness like to explain to the House the relevance of the point she has just made to the topic under discussion here today?
My Lords, the Minister has already made it clear that the concerns of the House were to be brought back at Report in October. However, the issue of child poverty is of great importance to the whole nation. I do not think that the electorate are particularly interested in the finer points of how we reach conclusions.