Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Michelle Welsh

Wednesday 11th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Bridget Phillipson)]

The Government are taking decisive action to tackle child poverty, for instance by removing the two-child limit, expanding free school meals and rolling out Best Start family hubs. Measures in the child poverty strategy are expected to lift more than half a million children out of poverty in 2029-30. That is what Labour Governments do: they make the choices that lift children out of poverty.

[Michelle Welsh]

I am proud of what the previous Labour Government did in rolling out Sure Start services, and of the role that I played in Nottingham and Derby in that connection. Does the Minister agree that where people are born should not determine their future, and that connecting Sure Start to maternity services delivers hope and opportunity and pulls many children out of poverty, including those living in former coalfield communities in my constituency such as Ollerton, Blidworth, Rainworth and Clipstone?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I strongly agree with my hon. Friend. Sure Start was one of the proudest achievements of the last Labour Government. We are now bringing it to life for a new generation of children with Best Start family hubs, and I am delighted that from April next year we are expanding healthy babies funding to every local authority in England, giving every family access to trusted, practical support during those critical 1,001 days. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who has spoken so powerfully about what needs to change in maternity services so that all women receive care and support at that vulnerable period in their lives.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Michelle Welsh

Monday 9th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Michelle Welsh (Sherwood Forest) (Lab)]

23. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reduce levels of child poverty.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)]

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of our opportunity mission. After a decade of Conservative Government, far too many children are growing up in poverty. It is a scar on our society, a blight on young lives, and the centrepiece of the Conservatives’ shameful legacy. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and I are getting on with the job of chairing the child poverty taskforce, which has started the urgent work needed ahead of the publication of our child poverty strategy in spring 2025.

[Bridget Phillipson]

I join my hon. Friend by extending my thanks to the staff at Stockton borough council for their hard work on the holiday activities and food programme over the past year. We are working through our budget settlement to agree measures to support families during the holidays, and in due course we will set out what further steps we can take. He will know, as I do, that while talent is spread across our country, opportunity is not. His constituency is full of children whom the Conservatives let down. This Labour Government will break down barriers.

[Michelle Welsh]

We know that children growing up in poverty on average do less well in education, with many children also having to miss out on other enriching school activities such as days out because they simply cannot afford them. Does the Secretary of State agree that every child, including the almost 7,000 children living in poverty in my Sherwood Forest constituency, should have the same opportunities to thrive at school, and that tackling child poverty is essential in ensuring that every child can succeed?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I agree; it is absolutely right that children in my hon. Friend’s constituency deserve every chance to achieve and thrive, and that is the ultimate goal of our child poverty taskforce. As the Prime Minister set out just last week through our plan for change, we want to give every child the best start in life, and that is just not possible if millions of children across our country are growing up in poverty.