Child Poverty

Earl Attlee Excerpts

Thursday 25th June 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

The noble Lord will understand that I cannot comment on speculation in the press, but once again I assure him that tackling child poverty is a priority for this Government and that we are determined to help to improve and transform the lives of the poorest and most disadvantaged in our society.

[Earl Attlee (Con)]

Can my noble friend the Minister remind the House how much we are spending on welfare?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

A lot. Large amounts. I am afraid that I do not have the figure directly to hand, but I can assure the noble Earl that we are focused on ensuring that people can get out of poverty. The best way to do that is to get people into work, which is why our focus has been on improving the economic situation as well as on helping to tackle the root causes of poverty.