Oral Answers to Questions

Rachael Maskell Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

11. What progress he has made on reducing levels of child poverty.

[The Minister for Employment (Dame Diana Johnson)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her interest in this area. Through our child poverty strategy, we are already taking substantial action, including the expansion of free school meals eligibility, the removal of the two-child limit and the introduction of the £1 billion crisis and resilience fund. Actions in the strategy will lift 550,000 children out of poverty in ’29-30, and the removal of the two-child limit could benefit around 1,650 children in York Central.

[Rachael Maskell]

Lifting children out of poverty will be this Government’s greatest legacy. However, we know that around 4 million children will remain in poverty, so it is really important to go further. Last year, the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown suggested a levy on the gambling and betting industry to raise £3 billion and lift another 500,000 children out of poverty. Will the Minister ensure we do even more so that we have a greater legacy and ensure that the lives of those young people are changed forever because of the decisions of this Government?

[Dame Diana Johnson]

Like my hon. Friend, I am very proud of what the child poverty strategy will deliver. It may be worth reflecting on what the Chancellor said about child poverty at the end of last year in the Budget. She said that

“because I am tackling fraud and error in our welfare system, cracking down on tax avoidance and reforming gambling taxation, I can announce today, fully costed and fully funded, the removal of the two-child limit in full from April.”—[Official Report, 26 November 2025; Vol. 776, c. 397.]

I hope that reassures my hon. Friend that that was taken into account in the decisions taken by the Chancellor.