Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department consult former Prime Minister Gordon Brown on policies to reduce levels of child poverty.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.

The Child Poverty Taskforce, co-chaired by the Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, has started urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring and will explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.

The Taskforce will engage external experts throughout the strategy development process including through a rolling programme of meetings, with sessions built thematically to bring together a broad range of experts on specific topics.

The Government also recognises the importance of capturing the experiences of those living in poverty which is why the Taskforce will also draw on findings from wider external engagement events in all regions and nations of the UK. These events will convene a broader range of voices, including bringing in the perspectives of families and children themselves.

We will also consider the record of previous administrations, not least during 1999-2005; the period in which official statistics recorded the fastest reduction in relative after housing costs UK child poverty rates.