Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of child poverty in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child.

The Child Poverty Taskforce has started 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 Strategy will be published in the Spring and will be UK-wide.

In September, the Taskforce heard from local leaders about the challenges faced in their communities, and how they can best work with Mayors, local authorities and other bodies to develop innovative solutions to tackle child poverty. This marked the first of a series of thematic sessions with key organisations, charities and experts on specific topics that will help to shape the Strategy.

The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside the Government’s commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs at all primary schools, setting every child up at the start of the day ready to learn, expanding childcare to deliver work choices for parents and life chances for children, provide stronger protection for families who rent privately as well as deliver our plan to make work pay.