Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what further steps they will take to mitigate the impact of child poverty.

Delivering our manifesto commitment to tackle child poverty is an urgent priority for this Government, and the Ministerial Taskforce is working to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring 2025.

Our publication on 23 October ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing our Strategy’ sets out how we will develop the Strategy, harnessing all available levers to deliver a reduction in child poverty this Parliament.

The Strategy will look at policies across four key themes of increasing incomes, reducing essential costs, increasing financial resilience, and better local support especially in the early years. This will build on the reform plans underway across government and work underway in Devolved Governments.

The Taskforce will hear directly from experts on each of the Strategy’s themes. In October, they heard from partners in industry, regulation and the charity sector about options to reduce essential costs for low-income families. In November, employers, trade unions and think tanks will be invited to discuss options to increase incomes and financial resilience in low-income households.

The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside our commitments to triple investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, introduce a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and increase the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour from April 2025 to boost the pay of 3 million workers.

£1 billion, including Barnett impact, will be invested to extend the Household Support Fund in England by a full year until 31 March 2026, on top of the six months already announced, and to maintain Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales. This will help struggling households facing the greatest financial hardship.