Heath campaigns to end child poverty

David Heath MP has shown his support for helping the UK’s poorest children in this year’s Budget, at an event for the Campaign to End Child Poverty, in Westminster. MPs came together to demonstrate their concern for the one in three children in the UK who are living in poverty, and to send a message that more should be done to help them.
 
Mr Heath was photographed in front of a backdrop showing the Campaign to End Child Poverty’s Keep the Promise rally in Trafalgar Square in October where 10,000 people turned out to urge the government not to forget its promise of halving child poverty by 2010 and ending it by 2020.
 
This week’s event was organised by Save the Children, as part of the Campaign to End Child Poverty. The Campaign is calling on the government to invest at least £3 billion in the poorest families in this Budget, to give the government a chance of meeting their 2010 target.  Recent Save the Children research shows that the poorest are suffering the most from the financial crisis. Nearly half of the poorest parents have cut back on food and heating, around half are suffering sleepless nights and 40% are suffering from depression.
 
A Save the Children briefing has also argued that investing in the poorest families is the best way to help the economy, because poorer people are more likely to spend any extra money they receive.

Ten year anniversary of Labour promise to end child poverty

March 18th saw the tenth anniversary of the historic promise to end child poverty. To mark the occasion a ‘keep the promise petition’ was handed to Government to encourage them to keep their promise.

Organisations involved with the campaign noted that ‘as the recession bites, an investment of at least £3 billion would provide a vital, timely and targeted injection into families in our poorest communities who are hardest hit. Without this £3bn in the forthcoming budget the Government will be 700,000 children short of its target to halve child poverty by 2010.’
                
Click here to view full details of the campaign.

Early Day Motion tabled on Campaign to End Child Poverty

An EDM was this week tabled stating:

That this House is deeply concerned that there are 3.9 million children living below the poverty line in the United Kingdom, which is one of the worst records in the EU and amongst other wealthy countries; recognises the appalling damage poverty does to children’s wellbeing and life chances; further recognises the strength of public concern, as demonstrated by over 10,000 people at the largest ever event in support of an end to child poverty, the Campaign to End Child Poverty’s recent rally in Trafalgar Square; believes that British children should not have to continue suffering worse levels of poverty than their counterparts in other wealthy countries; notes research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation indicating that social and economic problems resulting from child poverty cost the United Kingdom at least ?25 billion each year; believes that the Government should recognise, measure and act on relative poverty; and calls on the Government to eradicate United Kingdom child poverty by 2020.

New EDM 2201 – End Child Poverty Keep the Promise Campaign

Following a successful rally with more than 10,000 people from all over the country calling on the Government to keep its promise of halving child poverty by 2010 and ending it by 2020, a new EDM was tabled this week.

It states: That this House notes the Prime Minister stated in his speech to the Labour Party Conference in Manchester on 23rd September that `because child poverty demeans Britain, we have committed our party to tackle and to end it’, and announced his intention to introduce ground-breaking legislation to enshrine in law Labour’s pledge to end child poverty; welcomes this commitment, while recognising that one in three children in the UK still live in poverty; congratulates the organisers of the march in London on 4th October with the theme of End Child Poverty-Keep the Promise; further notes the importance of the petition that supports this campaign; further notes that 110 organisations are part of the campaign-organising coalition; calls for special attention to be paid to the necessity for warm, dry and safe homes, nutritious and balanced diet, access to books and computers, at least one holiday a year, access to public transport and safe places for recreation; and calls upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer to make ending child poverty a priority in all future budgets.

EDM tabled on Ending the Shame of Child Poverty in the Scottish Parliament

Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow, has tabled an EDM stating – That the Parliament notes with alarm statistics produced by the Campaign to End Child Poverty that show that Glasgow has the worst levels of child poverty in Scotland including large areas, such as Glasgow North East where 73% of children – 12,010 out of 16,435 – come from families that are either workless or in receipt of working tax credit, and smaller clusters, such as in north Barlanark and Easterhouse south where the proportion in workless families or in families on working tax credit is 98%; supports those involved in the United Kingdom’s biggest ever event to end child poverty, at Trafalgar Square on Saturday 4 October 2008; further supports the call of the organisers of the march for the UK Government to spend just £3 billion a year to reach its own target to halve child poverty by 2010 and stay on course to end child poverty altogether; believes that all governments and administrations in the UK should work positively together in order to address child poverty issues; acknowledges that this can mean different approaches and strategies within different areas of the UK, and further believes that an excellent example of this is the Scottish Government’s approach, including moves to abolish prescription charges, extend entitlement to free school meals and school clothing grants, the freezing of the council tax and the introduction of direct payments to kinship carers of looked-after children.

An amendment was later tabled by Mary Mulligan, MSP for Linlithgow, leave out from “the worst levels” to end and insert “some of the worst levels of child poverty in Scotland; therefore welcomes the findings of the most recent National Statistics publication of Scottish Households Below Average Income, which shows a marked decline between 1999 and 2007 in the number of Scottish households in both absolute and relative poverty, including a 28% decrease in relative child poverty and a 61% decrease in absolute child poverty, meaning that the previous administration’s target to halve absolute child poverty by 2010 was being met significantly ahead of schedule; believes that this progress would not have been possible without many of the initiatives by the previous administration and the UK Government, including the Sure Start programme, record increases in child benefit, the working families tax credit, child tax credit and the national minimum wage, the latter of which was finally passed in the House of Commons without the support of a single SNP MP; also believes that, despite SNP MSP’s rhetoric, freezing council tax and abolishing prescription charges by 2011 does absolutely nothing to assist those on the lowest incomes given that they are already exempt; considers that after nearly 18 months in government, the SNP is yet to fulfil its pledge to introduce direct payments to kinship carers of looked-after children and that its budget, passed with the support of the Conservatives, is in fact precipitating cuts to a range of local services including school meals provision and to a host of voluntary organisations providing services affecting some of Scotland’s most vulnerable children, and further believes that this threatens much of the progress made during the past decade in tackling child poverty as well as seriously undermining the SNP’s credibility on these matters.”

New EDM on Campaign to End Child Poverty lodged in the Scottish Parliament

Aileen Campbell, MSP for South of Scotland, tabled EDM S3M-2579 which states: That the Parliament commends the efforts of the Campaign to End Child Poverty on its work to raise awareness and meet the challenge of the unacceptable situation of one-in-four children living in poverty in Scotland; notes that to halve this number by 2010, a further 60,000 children need to be lifted out of poverty; further notes that the campaign, whose members include Barnardo’s Scotland, Citizens Advice Scotland, Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, One Parent Families Scotland, The Poverty Alliance and Save the Children, will be recognised at a reception in the Parliament on 24 September 2008, and believes that government and people across Scotland should unite in increased action to end child poverty in Scotland.

Child poverty in Scotland to be debated

The Scottish Affairs Committee has reported that MPs are to debate issues relating to child poverty in Scotland on May 1st 2008. The Committee published its report on Child Poverty in Scotland in February. In the report, it welcomed the progress made in reducing child poverty but called for the welfare system to be simplified so that support reaches those families most in need.

The Chairman, Mr Mohammad Sarwar MP, said at the time of report that the cycle of deprivation in Scotland needed to be broken and that urgent action must be taken. He also said: ‘I am pleased that this important issue will be debated by MPs in the Commons. It is vital that child poverty in Scotland remains high on the Westminster agenda and this is an opportunity for all MPs to have their say.’

Rhodri Morgan AM announces production of child poverty and child wellbeing monitor in Wales

First Minister, Rhodri Morgan has responded to an oral question on the eradication of child poverty in Wales by Christine Chapman. He noted the effect of child poverty on life chances in terms of its impact on the health of children and their educational aspirations. He emphasized the need for good, up-to-date, accurate figures and announced the production of a child poverty and child wellbeing monitor. Publication of the report, which will report on different aspects of child wellbeing including child poverty in Wales, is likely to start in September this year.

Darling’s budget a step towards ending child poverty

The Campaign to End Child Poverty welcomed this week’s budget announcement as a signal of the Government’s continuing commitment to ending child poverty. The Chancellor boldly set out the Government’s intention to end child poverty with investments of nearly £1 billion through increasing child benefit and child tax credits.
The campaign welcomed the measures stating that with nearly £1 billion in this week’s budget, the Government had shown it’s determination to keep their promise to a generation and invest in the 3.8 million children being held back by poverty in the UK today. These measures will not on their own hit the crucial target of halving child poverty by 2010 but they are an encouraging and important step forward.

 The Campaign to End Child Poverty, of which the NCT is a member will increase the pressure on the government this year to keep its child poverty promise.”

Campaign to end child poverty

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, James Purnell, speaking at the Labour Party Conference last week has asserted that the goal of eradicating child poverty by 2020 is ‘non negotiable’, as not only is it a scar on Britain’s conscious, it is also fundamental to achieving real life chances for all.

Kate Green responded stating that the Labour Party could take pride in its child poverty pledge, as it showed that the right selection of policies could make a real different to the quality of life in Britain. However, she argued that a number of elements surrounding welfare reform were heading in the wrong direction if the 2020 target was to be met. She said Labour needed to stop rubbishing financial support for those who genuinely need it.