Tories Backtrack on Child Poverty Reporting Measures

 The latest government U-turn on cruel welfare policies

 The UK government has been forced into another U-turn by agreeing to retain a legally binding commitment to measure and publish the number of children living in low-income families, following pressure from the SNP.

 The key clause forms part of the Tory Welfare Reform and Work Bill which is currently in “ping-pong” between the House of Lords and House of Commons over amendments to the bill before it becomes legislation.

 Amendments to the bill will be considered by the House of Lords today (Monday) including a new clause from the UK government put forward by Lord Freud, Welfare Reform Minister, which would override the government’s previous attempt to remove child poverty reporting commitments.

 In yet another deeply embarrassing climb-down for the Tories, the House of Lords have forced the UK government to think again about this part of the counterintuitive measures in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill.

 The Tories’ attempt to remove the link between poverty and income is as ill-thought out as it was a cruel attempt to characterize poverty as an individual lifestyle choice. Whilst this backtracking is to be welcomed, it’s clear that just measuring and reporting on child poverty isn’t enough.

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We have just had this news from the Child Poverty Action Group

We’ve just heard that the government has responded to our concerns on child poverty measurement by legislating to ensure child poverty statistics are published every year.

This is really welcome. It will stop ministers from deciding not to publish official child poverty statistics in future years.

This success comes after months of hard work – up until now, the Government was only willing to make a legal commitment to publish data on GCSE attainment and family worklessness.

There’s more work still to do. The Government won’t report to Parliament on child poverty figures and it’s very clear that they don’t want to think about poverty in the way you and I do. But it’s an important step towards ensuring that all kids count.