HL Deb 20 June 2000 vol 614 cc19-20WA
Lord Morris of Manchester

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether in the light of the league table of child poverty in rich nations published recently by the Innocenti Research Centre of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), they will reconsider their opposition to a statutory duty on the Secretary of State for Social Security to have regard to the need to maintain satisfactory standards of child development when determining levels of social security benefits and pensions, as expressed in their response to the debate on Amendment 128B to the Welfare Reform and Pensions Bill on 20 July 1999 (H.L. Deb., col. 873). [HL2869]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)

The UNICEF report shows that in the last 20 years child poverty trebled in the UK (the data used in the report relates to 1995 and reflects the situation under the previous administration).

We have already made a commitment to eradicating child poverty in the next 20 years, and this report agrees that we have made a very good start—measures we have already announced will lift around 1 million children out of poverty by 2002.

The report also highlights the importance of work—for most people, the best route out of poverty is through employment. We are already tackling this through the New Deals, working families' tax credit, and the minimum wage. Increases in the income-related benefits and child benefit will help those for whom work is not yet an option.

Since the debate in July last year we have implemented another above-inflation rise in child benefit, launched the working families' tax credit, and significantly improved the child allowances in the income-related benefits. In all, by the end of this Parliament, we will be spending an extra £7 billion per year on tax and benefit measures for families with children.

This Government are determined to tackle the problems of poverty and social exclusion, and, as I said last July, we believe our strategy is the best way to achieve that aim.