Commons debates final stages of Child Poverty Bill
23 March 2010 (updated on 22 April 2010)
Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, opened a debate wich considered and passed a number of Lords' amendments to the Child Poverty Bill. The measure has now passed all its parliamentary stages
- Video and audio: Child Poverty Bill
- Commons Hansard: Child Poverty Bill
- Bills before Parliament: Child Poverty Bill
- About: Passage of a bill
The Bill
The Bill provides a statutory basis to the commitment made by the Government in 1999 to eradicate child poverty by 2020.
It would give new impetus to the Government’s commitment, and drive action across departments. It also aims to define success in eradicating child poverty and create a framework to monitor progress at a national and local level.
Key areas of the legislation:
- places a duty on the Secretary of State to meet four UK-wide poverty targets by the end of the financial year 2020
- requires the UK Government to publish a regular UK child poverty strategy
- requires the Scottish and Northern Irish Ministers to publish child poverty strategies
- establishes a Child Poverty Commission to provide advice
- requires the UK Government to publish annual progress reports
- places new duties on local authorities and other delivery partners in England to work together to tackle child poverty.