The Child Poverty Bill was introduced into the House of Commons in June 2009.

The Bill would enshrine in law the commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020 and help ensure that sustained action is taken by this and future governments, the devolved administrations and local government to tackle child poverty.

An accountability framework would be established to make sure progress is made towards the 2020 goal. The Government and both Scotland and Northern Ireland would be required to produce child poverty strategies that run through to 2020 and are refreshed every three years. The strategies would set out what action is needed to meet the targets in the Bill and the Government would be held to account on the effectiveness of these strategies through annual performance reports to Parliament.

The purpose of the Bill is to:

• Enshrine in law the Government’s commitment to end child poverty by 2020.

The main benefits of the Bill would be:

• To provide a clear definition of the eradication of child poverty by 2020, setting four challenging UK-wide targets based on the proportion of children living in: relative low income, combined income and material deprivation, absolute low income and persistent poverty. It also requires that these targets continue to be met after 2020.

The main elements of the Bill are:

• Establishing a national and local accountability framework for delivering this goal. The Government will be required to produce child poverty strategies that run through to 2020 and are refreshed every three years.
• Ensuring that for first time Governments will be held to account on the success of their strategies to end child poverty, through annual reports to Parliament.
• Establishing a Child Poverty Commission, which will provide independent advice to the Government that must be considered when preparing child poverty strategies. To enhance accountability, this advice will also be published.
• Driving local action by placing a duty on all local authorities and their partners to co-operate to tackle child poverty in their area. As part of this, they will be required to conduct a local needs assessment and to produce a joint local child poverty strategy.

Related documents:

• Child Poverty Bill
• Ending Child Poverty: Making It Happen. Consultation January 2009

Devolution:

Provisions in Part 1 of the Bill relating to UK-wide targets, strategies and reports extend to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Provisions in clause 10 - 12 extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Provisions in Part 2 of the Bill apply only to local authorities and their partners in England.