The government will set up a unit in the Cabinet Office to work on a new child poverty strategy, Keir Starmer has announced.
The Child Poverty Unit will report into a new ministerial taskforce led by work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall and education secretary Bridget Phillipson, the prime minister said.
The unit will bring together officials from across government, plus external experts, who will report into the taskforce. It will explore how the new administration can use all the available levers it has across government to create an ambitious strategy.
Labour previously created a child poverty unit in No.10 under Tony Blair, but it was later subsumed into the Department for Work and Pensions by Theresa May. In 2021, Labour’s then-shadow child poverty secretary, now health secretary, Wes Streeting announced plans to reintroduce the unit at No.10 but the unit was not mentioned in the party’s 2024 election manifesto.
Secretaries of state from across government will take part in the taskforce, “recognising the wide-ranging causes of child poverty”, No.10 said.
The taskforce will be asked to consider how government can use levers related to household income, as well as employment, housing, children’s health, childcare and education to improve children’s experiences and chances at life.
Starmer said: “For too long, children have been left behind and no decisive action has been taken to address the root causes of poverty. This is completely unacceptable – no child should be left hungry, cold or have their future held back.
“That’s why we’re prioritising work on an ambitious child poverty strategy and my ministers will leave no stone unturned to give every child the very best start at life.”
The press release makes no mention of the two-child benefit cap. Starmer has until now refused to commit to scrapping the limit but is under growing pressure do so from campaigners and MPs, including those in his own party.
Child poverty has risen by 700,000 since 2012-13, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. Recent research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found more than 2.6 million children will be affected by the two-child benefit cap by the end of this parliament.
Kendall met leading charities and campaigners yesterday, including Save the Children, Action for Children, Barnardo’s, TUC, End Child Poverty Coalition, the Resolution Foundation and UNICEF, to hear their views on how they can shape the strategy.
All seven of these organisations have urged the government to scrap the two-child limit.