Summary
6.The purpose of the Act is to define success in eradicating child poverty and create a framework to monitor progress at a national and local level. In summary, the Act:
places a duty on the Secretary of State to lay before Parliament a report on whether the 2010 target has been met. The 2010 target is set out in section 1(2) and corresponds to that in Public Service Agreement 9;
places a duty on the Secretary of State to meet four United Kingdom-wide income poverty targets by the end of the financial year 2020;
places a duty on the Secretary of State to publish a child poverty strategy evaluating progress towards the four income targets and setting out future action. The strategy, which is to be revised every three years, may make reference to measures which the devolved administrations propose to take to tackle child poverty;
places a duty on the Scottish Ministers to prepare a child poverty strategy through to 2020, to be revised at three year intervals. This Scottish strategy will relate only to devolved matters. Scottish Ministers are also required to report annually on how measures taken in accordance with the current Scottish strategy have contributed to meeting the four income targets and to ensuring that children in Scotland do not experience socio-economic disadvantage;
places a duty on the relevant Northern Ireland department (which is the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister: see section 18(1)) to prepare a child poverty strategy through to 2020, to be revised at three year intervals. This Northern Ireland strategy will relate only to devolved matters. The relevant Northern Ireland department is also required to report annually on how measures taken in accordance with the current Northern Ireland strategy have contributed to meeting the four income targets and to ensuring that children in Northern Ireland do not experience socio-economic disadvantage;
establishes the Child Poverty Commission which will provide advice that the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers and relevant Northern Ireland department must have regard to when preparing their respective child poverty strategies. The Commission will also provide advice to the Secretary of State at other times if so requested;
places a duty on the Secretary of State to report annually on progress made towards meeting the four income targets and the measures specified in the United Kingdom child poverty strategy;
requires the annual report relating to the financial year 2020 to include a statement as to whether or not the targets have been met and give reasons why any target has not been met;
requires the Government to ensure that the targets, once met, are met in later financial years, or to make provision about how to meet them if the targets have not been met by the financial year 2020 or any later specified year;
places a duty on local authorities and their partners to co-operate to tackle child poverty in their area, to carry out an assessment of the levels of child poverty in that area, and to prepare a joint local child poverty strategy; and
amends section 4 of the Local Government Act 2000 to require local authorities in England to have regard to the arrangements they have made to co-operate with their partners to reduce child poverty in their area, their local child poverty needs assessment and their joint child poverty strategy when preparing their Sustainable Community Strategy.
enables an order under section 512ZB of the Education Act 1996 to provide for free school lunches and milk to be provided to prescribed school children whose parents are entitled to a prescribed social security benefit without extending the same entitlement to other school children within the same family.
