CHILD POVERTY
1 - Parliamentary Inquiry
2 - new e-mail discussion list on CHILD POVERTY - repeating the message
from Sharon Wright, 30 July 2003
1. The House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee recently announced an
inquiry into CHILD POVERTY. The full details are set out below - with a
request for responses by 11 September. Apologies, if you have not already
seen it, for the short notice due to my inefficiency.
It is very encouraging that Jonathan Bradshaw and David Piachaud have
already been appointed as special advisers to the Committee for this inquiry
- and this means that they will probably play a major part in drafting the
report. Until recently called the Social Security Committee, this
parliamentary Committee has published some excellent reports in recent
years. These can be seen on their website under Reports and Publications at
www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/work_and_pensions_committee.cfm
The WPC inquiry comes at a particularly good time as the Chancellor of the
Exchequer has also announced a review on child poverty though I do not know
how that will be conducted: see the announcement at
www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/newsroom_and_speeches/press/2003/press_82_03.cfm
It would be very helpful if you could also send any response you make to the
WPC inquiry to the new Child Poverty e-mail discussion list - see even
further below. Any submissions are usually published by the WPC in a
supporting volume of evidence - and examples of these can also be found at
the Committee's website
WORK & PENSIONS COMMITTEE
PRESS NOTICE
³Select Committee to inquire
into child poverty in the UK.²
The House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee today [30 June 2003]
announced an inquiry ³to examine the extent of child poverty in the UK and
the effectiveness of the Government¹s strategy to eradicate it²
The number of children in relative poverty in the UK has increased
substantially over the past few decades and the latest figures show that 3.8
million children - 30% of all children - are living in poverty (below 60%
of median income after housing costs). The Government has pledged to end
child poverty within 20 years; to reduce child poverty by half by 2010; and
has a PSA target to reduce it by at least a quarter (to 3.1 million) by
2004. As the first stage of the child poverty target draws near, the
Government believes it is on track to meet the target. Yet organisations
working in the poverty field, leading children¹s organisations and academics
are increasingly concerned that this may not be the case.
Issues which are expected to be included in the Committee¹s inquiry are:
The measurement of child poverty and the Government¹s annual poverty report,
Opportunity For All.
The extent of child poverty in Britain and the causes of it.
The impact of child poverty on children and families are specific groups
particularly affected?
The extent and causes of regional variations in child poverty
The effectiveness of the Government's strategies to reduce child poverty and
whether the child poverty targets will be met. Is enough being done across
Government and are further initiatives needed?
Comparisons between child poverty within the UK and other countries.
The Committee hopes to hold oral evidence sessions in the autumn and
welcomes written submissions, in accordance with the guidelines on the back
of this notice, by 11 September 2003.
Notes for Editors:
The membership of the Committee is as follows:
Name Party Constituency
Sir Archy Kirkwood (Chairman) Liberal Democrat Roxburgh and
Berwickshire
Miss Anne Begg Labour Aberdeen South
Ms Karen Buck Labour Regent's Park and Kensington North
Mr Andrew Dismore Labour Hendon
Mr Paul Goodman Conservative Wycombe
Mrs Joan Humble Labour Blackpool North and Fleetwood
Rob Marris Labour Wolverhampton South West
James Purnell Labour Stalybridge and Hyde
Andrew Selous Conservative South West Bedfordshire
Mr David Stewart Labour Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber
Mr Nigel Waterson Conservative Eastbourne
2. Evidence submitted should:
€ on A4 paper, including letterhead with full postal address and
contact details;
€ begin with a one page summary;
€ have numbered paragraphs;
€ avoid the use of colour or expensive-to-print material;
€ be in a form which is easy to photocopy; and
€ be accompanied, if possible, by a disk (with the document in
WordPerfect or Word).
Material already published elsewhere should not form the basis of a
submission, but may be referred to within a proposed memorandum, in which
case a hard copy of the published work should be included. Submissions
should be sent to:
House of Commons
Work and Pensions Committee
7 Millbank
London SW1P 3JA
(020 7219 5833/5832 Fax: 020 7219 0580)
Or via e-mail to: ... If submitting by e-mail, PLEASE also include full
postal address and contact details.
DATA PROTECTION INFORMATION
The information you provide on this form is seen only by staff of the
Clerk¹s Department. It is needed so that staff can keep you informed about
the Committee¹s work and related issues. If any of the details you have
provided in this form change, or you have any concerns about the handling of
this information, please contact the Clerk of the Committee, Work and
Pensions Committee, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
2. CHILD POVERTY e-mail discussion list
Please join the new e-mail discussion list on CHILD POVERTY if you are
interested in research and policy relating to child poverty. This was
launched at the Social Policy Association annual conference in July. Full
details are set out below. It is certainly not intended to be a UK-only
site. We are already far too insular so we hope that many of you will join
and take part in the discussions. We will also be grateful for any publicity
you can give this.
Adrian Sinfield.
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From: Sharon Wright <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Sharon Wright <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 17:02:18 +0100
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Launch of new child poverty discussion list
Apologies for cross-posting
***********************************************
The new CHILD POVERTY e-mail discussion list was recently launched at the
Social Policy Association annual conference.
[log in to unmask]
has been established as an open discussion forum for those interested in
research and policy relating to child poverty.
Who can join?
Anyone. Those who might want to join include: policy analysts and
researchers, academics, policy makers in local, devolved or central
government, voluntary sector workers, practitioners and campaigners.
How do I join?
Go to http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk and follow the on-line instructions (child
poverty can be found under 'C' in the alphabetical listings).
More information
If you have any further queries please e-mail the list owner:
Dr Sharon Wright
Lecturer in Social Policy
Department of Applied Social Science
University of Stirling
Stirling
FK9 4LA
Tel: +44 (0)1786 467688
Fax: +44 (0)1786 467689
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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