Clause 5
Child Poverty Bill
4:15 pm
Stephen Timms (Financial Secretary, HM Treasury; East Ham, Labour)
We do have data. They depend on whether one uses the McClements measure, or the OECD equivalence scale. However, the most recent data indicate that 1.4 million children—10 per cent. of all UK children—were in persistent poverty from 2004 to 2007. That proportion is down by 7 per cent. from 1997 to 2000. We have therefore made good progress on that measure, but, as I have said, there will be a discontinuity in the survey, and we need to assess the new survey before we can sensibly set a target; otherwise, we will be setting it in the dark.