Clause 9
Child Poverty Bill
2:00 pm
Helen Goodman (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions; Bishop Auckland, Labour)
It is a pleasure, Mr. Key, to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon.
My hon. Friend the Member for Regent’s Park and Kensington, North, has tabled an amendment that would require the Government, when laying before Parliament a strategy or revised strategy, to provide a copy of the commission’s advice, and a statement showing the extent to which the Government gave effect to that advice in framing the strategy. If effect has not been given to the advice of the commission, the Government would have to give reasons why not.
Obviously, the Government place a high value on expert and independent advice to inform the development of strategies to tackle child poverty. It is clear that the child poverty commission is central to the development of effective child poverty strategies that focus on sustainable long-term solutions, rather than short-term fixes. Those views were made clear in the consultation on the Bill. Following the consultation, we have made it clear that the Bill will ensure, first, that the Secretary of State must ask the commission for advice in preparing or revising the strategy, as set out in subsection (1). Secondly, that advice must be made public, so that it is clear what steps the commission thought were necessary in the development of the strategy. That is set out in schedule 1, paragraph 16(3). Thirdly, the Secretary of State must have regard to the advice provided by the commission. That is set out in clause 9(3).
To ensure that the advice of the child poverty commission is of high quality and informed by the best evidence and expertise, paragraph 1(4) of schedule 1 states that in making appointments to the commission
“The Secretary of State must have regard to the desirability of securing that the Commission (taken as a whole) has experience in or knowledge of...the formulation, implementation and evaluation of policy”,
research and
“work with children and families experiencing poverty.”
All such measures will ensure a strong role for the child poverty commission. In practice, the child poverty strategies will demonstrate the extent to which the commission’s advice has shaped the Government’s thinking. By requiring the commission to publish its advice, it will be clear whether the Government have followed the commission’s advice. It is intended that the initial and revised strategies that the Government will be required to publish will make reference to the commission’s advice to demonstrate that the Secretary of State has had regard to that advice. That point covers advice accepted and not accepted.
Once enshrined in law, the Bill will ensure that the commission provides quality advice to the Secretary of State, and it will give Parliament and the public powerful tools to exercise the appropriate accountability. I agree with my hon. Friend that we need to provide for an effective child poverty commission. I hope that she will agree that the existing provisions of the Bill meet the aims of her amendment. I am afraid that I did not have quite as good a lunch as my right hon. Friend the Financial Secretary; I hope that my hon. Friend the Member for Regent’s Park and Kensington, North, will withdraw her amendment.