Autumn Statement

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Foreign and Commonwealth Office – in the House of Commons at 12:31 pm on 29 November 2011.

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Photo of George Osborne George Osborne The Chancellor of the Exchequer 12:31, 29 November 2011

The Treasury is very clear that in the precise way in which child poverty is measured against the baseline, it has gone up. We have been honest about that in the document. However, there is also an inflationary increase in the child tax credit and other benefits, so the picture is more mixed and better for tackling child poverty. I would also make the broader argument that investing in early years education and schools, and so transforming people’s life chances, will do more to lift people out of poverty. That is surely a lesson that we have learned over recent years.