Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the number of school children that are in absolute poverty.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

This government is committed to tackling child poverty as part of our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child. Child poverty has increased by 700,000 since 2010, with over four million children now growing up in low-income families. This not only harms children’s lives now, but it also damages their future prospects and holds back our society and economy.

The Ministerial taskforce on child poverty, which met for the first time on 14 August, will drive forward action across government to reduce child poverty by developing and publishing a long-term strategy later this year. Further details on the taskforce can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-poverty-developing-our-strategy.

The Child Poverty Taskforce recognises families' ability to afford essentials as a fundamental aspect of child poverty. Addressing absolute poverty is a core focus of the work being developed through the child poverty strategy.

Additionally, we are taking steps to reduce the cost of living, including extending the Household Support Fund, taking action on the high cost of branded school uniforms, and our commitment to rolling out free school breakfast clubs for primary school age children from April this year.