Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the report entitled Missing Chapter by Parentkind, published in March 2025.

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances for every child. For too many children, living in poverty robs them of the opportunity to learn and to prosper.

The Child Poverty Taskforce, which is co-chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, will harness all available levers to drive forward action across government to reduce child poverty. The Taskforce is progressing urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy as soon as possible.

The Taskforce is listening to experts and campaigners and engaging with families, charities, campaigners and leading organisations across the UK to shape and inform these plans. To date, the department has had over 200 engagements with stakeholders, including through over 50 events across the UK. This has included the Cabinet Office’s Child Poverty Unit, supporting the Taskforce, meeting with Parentkind on a number of occasions, including as part of the panel at the launch event for their report, in Parliament, on 25 February.

The Taskforce recognises that the costs of attending school can cause financial pressures for low-income families and it is one of the essential costs that are being considered in the Child Poverty Strategy.

The department is already taking steps to reduce the cost of the school day through action on the high cost of branded school uniforms and commitment to roll out free breakfast clubs for primary school-aged children from the start of this summer term.