National policy can create the conditions and provide the resources and power for localities and regions to realise their potential in driving down poverty.
Following the general election in July 2024, the Labour Party were elected to government on a manifesto that promised change and committed to ‘rebuild Britain’, with a mission focussed on ‘breaking down the barriers to opportunity’. The government have committed to further English devolution, a national Child Poverty Strategy and enacting the socio-economic duty.
At Resolve Poverty we believe these powerful policy levers have the potential to drive down poverty, but they must be coupled with government action that creates the conditions and provide the resources and power for localities and regions to develop and build on existing local anti-poverty activities. Our April 2025 report Mission Critical: The role of English regions and localities in a whole-system approach to tackling poverty sets out a range of ways for local and regional government to strengthen their anti-poverty activity, and for central government to create the environment that enables them to maximise their impact. Our September 2025 report Empower our places: how can further devolution support the national mission to end child poverty? builds on our Mission Critical report with a focus on how all levels of government can deliver our proposals.
Empower our places: how can further devolution support the national mission to end child poverty? (September 2025)
Ahead of publication of the national Child Poverty Strategy, our latest briefing advances novel proposals for specialist infrastructure support to support local and regional government in delivering a whole-system approach to tackling poverty, as set out in Mission Critical (April 2025). We also set out new proposals to reform local crisis support, devolved employment support and national social security. These parts of the system should play a critical role, independently and interdependently of one another, in delivering on the national mission to end child poverty.
We were delighted to launch our new research at a Labour Party Conference 2025 event on tackling child poverty and health inequalities. Our Chief Executive, Graham Whitham, presented the research on a panel alongside Sam Rushworth MP and colleagues from Save the Children UK, Health Equity North and the University of York.
Mission Critical: The role of English regions and localities in a whole-system approach to tackling poverty (April 2025)
We have recently conducted research on how best to consolidate and strengthen local and regional government’s role in responding to poverty. Stakeholders made clear that regional and local government are determined to strengthen their role and collaboration to more effectively tackle poverty, yet they encounter a number of challenges in pursuit of this mission, including limited levers, funding and resources. Our proposed whole-system approach to tackling poverty provides possible solutions to these challenges and sets out how to make meaningful change on poverty in England, optimising opportunities brought by the Child Poverty Strategy, English Devolution Bill and commencement of the socio-economic duty.
Resolve Poverty is committed to national advocacy and calling on the government and other key stakeholders to empower subnational levels of government and their public, private and voluntary sector partners to achieve that national mission to breaking down barriers to opportunity.
As part of our national advocacy work, we’re a member of the 1ForEquality Campaign, campaign for the government to enact the socio-economic duty. We’re also part of the Crisis Support Working Group, calling on the government to provide adequate resources to local authorities to deliver effective local welfare provision. Additionally, Resolve Poverty is part of the End Child Poverty Coalition, along with over 80 other organisations campaigning for an end to child poverty. We also support the Guarantee our Essentials campaign and work closely with the Living Wage Foundation on increasing adoption of the Living Wage.