To the Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and the Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, Secretary of State for Education
Dear Secretaries of State,
Poverty is a blight on the UK, damaging lives and holding individuals back from realising their potential. We believe eradicating poverty should be a national mission, and we welcome the government’s commitment to establishing a Child Poverty Unit (CPU) and launching a national Child Poverty Strategy in the spring of 2025.
We were pleased to submit a report of recommendations to the CPU as part of its wider engagement on the Strategy, and we want to draw your attention to our key asks. A national strategy is essential to ensure that government policy is focused on the primary goal of resolving poverty. To maximise its effectiveness, it must align all levels of government behind a shared agenda that drives lasting change and prioritises prevention over crisis-led responses.
The first step for the Strategy must be investment in the social security system:
- Scrapping the two-child limit on benefits and the benefit cap
- Introducing an Essentials Guarantee
- Replacing the 5-week wait for Universal Credit with a non-repayable grant
- Overhauling sanctions and conditions, including abolishing No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF).
The Strategy must be ambitious in setting legally-binding child poverty reduction targets and commit to cross-departmental leadership and accountability in achieving these targets. It should also commit to long-term, meaningful engagement with people who have a lived experience of poverty.
Local and regional government, alongside their public and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) partners, are critical to the success of the Strategy and the prospect of driving down child poverty. A Shared Outcomes Framework should sit at the heart of the Strategy, providing clear direction and ensuring a coordinated approach across all public bodies.
In December 2024, we were pleased to convene a forum, alongside colleagues from the Local Government Association, for local and regional government representatives to share their priorities for the upcoming Strategy with civil servants. The overarching message from local and regional government was resounding: the Strategy must complement, build on, and reinforce efforts at every level of government to tackle poverty effectively.
Together with our network of signatories, we urge you to review our submission and place local and regional government at the centre of strategic, policy and practical responses to poverty. Ultimately, breaking down barriers to opportunity requires a Strategy that engages the entire public sector in this mission.
We look forward to your positive response and working together on this critical national mission.
Yours sincerely,
Graham Whitham
Chief Executive, Resolve Poverty
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Signatories include:
Age UK Bolton • Caritas Salford • Caritas Shrewsbury • Citizens Advice Bury & Bolton • Citizens Advice Newcastle • End Fuel Poverty Coalition • End Furniture Poverty • Food Matters • Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit • Greater Manchester Migrant Destitution Fund • Health Equalities Group • Independent Food Aid Network • Standing Tall • Turn2Us • United Reform Church, Manchester & Salford • University of Salford • Young Manchester