Child Poverty Bill

I certainly will speak to them. I had forgotten that this morning I was telephoned and asked whether they could be grouped. The purpose of my amendments is very simple and very important. As it stands, the Bill makes a point of saying that the commission and the Secretary of State must listen to children and organisations which support and work with children. It is an objective that I totally support. However, we need to think very carefully about whether we want the commission to consult parents and families. If we do not include that in the Bill, I think that we will be making a huge mistake. The reality with young children is that their parents make the decisions. There is a relationship between household income and child poverty. Therefore, if parents’ views are not sought on what happens to the money between it coming in and some of it being spent on the child, that will, in my humble opinion, be completely daft. I very much hope that the Minister will feel the same way about it and accept my amendments.