Child Poverty Bill

I thank the Minister for that response, and the noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, for his thoughtful views. This amendment touches on some of the concerns that we have already discussed about the data, particularly at the lower levels. I accept this. I know we will have an informal discussion about the right way to capture the genuinely poor. The data, as the IFS has pointed out, indicate that, in particular, the self-employed at the lowest levels of income do not suffer material deprivation, even though they have low income year after year. This goes back to our discussions about the informal economy and other issues. Nevertheless, this amendment is driven by the concern, which was widely reported by Save the Children two weeks ago and has already been referred to by the IFS, that over the past six or seven years the very poorest seem to be doing less well, with more in severe poverty. Whatever the absolute level that we start from, whether it is accurate or not, the fact that that figure is increasing is a worrying sign. It is a sign that, even with targets, which we have had over the past decade—I think they have been aspirations for targets for part of that—we do not have a process to ensure that the very poorest both are identified and have the majority of resources devoted to them. That is the purpose of this amendment. I am not entirely satisfied. We have had quite a slew of amendments, which I confess to authoring, around this set of issues. I am not comfortable that we have the right answer yet. I look forward to discussing it further with the Minister. On that basis, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 62 withdrawn. Amendments 63 to 65 not moved. Clause 14 agreed. Clause 15 : Economic and fiscal circumstances Amendment 66 Clause 15 : Economic and fiscal circumstances Amendment 66 Moved by