Child Poverty Bill

My Lords, in Grand Committee I felt as though much of the time we were all dancing a bit of a quadrille round the fact that, as time goes on, a general election is looming ever closer. The unspoken question is not only the complexion of the Government who will have to pick up the baton on this Bill but whether that new Government will want to be confronted in the very near future with this amendment if it should become part of the Bill. It is little wonder that the Minister delicately and hypothetically asked the noble Lord, Lord Freud, about this in Grand Committee. Quite understandably, the noble Lord, Lord Freud, refused to be pinned down. He has now tabled a similar amendment on Report. However, the three-month reporting period, which was in the Committee amendment, has gone and a more realistic timetable has been set out—at least I hope so; I have not examined in great detail the new amendment, which was tabled only yesterday, but I think that it has that timetable in it. Having this amendment in the Bill would mean that a new Government, of whatever complexion, would have to consider almost straightaway what has been done in the past to try to reduce child poverty, what is being done right now and what should be done in the future given the economic circumstances of the country. The assessment of progress will be invaluable, particularly to the new Child Poverty Commission as it starts its work. There is little doubt that the 2010 target does not have a chance of being met—apart from anything else, because of the recession. We all know that unemployment is likely to rise, with the loss of many jobs in the public sector, and that, although the Government are trying to give lone parents help in getting to work when their child is ever younger, there are often not the part-time jobs or, yet, enough suitable wrap-around childcare available throughout the country. Any report on progress towards meeting the 2010 target is not likely to be very optimistic but it should be able to point the way to how the 2020 target of "eradicating" child poverty might be met. For this reason, we support the amendment.