Child Poverty Bill

My Lords, my noble friend Lord Kirkwood raised this matter in Committee and said how important nutrition was, particularly for children at a formative age, when he moved his amendment about minimum income standards. The Minister said that minimum income standards were ruled out because different research methods tended to make different assumptions, and it was difficult to get one answer to the question of how much income was enough. I am not particularly persuaded that this was a very robust response, but that is the later amendment. Amendment 11 concentrates on the malnutrition of children, something that just should not occur in a wealthy country at the beginning of the 21st century, yet there is clearly child malnutrition in this country. We need to find out as much about it as we can because it can lead to bad health outcomes later in life, as well as a multitude of other problems. I support my noble friend’s amendment. Amendment 18, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay of Llandaff, who does not appear to be here today, has been grouped with this amendment. As I moved a similar amendment in Committee, I thought I should say a word about this one, although I shall not be moving it in her place. I hope this is in order. Under Amendment 18, the Secretary of State would have to consider the desirability of extending eligibility for free school lunches and milk to secondary school pupils whose parents were in receipt of working families tax credit. Although there is much to commend the amendment, as I said in Committee, I was persuaded by the Minister in his reply that primary legislation was not necessary for this to be brought about as it would be done by secondary legislation.