Child Poverty Bill

My Lords, we are now on the last lap. I am afraid that after reflecting on the Minister’s response to this amendment in Grand Committee, I am not convinced by his arguments that requiring local authorities to set out co-operation arrangements with each and every partner authority will lead to best practice and a fully engaged focus on child poverty throughout the country. I agree with him that the partner authorities are all likely to be critical for the successful implementation of a child poverty strategy but, as the Bill makes clear, the child poverty strategy will form only one part of the local authority’s priorities, and indeed only one part of its sustainable community strategy. Given the overlap between child poverty and community issues, I feel that requiring arrangements between partner authorities on child poverty alone risks duplicating and complicating existing arrangements for co-operation where the relationship is already effective and will do no more than produce paper where authorities are not fully engaged with this strategy. I beg to move.