My Lords, I want to make some very brief comments on the amendments, mainly to follow up some things I said at Second Reading. As my noble friend Lord Touhig just said, these amendments are imperative, crucial and brilliant, and I congratulate the movers on putting them so powerfully. Any amendments that will mitigate against benefits having a negative impact on children are very forceful and follow very well from earlier, powerful speeches about child poverty.
I suggested at Second Reading that anything that might increase child poverty should be removed from the Bill. I say that again and support these amendments. The Government should really think about listening very carefully to the organisations and experts who work closely with children and families and who understand child poverty. These organisations and experts have pointed out the negative implications of this Bill. Surely their analyses should be taken very seriously.
The Government have already announced that the Bill will directly increase relative-income child poverty by 200,000 children, of which 100,000 will be in families in work. Nearly all the highly vulnerable children that
Barnardo’s works with are receiving in-work or out-of-work benefits. This Bill will impose a real-term cut to their income. One in 10 families will be affected by this Bill, the poorest families most.
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The Government are obliged to drive forward progress on child poverty and it is good to hear that they are committed to reducing it. The action areas that the Government must consider when they provide their national child poverty strategy, as my noble friend Lord McKenzie mentioned, include the employment of parents or the development of the skills of parents; financial support for children and parents; information, advice and assistance to parents and the promotion of parenting skills; physical and mental health, education, childcare and social services; and the promotion of social inclusion. This Bill cuts across all these duties and negates them. I echo the question that my noble friend Lady Sherlock posed about the assessments that have been done on the impact of this Bill.
This Bill cuts not just a hole, but a chasm in the fight against child poverty. I ask again: are the Government listening to those who work with children and, importantly, have the Government considered the long-term effects of child poverty, such as underachievement at school, with all the consequences, potential drop out from education and lack of social mobility? Measures in the Bill are potentially hugely costly, much more than the potential savings proposed, and I hope the Government will think again.