CPAG's response to the Spending Review

This briefing covers the following announcements:  

• The new crisis and resilience fund
• Free school meals 
• School-based nurseries 
• Housing 
• Employment support/benefits 

The announcements made in the Spending Review are steps in the right direction. The expansion of free school meals to all families on universal credit in England offers some breathing space for those who are managing an incredible amount of financial stress, and now have one less thing to worry about. Similarly, the announcement of a new crisis and resilience fund will support local authorities to help families at the sharpest end, and further investment in social housing will be a game changer for many families in the long term.  

But this Spending Review did not match the scale of investment in children and families we need to see now if we are to start to turn the tide on record child poverty. There are currently 4.5 million children in poverty and this record level is set to rise further, primarily because of the continued roll out of the two-child limit. None of the policy announcements in the Spending Review can compensate for the poverty-producing effects of this policy.  

The government must commit to scrapping the two-child limit and the benefit cap as part of the forthcoming child poverty strategy. This will lift 400,000 children out of poverty overnight, and mean 900,000 children will be living in less deep poverty. These are critical first steps for the strategy, which has the potential to be transformative for children and families, but only with the right level of investment. The Spending Review does not make it clear how such a strategy will be delivered, with funding for the Department for Work and Pensions remaining flat for the rest of this parliament.