This is fantastic news and a game-changer for children and families. At last more kids will get the food they need to learn and thrive and millions of parents struggling to make ends meet will get a bit of breathing space. We hope this is a sign of what’s to come in autumn’s child poverty strategy, with government taking more action to meet its manifesto commitment to reduce child poverty in the UK.
Two mothers who had children as a result of rape or coercion by former partners have been given permission by the High Court to proceed with a legal challenge against the rules on exceptions to the two-child limit in universal credit (UC).
Breakfast clubs are a welcome start but meeting Labour’s ambition to end child poverty will need much more from this government. And even with a pledge of no return to the past, austerity is the reality for more and more children as they’re hit by the two-child limit. The policy must be scrapped – and soon - if the Government is to deliver on its mission to reduce child poverty.
England has a much higher proportion of children in poverty who are ineligible for free school meals compared to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but all nations can do more, new analysis from Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) reveals.
One in five children in poverty in Scotland still not eligible for a free school lunch.
Analysis a “stark reminder” of why Scottish government decision to halt universal free school meal roll out must be reversed
Nine hundred thousand children in poverty are not eligible for free school meals (FSM) because the qualifying criteria is so restrictive, Child Poverty Action Group analysis of DfE FSM data, published today, shows.
Court of Appeal upholds decision that universal credit payments can be backdated on revision, but claimants risk still being thwarted by DWP IT design flaws and those subject to managed migration face ‘double whammy’ loss of transitional protections and backdated payments.
