Yvonne Fovargue MP: we must create taskforce to cut child poverty

The principles for childcare that we should follow are simple: affordability, availability, and accessibility – for every family in every corner of the country.

Back in March last year the Government announced an expansion of childcare entitlements by increasing the free hours available to parents within the current model.

More funded childcare is always welcome and my view is that entitlements should be accessible.

But this pledge was made without a plan to deliver it, with inadequate plans for the places children need and not enough qualified staff to run the provision.

You may have seen the widespread media coverage of the problems with the Government's ability to deliver their plans and you might also have heard the Chancellor of the Exchequer on television saying that the availability for childcare could not be guaranteed.

I am pleased that Labour has asked Sir David Bell, former Chief Inspector of Ofsted, to lead a review into the childcare system we need and how to deliver it.

I want the expansion of funded entitlements the current Government has promised.

The difference is, I think there needs to be a credible plan in place to deliver it.

I know the increased cost of living with rising food prices and slow growth has meant that families up and down the country are suffering constant anxiety about how they will make ends meet and feed their children.

I worry that many children are going to school hungry, while parents are unable to work more hours or get a job because they cannot afford childcare.

That is why I support calls to fund breakfast clubs in every primary school by cracking down on tax avoidance.

Such breakfast clubs would give children a healthy meal to start their day while also allowing parents to save money on childcare and help them stay in work, thus boosting household incomes as well as public finances.

The Government says it believes the current threshold of eligibility for free school meals is the right one but that it keeps eligibility under review.

However, I note that recent data by the Food Foundation shows that showed the number of UK children in food poverty has nearly doubled since 2022 to almost four million.

There is so much the Government could be doing to ease the burden on households while also making longer term fixes to strengthen our economy, but families still face high bills and prices in shops.

Reducing child poverty is at the centre of how we secure opportunity for children and young people from every background, but I do not believe the Government has a serious plan to tackle it.

I want to see a cross-Government taskforce aimed at breaking down the barriers to opportunity for every child, with child poverty reduction specialists at the heart of this work.