Third Report - Children in poverty: Measurement and targets

The Cross-Government Income and Earnings Coherence Steering Group will respond to OSR's recommendations, with a workplan published on 14 October, and will continue to liaise with OSR on its delivery.

The government states a Cross-Government Income and Earnings Coherence Steering Group, chaired by ONS, will respond to OSR's recommendations and has published the first version of its workplan on 14 October, though it doesn't explicitly confirm DWP published a detailed response by the March 2022 deadline.

The government states it will continue to publish all four statutory measures of children in low income and that analysts are reviewing the statistical validity of the absolute poverty low income line and the relevance of material deprivation goods and services.

The government acknowledges that tackling child poverty is a cross-government priority, highlighting DWP's role alongside other departments and noting that ONS is leading the development of an interactive tool for income and earnings statistics.

The government stated that tackling child poverty is a cross-government priority and mentioned the ONS is leading the development of an interactive tool for income and earnings statistics, but did not commit DWP to revisit its own analysis as requested.

The government stated that the Secretary of State's focus on material deprivation will inform its approach to poverty measurement. The commissioning of a systematic review of child income poverty, as recommended, is still under consideration.

The government acknowledged the importance of poverty measurement, confirming it will continue to publish statutory measures, and that analysts are reviewing the statistical validity of poverty lines and material deprivation indicators.

The government stated its commitment to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty, already reporting progress to Parliament annually through statutory measures and updates. It is also focusing on helping people into work through the £500 million expansion of the Plan for Jobs and cross-government action.

The government reaffirms its commitment to measuring poverty by stating it will continue to publish all four statutory measures of children in low income, and analysts are reviewing the statistical validity of existing poverty lines and material deprivation indicators.

The government response did not address the committee's conclusion regarding worklessness and educational attainment indicators not being a substitute for measuring poverty, instead providing boilerplate text about existing publications and monitoring.

The government's response focuses on ongoing research into data matching and analysis programmes for child income poverty and engagement with local authorities regarding Universal Credit data sharing, which does not address broadening the scope of 'Helping workless families indicators'.

The government acknowledges poverty is a cross-government priority and notes that ONS is leading the development of an interactive tool to explore income and earnings statistics, addressing the challenge of separately published data.

The government states tackling poverty is a cross-government priority and ONS is leading the development of an interactive tool for income and earnings statistics, rather than DWP consolidating its own publications into a single child poverty dashboard.

The government responded that the work on developing supplementary experimental statistics for measuring poverty, which the Committee expressed concern about, is 'still under consideration.'

The government's response discusses general cross-government efforts and ONS development of an interactive tool, but does not set out DWP's plans for supplementary experimental statistics or explain how the Secretary of State's focus will inform poverty measurement.

The government response provided a general statement about its commitment to tackling poverty, existing reporting mechanisms, and focus on work, but did not address the committee's specific observations regarding international measurement approaches or the dangers of a single poverty index.

The government states ONS is leading the development of an interactive tool for income and earnings statistics, and that the government liaises with various organisations and countries for evidence, rather than DWP leading the development of a single dashboard.

The government reiterates its commitment to a long-term approach, statutory reporting, and existing programmes like the Plan for Jobs, but does not commit to a new comprehensive cross-departmental UK strategy for child poverty.

The government states it is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty, reports progress annually, and uses existing measures and programmes like the Plan for Jobs, but does not commit to developing a new, specific cross-departmental strategy.

The government claimed it is already committed to tackling poverty and reports progress to Parliament through existing statutory requirements and updates. It did not commit to a new broad set of targets or a new clear strategy with measurable objectives, instead emphasizing its focus on work and existing initiatives like the Plan for Jobs.

The government claimed it already reports progress to Parliament annually on child poverty via existing statutory responsibilities and updates. It did not commit to a new cross-departmental strategy with clear, ambitious, and measurable objectives, instead highlighting its focus on employment initiatives.

The government provides a general statement about cross-government poverty efforts and mentions the ONS is developing an interactive tool, but does not commit DWP to using its administrative data to produce 'closer to real-time' child poverty information.

The government noted that tackling child poverty is a cross-government priority and mentioned the ONS is developing an interactive tool for income and earnings statistics, but did not commit DWP to develop or publish a specific dashboard of child income-related poverty indicators.

The government states it remains committed to publishing the annual HBAI publication in March 2022 and continues to monitor and collect evidence, with DHSC coordinating Shared Outcomes Fund project publication decisions, but does not commit to new research on the pandemic's impact.

The government did not commit to commissioning new research examining the pandemic's impacts on low-income children or publishing its results. It noted DHSC is leading the longer-term project and will coordinate publication decisions, effectively redirecting part of the recommendation.

The government intends to conduct more detailed research into the possibility of making improvements to existing data shares and investigating local authority reasons for additional data, acknowledging concerns about DWP's data sharing approach.

The government intends to conduct more detailed research into the possibility of improving existing data shares, including investigating local authority concerns, rather than committing to specific actions or timelines outlined by the committee.

The government states it continually considers ways to improve statistical publications and will continue to liaise with OSR on its ongoing income and earnings coherence work, but does not specifically commit to addressing the identified risk of overlap between DWP and ONS projects.

The government acknowledged the importance of improving statistical publications and referred to ongoing work like the GSS income and Earnings Coherence work plan and a cross-government steering group, but did not commit DWP to specific additional steps to integrate surveys or to writing to the Committee by March 2022.

The government response outlined existing data collected by the Family Resources Survey and plans to introduce new questions on debt repayments, but did not directly address the committee's conclusion about the impact of data gaps on poverty measurement accuracy or the need for significant DWP commitment.

The government outlined the various costs the Family Resources Survey already collects and plans to introduce new questions on debt repayments. However, it did not commit to the broader collaborative work to identify all inescapable household costs or report back on these by June 2022.

The government confirms the full Family Resources Survey (FRS) boost begins in April 2022 but states that the precise subgroups covered will depend on data analysis, response rates, and final sample sizes, making it impossible to provide a list by June 2022.

The government deferred the request, stating it is not possible to provide a precise list of subgroups for analysis by June 2022 as it depends on data collected, response rates, and final sample sizes from the FRS boost starting April 2022.

The government redirects responsibility for research and analysis on children of families with no recourse to public funds, stating that the Home Office has the policy lead on this issue.

The government redirected the recommendation, stating that the Home Office has the policy lead on No Recourse to Public Funds, rather than committing DWP to produce the requested data.

The government rejected the implied need to include housing costs in child income poverty estimates, stating there is no single administrative data source and DWP has no immediate plans to undertake the significant development work required.

The government rejected the recommendation, stating there are no immediate plans to take this forward due to the lack of a single data source for housing costs and other statistical development priorities.