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The government has failed to make any progress against at least 10 of its 55 anti-poverty indicators since they were introduced four years ago, the government’s fifth annual poverty report published this week reveals, writes Clare Jerrom.

The Department for Work and Pensions report also finds that there is insufficient data to check whether improvements have been made against a further 12 of the indicators.

The indicators are intended to measure progress against the government’s long-term goals to tackle both poverty and its sources, including its aims to eradicate child poverty in a generation and to ensure that older people can live secure and fulfilling lives.

However, the report shows that progress has been confirmed against only 12 of the 20 indicators set to monitor children and young people living in poverty, and against only 6 of the 11 indicators monitoring older people.

Paul Cann, director of policy at older people’s charity Help the Aged said: “Despite the government’s strenuous efforts and substantial public spending, pensioner poverty remains a reality for many.”

The charity said the latest figures showed that, between 1998 and 2001, 18 per cent of pensioners lived in persistent poverty, while the percentage living on a persistent low income had remained between 16 and 18 per cent for over a decade.

Launching the report, 'Opportunity for All', work and pensions secretary Andrew Smith said: “We have made great strides, but we realise that there is more that must be done. Poverty and social exclusion are deep-rooted problems that take time and effort to tackle.”

'Opportunity for All' from www.dwp.gov.uk/ofa