Government criticised for not acting on social fund

A leading children’s charity has accused the government of
hypocrisy over its pledge to eradicate child poverty.

The criticism comes from the Child Poverty Action Group in the
wake of the government’s rejection of the House of Commons social
security committee’s recommendations on the social fund (News, 16
August, page 6; 12 April, page 9).

CPAG director Martin Barnes said: “The government’s refusal to
accept the committee’s recommendations is surprising, disappointing
and reeks of hypocrisy. In opposition Labour attacked the social
fund, in government it ignores the overwhelming evidence that it is
failing.”

The committee’s report found the fund undermined child poverty
reduction strategies and it called for an “urgent overhaul and an
injection of funds”. But the government rejected the committee’s
findings in its response published earlier this month.

Barnes described the government’s refusal to face the facts as
“breathtaking and contradictory”, claiming that money available for
grants for essential items, such as shoes, bedding and heaters, was
now “worth less in real terms than when Labour was elected in
1997”.