New policies vow for poverty target

The government has promised to produce fresh policies this year to accelerate progress to its target of halving child poverty by 2010.

In a speech last week, work and pensions secretary John Hutton said the target would be his department’s top priority and it would produce proposals this autumn to meet it.

The government admitted in March that it missed its first target of cutting child poverty by a quarter by 2004-5.

Hutton said all aspects of his department’s policies – for instance, its reforms of incapacity benefit and the Child Support Agency – would be tested against their impact on child poverty.