London child poverty reduction effort needs greater co-ordination, says commission

Central and local government need to co-ordinate their initiatives and put child poverty at the centre of their policies to ensure it is eliminated in London, according to a  report out today.

The study, published by the London Child Poverty Commission, says that there are a number of different projects aimed at tackling child poverty and increasing employment both nationally and in the capital but there is little overall strategic co-ordination or evaluation of such initiatives.

It says that the majority of initiatives are aimed at increasing employment, access to childcare and benefits take up, and not explicitly aimed at tackling child poverty.

It also says that government employment programmes, such as the New Deal for Lone Parents, have not worked as well in London as they have elsewhere in the UK.

It recommends for child poverty to be covered by councils’ performance indicators and made a mandatory target for local area agreements in the most deprived local authority areas.