Recommendations & Conclusions
9 items
6
Recommendation
Third Report - Children in poverty: Mea…
Deferred
We recommend that DWP should commission a systematic review of the latest evidence on child income poverty, its definitions, its causes and its consequences. It should use this review to prompt a better dialogue with the public, charities and others, and inform future cross-government work on measures to address child …
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We recommend that DWP should commission a systematic review of the latest evidence on child income poverty, its definitions, its causes and its consequences. It should use this review to prompt a better dialogue with the public, charities and others, and inform future cross-government work on measures to address child poverty. The findings from this review should be published by July 2022. (Paragraph 31) Measuring child poverty
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Government response AI summary
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.
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Department for Work and Pensions
13
Recommendation
Third Report - Children in poverty: Mea…
Deferred
DWP should consolidate its statistical publications on income-related poverty and wider social deprivations to create a single dashboard of indicators of child poverty which logically describe the evidence-based causes and consequences of child poverty. DWP should, in doing so, be careful to keep its core income-related measures of poverty separate …
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DWP should consolidate its statistical publications on income-related poverty and wider social deprivations to create a single dashboard of indicators of child poverty which logically describe the evidence-based causes and consequences of child poverty. DWP should, in doing so, be careful to keep its core income-related measures of poverty separate from indicators which describe wider social deprivations. DWP should align work on a single dashboard of indicators with household income data publications from the Office for National Statistics.
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Government response AI summary
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.
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Department for Work and Pensions
14
Conclusion
Third Report - Children in poverty: Mea…
Deferred
The Social Metrics Commission has proposed a new approach to measuring poverty which has widespread support. It was therefore welcome that the Government announced in 2019 that it would develop supplementary experimental statistics building on the Commission’s methodology. But that work seems to have ground to a halt. This was …
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The Social Metrics Commission has proposed a new approach to measuring poverty which has widespread support. It was therefore welcome that the Government announced in 2019 that it would develop supplementary experimental statistics building on the Commission’s methodology. But that work seems to have ground to a halt. This was understandable during the first months of the pandemic, when DWP faced an unprecedented volume of claims for Universal Credit. We are, however, concerned that the Secretary of State has no clear plans to resume this work and is yet to decide the strategy the Department will adopt.
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Government response AI summary
The government responded that the work on developing supplementary experimental statistics for measuring poverty, which the Committee expressed concern about, is 'still under consideration.'
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Department for Work and Pensions
17
Recommendation
Third Report - Children in poverty: Mea…
Deferred
DWP should continue to liaise with other countries, universities, and international organisations in developing a single dashboard for reporting income-related measures of poverty and the wider social deprivations on which the Government currently reports. (Paragraph 66) A strategy for child poverty
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DWP should continue to liaise with other countries, universities, and international organisations in developing a single dashboard for reporting income-related measures of poverty and the wider social deprivations on which the Government currently reports. (Paragraph 66) A strategy for child poverty
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Government response AI summary
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.
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Department for Work and Pensions
26
Conclusion
Third Report - Children in poverty: Mea…
Deferred
DWP has valuable administrative data that can be used to improve understanding of child poverty and support a better response to it. To make the best use of this resource, DWP will need to collaborate with others in Government, local authorities and academics. However, we have heard significant concerns from …
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DWP has valuable administrative data that can be used to improve understanding of child poverty and support a better response to it. To make the best use of this resource, DWP will need to collaborate with others in Government, local authorities and academics. However, we have heard significant concerns from local authorities and from some academics about the Department’s preparedness to share data. We are encouraged by its recent progress in some areas but believe DWP could be more open and constructive in its approach.
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Government response AI summary
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.
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Department for Work and Pensions
27
Recommendation
Third Report - Children in poverty: Mea…
Deferred
DWP should liaise with other government departments to identify lessons for how it might take a more constructive approach to sharing data related to child poverty. DWP should write to us by June 2022 updating us on its progress (a) in working with the Office for National Statistics, Administrative Data …
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DWP should liaise with other government departments to identify lessons for how it might take a more constructive approach to sharing data related to child poverty. DWP should write to us by June 2022 updating us on its progress (a) in working with the Office for National Statistics, Administrative Data UK and other government departments to develop new data matching and analysis programmes to understand better the causes and consequences of child income poverty; and (b) in addressing local authority concerns about the sharing of Universal Credit administrative data.
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Government response AI summary
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.
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Department for Work and Pensions
33
Recommendation
Third Report - Children in poverty: Mea…
Deferred
DWP should write to us by June 2022 setting out precisely what additional subgroup analysis, including analysis of ethnic minority households, it expects to be able to conduct as a result of the increase in the sample size for its Family Resources Survey.
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DWP should write to us by June 2022 setting out precisely what additional subgroup analysis, including analysis of ethnic minority households, it expects to be able to conduct as a result of the increase in the sample size for its Family Resources Survey.
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Government response AI summary
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.
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Department for Work and Pensions
34
Recommendation
Third Report - Children in poverty: Mea…
Deferred
Income poverty data on children whose parents have no recourse to public funds is limited. DWP’s Family Resources Survey picks up very small numbers of these children and the Department does not collect significant administrative data on them because their parents are not normally entitled to its benefits and services. …
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Income poverty data on children whose parents have no recourse to public funds is limited. DWP’s Family Resources Survey picks up very small numbers of these children and the Department does not collect significant administrative data on them because their parents are not normally entitled to its benefits and services. This blind-spot in DWP’s understanding of children in poverty is not sustainable. As a Department with responsibility for poverty and disadvantage it falls to DWP to conduct research and analysis for all of society, including for children of families with no recourse to public funds. We expect to return to this issue later in 2021.
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Government response AI summary
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.
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Department for Work and Pensions
35
Recommendation
Third Report - Children in poverty: Mea…
Deferred
We recommend that DWP works with the Office for National Statistics to produce robust income-related poverty and income data on children and their families with no recourse to public funds. DWP should write to us by June 2022 to give an update on its progress in addressing this unsustainable gap.
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We recommend that DWP works with the Office for National Statistics to produce robust income-related poverty and income data on children and their families with no recourse to public funds. DWP should write to us by June 2022 to give an update on its progress in addressing this unsustainable gap.
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Government response AI summary
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.
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Department for Work and Pensions