Events Calendar

26 May 2021
Next steps for tackling child poverty and hunger in the UK – access to education, impact of COVID-19, and priorities for policy and support

This online conference organised by the Westminster Social Policy Forum will discuss next steps for tackling child poverty and hunger in the context of Covid-19 and will bring together stakeholders with key policy officials from DfE; the DWP; MHCLG; the Office of the Children’s Commissioner; Social Security Scotland; the Education and Training Inspectorate, NI; the Department for Communities, NI; the Welsh Government; and the Senedd Cymru. Discussions will include:

• the scale and scope of the problem – latest thinking, data, and projections for poverty affecting children
• key issues and priorities – employment, regional inequalities, universal credit, and supporting groups most affected
• access to education – catching up and the impact of digital poverty
• addressing child hunger – food poverty, key initiatives and the National Food Strategy
• the challenge for policy – overall priorities for how government and stakeholders tackle child poverty now, in the shadow of the 2020 target for child poverty eradication set in the 2010 Child Poverty Act

Speakers include: Alison Garnham, Chief Executive, Child Poverty Action Group. Anna Taylor, Executive Director, Food Foundation. Dr David Taylor-Robinson, Professor of Public Health and Policy, University of Liverpool. Sammy Wright, Commissioner, Schools and Higher Education, Social Mobility Commission.