Legislative Consent Memorandum
Child Poverty Bill
Draft Legislative Consent Motion
1. The draft motion, which will be lodged by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, is
"That the Parliament agrees that the relevant provisions of the Child Poverty Bill, introduced in the House of Commons on 11th June 2009 to make provision within the legislative competence of the Parliament and to alter the executive competence of Scottish Ministers in respect of the duties to develop and lay a Scottish strategy to eradicate child poverty before the Scottish Parliament, should be considered by the UK Parliament."
Background
2. This memorandum has been lodged by Nicola Sturgeon, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, under Rule 9B.3.1(a) of the Parliament's standing orders. The Child Poverty Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 11th June 2009. The Bill can be found at:
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2008-09/childpoverty.html
Content of the Child Poverty Bill
3. The overarching aim of the Bill is to step up efforts to eradicate child poverty. To this end, it seeks to define and set targets to eradicate child poverty in legislation, to promote measures to meet these targets, and to hold governments to account for their progress against them.
4. The Bill introduces measures to commit the UK Government to the eradication of child poverty, and to place strategic and reporting duties on the UK Government and the Scottish Government and relevant Northern Ireland departments. It also places strategic duties on Local Authorities in England. Wales is partly covered by this legislation and partly by a separate Measure. This Measure (Children and Families (Wales) Measure) was laid before the National Assembly for Wales on 2 March with a view to becoming law early in 2010.
5. The main elements of the Bill are:
- It places a duty on the Secretary of State to ensure that a range of child poverty targets are met.
- It defines these targets (based on relative low income, combined low income and material deprivation, absolute low income and persistent poverty).
- It allows the Secretary of State to amend targets and to postpone the target year under certain circumstances.
- It provides for the establishment of a Child Poverty Commission to advise on strategic and technical matters.
- It places a duty on the Secretary of State to produce an initial UK strategy to eradicate child poverty, and a revised strategy every three years thereafter.
- It places a duty on the Secretary of State to report on an annual basis on progress against the targets, including implementation of the latest strategy.
- It places a duty on Scottish Ministers to produce an initial Scottish strategy to eradicate child poverty, and a revised strategy ever three years thereafter.
- It places a duty on the Secretary of State to continue to develop and publish strategies, and to report on progress against these strategies, if the 2020 targets are not met, and requires continued Scottish Government contribution to this process in line with pre-2020 duties.
- It places various duties on English local authorities to work to reduce child poverty and to prepare local strategies in accordance with this.
6. The Prime Minister announced the intention to enshrine in legislation the UK Government's pledge to eradicate child poverty in the UK by 2020, in November 2008's Pre-Budget Report. Public consultation on this legislation was conducted by the UK Government's Child Poverty Unit between January and March 2009.
7. The proposed arrangements are intended to "future-proof" the targets and the measures required to meet them, and to ensure that the eradication of child poverty remains on the political agenda. It also contains measures to ensure that the definition of success in tackling child poverty in general, and the meaning of "eradication" in particular, remains as clear and consistent as possible over time.
8. Legislation is also intended to support a co-ordinated approach to tackling poverty within Scotland, and across the UK, and to build consensus and momentum on tackling child poverty.
Provisions which relate to Scotland
9. Provisions in the Bill which trigger the need for legislative consent relate to:
- the duty on Scottish Ministers to prepare a Scottish child poverty strategy setting out how Scotland will contribute to the UK wide targets and further action the Scottish Government will take to address child poverty in Scotland;
- the requirement for the Scottish child poverty strategy to be revised every three years (in line with the UK strategy and the strategy to be prepared under the Welsh Measure on child poverty) with copies to be laid before the Scottish Parliament;
- the requirement for Scottish Ministers to request the advice of the new Child Poverty Commission in preparing the Scottish Government's child poverty strategy and to have regard to that Advice; and
- the Bill will also include the right for Scottish Ministers to appoint a Commissioner to the new Child Poverty Commission, and the Bill is drafted to allow Scottish Ministers to be consulted by the Secretary of State on overall membership of the Commission.
10. As these provisions lie within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament, or alter the executive competence of Scottish Ministers, legislative consent is required.
11. An overview of the provisions included in the Bill is attached at Annex A.
Consultation
12. The UK Government's cross-departmental Child Poverty Unit (CPU) held a consultation from January-March 2009, over a six week period. Approximately 240 responses were received from national charities, local government and individual members of the public. A series of stakeholder events were also held to inform the consultation. CPU have now published a Child Poverty Consultation Report which can be found at:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/strategy/parents/childpoverty/childpoverty/
13. The majority of respondents were supportive of the legislation and the Government's vision to eradicate child poverty by 2020. Some respondents highlighted the need for devolved administrations and the UK Government to engage positively to co-ordinate efforts to combat child poverty and further believed that national and local strategies should be joined up and cohesive.
14. The Scottish Government has also consulted informally with the following key stakeholders - Child Poverty Action Group, Action for Children, Save the Children, Poverty Alliance, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Children in Scotland, COSLA and the End Child Poverty and Scottish Campaign for Welfare Reform coalitions, and ensured that they have been made aware of the UK Government's consultation paper. However a full consultation with Scottish stakeholders has not taken place. If appropriate, the Scottish Government will undertake further consultation at the point when it is making decisions on how the Scottish provisions in the Bill are to be taken forward.
Financial Implications
15. The financial implications for the Scottish Government will place pressure on, but should be met by, existing resources . There will be a need to support local government and partners to focus their efforts on eradicating child poverty, but funding for capacity building initiatives should be met through existing budgets.
Conclusion
16. The view of the Scottish Government is that it is in the interests of the people of Scotland to be an active participant in the UK Government Child Poverty initiative. This view has been echoed by stakeholders and in the recent report by the Parliament's Local Government and Communities Committee which stated; "The Scottish Government has committed to do all it can to help achieve these targets. The Committee welcomes this commitment and believes there must be collaboration between Governments as the levers for tackling child poverty are both reserved to the UK Government and devolved to the Scottish Government. The Committee recognises that there must also be collaboration at a local level between sectors and agencies, and through the sharing of best practice, to ensure that the strategies for tackling child poverty are integrated and make the best use of knowledge and resources."
17. It is with this goal in mind that the Scottish Government commends this Legislative Consent Motion to the Parliament.
SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT
June 2009
ANNEX A
OVERVIEW OF THE UK CHILD POVERTY BILL
Part 1: National targets, strategies and reports
Targets relating to child poverty
- Covers Secretary of State (SofS) duty to ensure that the [relative, combined, absolute and persistent child poverty]. targets are met.
- Defines the UK targets on child poverty and provides for technical definition of the UK targets on child poverty, through regulations.
Power to amend targets
- Provides SofS with the powers to amend the persistent poverty target with the permission of the Commission, under certain circumstances.
Power to postpone target year
- Allows SofS to postpone the target year under certain circumstances.
Child Poverty Commission
- Commission's functions are set out in the Schedule to the Bill, which also specifies required level of expertise, term of office and administrative details.
Strategies and reports relating to child poverty: duties of SofS
- Sets out provisions for the initial UK strategy. Specifies timescale for its publication. States that it should set out the measures that the Secretary of State proposes to take, ensure that targets are met, and that as far as possible children in the UK are not affected by socio-economic disadvantage. It should also set out the progress that the SofS considers needs to be made, and intends to make.
- Sets out provisions for the revised UK strategy. Specifies timescale (every 3 years, beginning with the date of the initial strategy) for its publication, and specifies contents of the revised strategies.
- Sets out how the SofS must seek the Commission's advice on the UK strategies - i.e. that their advice must be sought in the preparation of strategies, have regard for this advice, and that the Commission must publish their advice as soon as is reasonably practical.
- Sets out that the SofS must consult with various bodies and with Ministers in the Devolved Administrations in preparing strategies.
- Specifies the duty for SofS to lay progress reports before Parliament. Reporting dates are each anniversary of the day that the initial strategy was either published or laid before Parliament (to be confirmed). Each report must set out the measures taken by SofS in accordance with the most recent strategy and describe the effect of those measures on progress towards the targets. SofS must consult with the devolved administrations in preparing these reports.
- Specifies the duty for SofS to continue to develop and publish UK strategies, and to report on progress against these strategies, if the 2020 targets are not met.
Strategies relating to child poverty: duties of Scottish Ministers
- Sets out duties on Scottish Ministers to produce an initial strategy, to be laid before the Scottish Parliament.
- Revised strategies must be produced, in same terms as the UK strategies (including the provisions that apply after 2020 if the targets are not met).
- Scottish Ministers must seek advice from the Commission, under the same terms as advice to SofS.
- Covers consultation by Scottish Ministers, in same terms as advice to SofS. This includes consultation with local authorities, SofS, children and organisations working with children, and "other persons as the Scottish Ministers see fit".
Economic and Fiscal Circumstances
- Economic and fiscal circumstances (and the impact of any strategies on the economy or fiscal circumstances) must be taken into account by SofS and Scottish Ministers when preparing strategies, and by the Commission in preparing its advice.
Duty to make regulations after the target year
- Before the end of the target year, SofS must make regulations about the effect of the targets after the end of the target year. If the targets have not been met, further strategic duties apply.
Part 2: Duties of local authorities and other bodies in England
- Places duties on local authorities and other public bodies in England to:
- Promote co-operation to reduce child poverty in local areas
- Prepare local needs assessments
- Prepare local child poverty strategies
- Prepare sustainable community strategies
- None of the duties in Part 2 apply to Scotland.