Legislative context and statutory duties
Child Poverty Act 2010
The Child Poverty Act 2010 fulfilled the Labour Government’s commitment to enshrine in legislation their target of eradicating child poverty by 2020. The Act establishes four separate child poverty targets to be met by 2020/21, requires the UK Government to publish a regular UK child poverty strategy, establishes a Child Poverty Commission to provide advice, requires the UK Government to publish annual progress reports, and places new duties on local authorities and other ‘delivery partners’ in England to work together to tackle child poverty. The Child Poverty Act 2010 (Part 2) places a series of statutory duties on local authorities (LAs) and named partners, such as:
• Section 21: Duty to cooperate with partners to reduce child poverty in the local area.
• Section 22: Duty to prepare and publish an assessment of the needs of children living in poverty in its area (“a local child poverty needs assessment”).
• Section 23: Duty to prepare a joint child poverty strategy in relation to the area, setting out the measures that the local authority and partners propose to take for the purpose of reducing, and mitigating the effects of, child poverty.
• Section 24: Include and have regard to the arrangements and actions from the previous sections in the local Sustainable Community Strategy.
Undertaking a child poverty needs assessment, as legislated in section 22 of the Act, above, is a key driver to addressing child poverty within a local area as it builds a shared understanding of the issues and demonstrates the extent and nature of the local challenge. The Coalition Government has decided not to issue formal statutory guidance on Part 2, giving local partners flexibility to meet the duties in a way that best fits their organisations and meets the needs of their local community..
A Child Poverty Needs Assessment and Strategy for Sandwell
Sandwell has finalised the draft of its Child Poverty Needs Assessment, which will be submitted for Cabinet approval in August 2011. After approval, there will be a refresh of the Anti-Poverty Strategy and Action Plan which will incorporate the main findings from the Child Poverty Needs Assessment. The presentation below provides some advice from the Local Government Association to help with the process:
From CPNA to Child Poverty Strategy- LGA Presentation
Latest version of the Child Poverty Needs Assessment for Sandwell
The Child Poverty Needs Assessment is in its final draft and waiting to be approved. You can download the latest version by clicking the link below.
Child Poverty Needs Assessment
Or you can download a shorter version (executive summary) with the main findings and recommendations only (click link below):
Child Poverty Needs Assessment - Executive Summary
You can also find below the Equality Impact Assessment screening of the document (click link):
Equality Impact Assessment - CPNA screening