MP's pledge on child poverty after benefit cap vote as children in Blackpool 'go without sufficient food every day'

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Blackpool South MP Chris Webb has pledged to keep pressure on the government to scrap the two-child benefit cap despite voting against an amendment to the policy.

Following a meeting with Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, he says he trusts the government to deliver an action plan to tackle child poverty in towns like Blackpool where nearly 44 per cent of children live in hardship.

Blackpool South MP Chris Webb with Work and Pensions Minister Liz KendallBlackpool South MP Chris Webb with Work and Pensions Minister Liz Kendall
Blackpool South MP Chris Webb with Work and Pensions Minister Liz Kendall | Blackpool South MP Chris Webb with Work and Pensions Minister Liz Kendall

Both Mr Webb and Blackpool North and Fleetwood MP Lorraine Beavers were among Labour MPs who last week voted to reject an amendment to the King’s Speech to abolish the two-child benefit cap.

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But Mr Webb branded the cap "punitive, ideological and cruel" and said he would be pushing for it to be scrapped "as soon as financially possible”.

He said: “It’s easy to be blinded by statistics but we need to think about the 12,500 children who go without sufficient food, housing, clothes or their other basic needs met every day in Blackpool.

"As a volunteer driver for Blackpool Food Bank, I know what it’s like on the frontline of this crisis

"After meeting with the Secretary of State I am confident this government will put into place the most effective policy it can to tackle child poverty for children in Blackpool South and beyond."

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Following the meeting, the minister said: “I wanted to meet with Chris to talk about child poverty because I know he has hands-on experience of what families and children are facing in Blackpool, which has some of the worst deprivation in the country. We are working every day across government to reduce child poverty and give every child the best start in life."

Labour's plans nationally include introducing free breakfast clubs in schools, with a similar scheme having been run in Blackpool primary schools since 2013. A new unit has also been set up to work on a Child Poverty Strategy. Mr Webb is also set to work with the End Child Poverty Commission to improve conditions in the town.

Figures from the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) show 43.7 per cent of children in Blackpool were living in poverty in 2022-23, up 11.6 per cent since 2015.

Research published in April this year by Health Equity North found one in every 52 children in Blackpool is in care compared with one in 140 across England. Blackpool Council's Children's Services overspent by £6.6m in the last financial year looking after vulnerable children.

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