05 January 2009 – Best practices sought to tackle child poverty

The Government’s new Take Up Taskforce is asking local authorities and their partners to show how they are tackling child poverty by supporting parents to take up tax credits and benefits.

The Taskforce is currently looking for examples of good practice from across the UK, which demonstrate how local services have supported families at risk of poverty to take up the financial support they are entitled to. Local authorities and their partners are invited to share their best practices with the Taskforce by 20 February 2009.

Benefits and tax credits are essential to tackling poverty. The Government has redesigned the tax and benefit system to provide help for all, and extra help for those who need it most, whilst still maintaining incentives to work. This has been critical in lifting 600,000 children out of poverty over the last decade. However, many families are still not taking up the tax credits and benefits that they are entitled to, and remain in poverty as a result.

Children in poverty experience the realities of disadvantage and deprivation, suffering not only from poverty of income, but poverty of aspiration and opportunity. Whilst child poverty exists, our children, our society, and our economy will not reach their full potential.

Notes to Editors

The Government has set up the Take Up Taskforce of experts from local authorities and the voluntary sector to develop ways to help local services improve the take up of benefits and tax credits.

The Taskforce is looking specifically for work done in the last three years, which:

• looks to increase take up of a range of tax credits and benefits, and support families to manage their claims;
• aligns increasing take up with wider efforts to increase parents’ aspirations and help them to understand the benefits of work;
• demonstrates good value for money, and can be replicated within mainstream budgets;
• reach families in innovative ways through different local services;
• focus on families with children who are at risk of poverty.

Local authorities and their partners with examples of good practice to share, should email amy.jones@childpovertyunit.gsi.gov.uk by the 20th February 2009, outlining the details of the work done, and the impact it has had. Please include your name, title, email address and phone number, so that the Taskforce can contact you if they want any more detail.

We would welcome it if your email could answer some of the following questions:

• What are the key characteristics of your local area?
• What barriers or issues did you aim to address?
• Where there any specific groups or families that were targeted?
• What exactly was done? (Please try and explain both what was changed at an organisational level, and the changes experienced by families)
• How much did it cost and how was it funded?
• Which organisations were involved?
• What impact did it have?
• What are the key lessons that you have learned, which local services in other areas could benefit from?

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