Fears are growing that Gordon Brown may be forced to drop or modify stringent targets to eradicate child poverty days after he failed to reaffirm his commitment to the goal in Parliament.

The Government promised to halve child poverty by 2010, and eradicate it by 2020. But an assessment by Save the Children suggests the Government could be as much as 14 years behind the 2010 target. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has also said that it will cost another £3.5 billion to £4 billion in tax credits by autumn 2009 to fulfil the promise – which the Chancellor is unlikely to be able to afford.

A government source said that there were moves to reexamine some targets, with short-term goals sacrificed in return for longer-term targets being made more demanding, although he would not confirm that this included the child poverty goals.

Labour MPs are now putting greater public pressure on the Prime Minister to focus on the target, with the Conservatives also sensing a new line of attack. David Cameron recently made a speech on the issue entitled “Make British Poverty History”.

Karen Buck, a London Labour MP, is today publishing a new report on helping parents of older children into work, days after calling on Mr Brown in Prime Minister’s Questions to do more. She said last night: “This has been one of the most radical policy objectives of the Labour Government and great progress has been made. But this is the crunch time. Whether we use the Welfare to Work programme or direct investment in children and families, this next year is critical.”

Fears that the Government will miss or abandon the target grew after the PreBudget Report, when Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, committed an extra £600 million on child maintenance and child tax credits to help 100,000 children above the poverty threshold. IFS estimates suggest that this would still leave the Government 700,000 short of its 2010-11 target for child poverty to be half the level it was in 1998-09, when Tony Blair made the pledge.

Kate Green, from the Child Poverty Action Group, said: “This week Gordon Brown had an opportunity to positively reaffirm the commitment to the poverty goals, which he did not take. There is no way we can hit the targets on current assessments and we only have two more Budgets and PreBudget reports in which to do it.”

On Wednesday Ms Buck asked Mr Brown to reconfirm publicly the Government’s commitment to eradicate poverty. He replied: “The children’s plan will outline what is necessary to expand both childcare and education in future years. My honourable Friend is absolutely right: the expansion of opportunities for work is the best means by which we can relieve people of poverty. That is why . . . we have been determined to sign agreements with 110 companies, and will sign agreements with 300 in future.”

Peter Hain, the Work and Pensions Secretary, admitted that the target was ambitious, and said he hoped that new moves to put pressure on single parents with children over 11 to find work would help another 200,000 families. Delivery of the target is divided between the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Children, Schools and Families, and the Treasury.

In Still Home Alone, her report published with the charity 4Children, Ms Buck reveals that while parents of younger children can increasingly expect childcare assistance, there is only one after-school place for every 200 children aged 11-14. The lack of after-school provision is keeping some parents at home, with 75 per cent believing that 11 to 13-year-olds are too young to look after themselves.

The report calls for local authorities to develop childcare schemes with a start-up fund of up to £20,000. At the moment schools in deprived areas can receive as little as £10 per pupil per year to fund after-school activities.

The poor relations

What is child poverty?
The government definition is household income of less than 60 per cent of the median, or population midpoint, for that household type.

What does this mean?
An income of £222 per week (£11,544 per year) for a lone parent with two children aged 5 and 14 or £300 per week (£15,600 per year) for a couple with two children aged 5 and 14.

What has the Government done?
In 1999 it set a target of eradicating child poverty by 2020, having halved it by 2010 and reduced it by a quarter by 2005. Since 1996-97, child poverty has fallen by 600,000 before housing costs, which is now the preferred measure. However, the Government still missed the 2004-05 target and the latest child poverty figures, published in March, show that child poverty actually rose between 2004-05 and 2005-06

How many children are now living in poverty?
Government figures show that child poverty now stands at 2.8 million, which represents 22 per cent of all children in Britain.

Source: Child Poverty Action Group

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