A Stormont committee has described the Department for Communities’ handling of the Child Poverty Strategy as a “catalogue of failures”.
According to a new Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) report, the impact of the Child Poverty Strategy has been non-existent, with the numbers of extremely poor children in Northern Ireland increasing.
An extensive list of the strategy’s shortcomings is set out in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report, along with 11 recommendations which the committee wants to see reflected in a new cross-departmental plan to tackle child poverty.
Studies have shown that children in deprived areas are likely to live between 11 and 15 years less in good health than their more affluent peers.
They are also four times more likely to experience mental health problems by the age of 11.
During evidence-gathering sessions, experts told the committee that childhood poverty does not exist in isolation and can lead to long-term disadvantage.
“Children growing up in poverty are more likely to experience poverty in adulthood, mainly due to lower levels of educational attainment meaning that finding well paid work is more difficult,” the report states.
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The NIAO report also pointed to estimates of the significant costs to the public purse of dealing with child poverty, ranging from £825 million to £1 billion per year.
Northern Ireland’s Child Poverty Strategy was in place between 2016-22, having been developed first by the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, and then passed to the Department for Communities as the department responsible for leading on the implementation of the strategy.
One of its key aims was to “turn the curve” and reduce the number of children living in poverty.
Among the Public Accounts Committee’s criticisms of the implementation of the Child Poverty Strategy are that the rate of child poverty actually grew from a consistent 20% to 24% in 2022-23 and that the Department “appeared to be too far removed” from those children and families experiencing poverty.
West Tyrone SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan.
SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan, who is chair of PAC said: “Tackling child poverty and the serious challenges that exist for the most vulnerable in our society are vitally important topics for our committee.
“It is simply unacceptable that almost one in four of our children now lives in relative poverty, and around 9% cent of children live in low-income households that cannot afford basic goods and essential activities.
“Behind these statistics are real families and real children. As MLAs, we know there are families in our constituencies who struggle to heat their homes and put food on the table.”
The chair of the committee was also critical of the fact that funding had not been ring-fenced to implement the strategy.
He argued that this had severely limited the department’s ability to implement new schemes, meaning the strategy was largely a list of interventions already in place prior to 2016.
He also said there was a need for the Executive to work alongside charities and other community organisations around the development of a new strategy.
Mr McCrossan continued: “The delivery of the child poverty strategy has been characterised by a catalogue of failures: failure to turn the curve and reduce child poverty, failure to monitor outcomes effectively, failure of collective working and accountability, failure to engage with children and the community and voluntary sectors, and a failure to produce a new anti-poverty strategy.
“We are also frustrated by the lack of progress made in the two years since the child poverty strategy ended.”
Daniel McCrossan MLA added that “lessons must be learned” and called on the department to report back to the committee by the end of January to confirm that a new anti-poverty strategy will be presented to the Executive by the end of March.
The PAC has also recommended that a new draft strategy includes a plan with clearly-defined measures and targets to reduce poverty.
The Department for Communities has been contacted.