Making it happen

A new Child Poverty Bill was introduced to the House of Commons on 11 June, following consultation earlier this year (Ending child poverty: making it happen). The Bill, which puts into a legal framwork the government's commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020, is jointly sponsored by the Department for Children Schools and Families (DSCF), the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Treasury. As well as national level accountability, the Bill also creates an obligation on local authorities and their partners (including SHAs) to set out a local needs assessment and a joint local child poverty strategy and to consider the issue when developing Sustainable Communities Strategies. The latest issue of Community Care includes some case studies of local "innovation pilots" funded by DSCF.