Pictured (L-R) are members of the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee: David Honeyford MLA; Tom Buchanan MLA; Diane Forsythe MLA; Daniel McCrossan MLA (Chairperson); Cheryl Brownlee MLA (Deputy Chairperson); Colm Gildernew MLA; and Colin Crawford MLA.
The Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has described the Department for Communities’ handling of the Child Poverty Strategy as a ‘catalogue of failures’, saying children and families were not at its heart.
An extensive list of the Strategy’s shortcomings is set out in PAC’s report which is published today, along with 11 recommendations which the Committee wants to see reflected in a new cross-departmental plan to tackle child poverty.
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.
In its report, the Public Accounts Committee considered the Northern Ireland Audit Office’s (NIAO) report on Child Poverty in Northern Ireland* which was published in March of this year. The NIAO report considered the effectiveness of the 2016-22 Child Poverty Strategy and its impact on outcomes for children.
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.
Daniel McCrossan MLA, Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee and Cheryl Brownlee MLA, Deputy Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee.
Daniel McCrossan MLA, 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 nine per 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. Childhood poverty can lead to long-term disadvantage - and those growing up in poverty are more likely to experience poverty in adulthood.”
The Chair of the Committee was also critical that funding had not been ring-fenced to implement the Child Poverty Strategy between 2016-22. He argued that this had severely limited departments’ ability to implement new schemes, meaning the Strategy was largely a list of interventions already in place prior to 2016.
The Committee recognises the important role of the Community and Voluntary Sector in supporting those in need and is calling for greater partnership working between it and Executive Departments to ensure that the needs of children are met in the development of a new anti-poverty strategy.
The Chair of PAC 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 said, ‘lessons must be learned’ and he has 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 an action plan with clearly-defined indicators, as well as measures and targets to quantify and reduce poverty – which should also address early intervention and prevention.
PAC’s report was launched on Thursday (November 7, 2024) at an event at Parliament Buildings. The full report can be found here: Report on Child Poverty in Northern Ireland