Liz Kendall vows to use 'all levers' to fix child poverty - with Budget 'down payment'

Ministers will use “all of the levers that we have at our disposal” to combat child poverty after making a “down payment” on helping hard-up families in the , the Work and Pensions Secretary has said.

Liz Kendall said child poverty levels in Britain were a "moral stain" and described her horror at hearing about a child in her constituency who ate nothing but a bowl of salad cream for dinner. She vowed would drive down poverty, pointing to Budget measures such as a hike to the carer's allowance and a reduction in deductions, which will boost 1.2 million of the poorest households by an average of £420-a-year.

But she resisted widespread calls to immediately scrap the Tory two-child benefit limit, saying the Government "will only make promises when we know we can afford them". In an interview with the Sunday in her Westminster office, Ms Kendall said: "In the 21st century, in what is - for all our problems - still one of the richest countries in the , [child poverty] is the moral stain.

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"I believe in equality, that every child should have an equal shot at life and that their future shouldn't be determined by where they're born or what their parents did, or the gender or the colour of their skin."

Ms Kendall became emotional when she described the scale of hardship in her Leicester West constituency, where one in three kids are growing up in poverty and teachers can struggle to get children to come to school. "One school I visited recently, they'd gone to find out where the child was," Ms Kendall said.

"They were at home... and the little boy had had a bowl of salad cream for his dinner. That was all there was there." Ms Kendall said the story left her "unbelievably upset". She said driving down child poverty was "an absolute priority".

The Government is under intense pressure to scrap the Tory two-child benefit limit, which has been blamed for driving up poverty levels in larger families. Analysis by the Resolution Foundation this week found an additional 63,000 kids will be affected by the austerity-era policy, which prevents people from claiming Child Tax Credits or Universal Credit for more than two children.

Asked for her view on the policy, she said: "We voted against it when we were in Opposition. I know only too well the impact that it has but we will only make promises when we know we can afford them and we know we can keep them.

"Our child poverty strategy is looking at all of the levers that we have at our disposal. How we increase people's incomes, yes, through the Social Security system, but also through work. Because ultimately the key is more people in better paid jobs."

Pressed on whether it would be scrapped, she said: "We're looking at all the levers available at our disposal right across Government. You will have to wait till the child poverty strategy, which will come out in the Spring, but the Budget showed that we care. We are going to drive down poverty."

Another lever for driving down poverty and hunger is expanding free school meals provision to more children. However Ms Kendall said the Government's focus was on rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary school - with the Chancellor ramping up investment in the scheme in the Budget.

Ms Kendall said she knew families are worried about making ends meet this winter, saying: "I know just how tough it's going to be." She added: "People are worried about their heating, paying their bills. They're worried, everybody wants to do the best for the families over .

"That is why in this very first Budget, with all the pressures we face - the state of our , our crumbling schools - we know, the Chancellor knows, Rachel [Reeves] knows, putting money into people's pockets as quickly as we possibly can is vital, which is why we've made these changes."

She pointed to the Chancellor's decision to increase the national minimum wage, which will rise to an hourly rate of £12.21 in April, and £10 for 18 to 20-year-olds. The Household Support Fund, which helps families with bills and other essential costs, will be extended next year, along with discretionary housing payments for those who receive housing benefit but need additional help.

Ms Kendall said: "You can't fulfil your potential without food in your belly or a roof over your head, and the country can't fulfil its potential when the chances and opportunities for so many children are being denied. So it's back where it should be again at the top of the agenda, right in the heart of our manifesto, a priority for the Prime Minister and for me personally, and that was a really significant step forward."

She added: "A Tory Work and Pensions Secretary never would have asked for that change, and a Tory Chancellor would never have given it."

Getting people back into work will be critical to boosting the economy and driving down poverty, she said. The Government is due to publish a white paper within weeks on how to drive down levels of worklessness due to long-term illness, which have spiralled to a near record 2.8 million people since the pandemic.

It is expected to include a new national jobs and career service, locally-led work, health and skills plans for the unemployed and a youth guarantee for 18 to 21-year-olds of training, an apprenticeship or help to find work.

Ms Kendall said: "There are so many people who were written off under the Tories then blamed for a cheap headline. We have big plans to offer a really positive set of skills, health support, drive down those waiting lists, provide help for mental health for young people, to join up work, health and skills, overhaul the Tories apprenticeship levy so that we give young people better chances in life."

She said it was "not good enough" that one in eight young people are neither in education, employment or training. "It can actually have a lifelong effect," she said.

"It affects your future job prospects, your future earnings, and that's not good enough. It's not good enough for young people. It's not good enough for businesses who want to recruit, and it's not good enough for the country."

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