I wrote to the Noble Peer on this issue on 4th<\/sup> December 2014. I have placed a copy of this letter in the library of the House and have also attached it to this response.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3893", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Freud"}
}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Freud"}
, "attachment" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/167612/answer/attachment/1", "fileName" : {"_value" : "Letter to Lord McAvoy 4.12.14.PDF"}
, "title" : "Letter to Lord McAvoy 4th Dec 2014"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-12-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-12-08T15:43:27.97Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2014-12-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Poverty: Children"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty\u2019s Government, further to the comments by Lord Freud in the Grand Committee debate on the Child Poverty Act 2010 (Persistent Poverty Targets) Regulations 2014, that the facts Lord McAvoy had quoted were \"simply not true\" (HL Deb, 25 November, col GC 263), how they were not true.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4158", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord McAvoy"}
}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord McAvoy"}
], "uin" : "HL3387"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/166639", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Work and Pensions"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/166639/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The Government does not produce forecasts of the number of children living in income poverty as the number of children in poverty is dependent on factors which cannot be reliably predicted, such as the median income.<\/p> <\/p> The Government does measure annual child poverty statistics through the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative and absolute low income in the UK have consistently been reported since 1998/99; these are available for each financial year up to 2012/13, the latest period for which estimates are available.<\/p> <\/p> There has been no assessment of the impact on child poverty of the combined tax and benefit changes announced since May 2010. Available survey data does not allow the Government to robustly assess the combined effects of tax and benefit policy on households with children.<\/p> <\/p> However, this Government has taken unprecedented steps to assess the effects of its policy decisions across the distribution of household income, by publishing analysis of the cumulative effects of the tax and welfare measures announced at each fiscal event since the June Budget 2010. The latest analysis can be found in Chapter 2 of the attached report.<\/p>"}
, "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3893", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Freud"}
}
, "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Freud"}
, "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2014-12-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "HL3231"}
, "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2014-12-11T16:55:04.767Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
]}
, "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"}
, "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"}
, "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"}
, "date" : {"_value" : "2014-11-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"}
, "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Poverty: Children"}
, "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"}
, "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"}
}
], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty\u2019s Government whether they have carried out any forecasts of the level of child poverty between now and 2020; and if so, whether they will be made public.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
, "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4308", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans"}
}
, "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "The Lord Bishop of St Albans"}
], "uin" : "HL3230"}
, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/106401", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Work and Pensions"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/106401/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " Under this Government, 300,000 fewer children are in relative income poverty, around 390,000 fewer children are growing up in workless families, the attainment gap for deprived pupils has narrowed, and we have just seen the largest annual fall in unemployment on record.<\/p> <\/p> <\/p> <\/p> Estimates of the number and proportion of children in relative low income are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. This information is captured using the Family Resources Survey (FRS) and has been reported since 1998/99. These estimates are available for each financial year up to 2012/13, the latest period for which estimates are available.<\/p> <\/p> <\/p> <\/p> These estimates can be found at the link below:<\/p> <\/p> <\/p> <\/p>