Joint statement from the Champs Public Health Collaborative welcoming the publication of the UK Government’s Child Poverty Strategy

Together with the Champs Public Health Collaborative, we welcome the UK Government’s new Child Poverty Strategy – Our Children, Our Future: Tackling Child Poverty – and the clear commitment it makes to improving the lives of children and families across the country. After many years in which child poverty has risen and its impacts deepened, it is encouraging to see this issue placed firmly back at the heart of national policy. The ambition to lift an estimated 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030 represents a significant and positive step forward.

We are particularly pleased that the strategy recognises the wide range of work taking place in Cheshire and Merseyside, noting “the Champs Public Health Collaborative, led by the nine Directors of Public Health and NHS Director of Population Health, who have been working together with partners on coordinated action to tackle child poverty in the Cheshire and Merseyside subregion. This includes the recent publication of an independent situational analysis and a comprehensive strategic framework for action.” This acknowledgement reflects the strength of our shared approach and the commitment of colleagues across the subregion.

Earlier this year, we were proud to host the National Child Poverty Unit (CPU) in Sefton, and share local evidence, lived experience, and examples of effective practice. We welcome the fact that this engagement has informed national thinking, demonstrating the impact that coordinated local leadership can have on shaping policy that works for communities. This is a core ambition of our All Together Fairer Health and Care Partnership Plan, and it is encouraging to see that our collective efforts are helping to influence decisions at a national level.

Many of the measures announced in the strategy reflect areas the Champs Collaborative has long called for, including the removal of the two-child benefit cap and expanded access to free school meals. These policy changes will make a real and immediate difference for families across Cheshire and Merseyside, particularly those in the deepest hardship. Our independent situational analysis identified at least 17,600 families in the subregion who are negatively impacted by this cap, which is a staggering amount of young people whose lives will change for the better. We also welcome commitments to childcare support, housing stability, holiday activity and food programmes, and investment in family hubs and early years provision.

While the strategy represents an important milestone, we also recognise that more will be needed in the years ahead. The Government has set out plans to 2030, but this moment also offered an opportunity to establish a longer-term, ambitious national target to eradicate child poverty within the next two decades. We hope that future iterations of the strategy will build on today’s progress, ensuring that all children, including those who may not yet benefit from these measures, have the opportunity to grow up healthy, secure, and able to thrive.

Tackling child poverty is, as the Government notes, an investment in children’s futures. But it is also an investment in their present. A happy, safe childhood free from poverty is not simply preparation for adulthood, it is a right in itself. In Cheshire and Merseyside, we want to see no child in our subregion living in poverty.

We extend our deepest thanks to Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership members, our Children and Young People Committee members, Directors of Children’s Services, and our valued partners across local government, the NHS, and the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise sector. Our region’s unique distributed leadership approach, supported by a dedicated Board and the work of our All Together Fairer Leads, continues to drive progress every day.

The publication of the national strategy is a welcome and significant step. We look forward to working with Government and partners at every level to ensure its ambitions are delivered, and that together, we build a fairer, healthier future for every child in Cheshire and Merseyside.

Dave Bradburn

Director of Public Health for Wirral 

Lead Director of Public Health for Children and Young People

Professor Matthew Ashton

Director of Public Health for Liverpool 

Co-Chair of the Cheshire and Merseyside All Together Fairer Board

Professor Ian Ashworth

Director of Population Health for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside 

Co-Chair of the Cheshire and Merseyside All Together Fairer Board