The Rt Hon George Osborne MP

Chancellor of the Exchequer

HM Treasury

1 Horseguards Road

London SW1A 2HQ

Date: 26^th January 2015

Dear George,

I was incredibly disappointed that your autumn budget made no specific mention of child poverty nor of the urgent need to end it.

Britain’s 3.5 million children living in poverty did not cause the financial crisis and should not pay for the deficit. Parents desperately want jobs they can raise their family on, but cuts to working tax credits and childcare will make it even harder to get and keep a job, locking more children into poverty. Moreover, child poverty imposes costs on broader society – an estimated £29 billion a year according to Child Poverty Action Group.

Your Government has committed to ending child poverty, yet the Institute of Fiscal Studies are warning that child poverty is actually set to increase rather than decrease.

In the run up to the final budget statement of this Parliament, please will you:

·         Support jobs you can raise a family on by redressing damage to work incentives from cuts to tax credits and childcare support.

·         Prioritise and target areas with high child poverty and low employment vacancies for job creation programmes and economic regeneration.

·         Ensure it is clear how budget initiatives will have a measurable impact reducing child poverty, and as part of a robust strategy in accordance with the Child Poverty Act.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,