Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Child Poverty: Bolton North East

Monday 9 March 2026 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Kirith Entwistle asked about recent assessments of child poverty trends in Bolton North East constituency.
  • The Government claims their Child Poverty Strategy will lift 550,000 children out of poverty by the end of the current Parliament.
  • Kirith Entwistle highlighted that lifting over 4,500 children in his constituency out of poverty by scrapping the two-child limit is a Labour Government achievement.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Kirith Entwistle Lab Bolton North East
Children & Families
Context

The MP inquired about recent child poverty trends in the Bolton North East constituency, noting the impact of government policies.

Question

What recent assessment has been made of trends in the level of child poverty in the Bolton North East constituency?

Answer from Diana R. Johnson

Under the last Government an additional 900,000 children became part of the child poverty statistics, but as a result of our Child Poverty Strategy, published in December, 550,000 will be lifted out of poverty by the end of the current Parliament—the largest number ever in a single Parliament. The removal of the two-child limit from April, for instance, could benefit about 4,710 children in my hon. Friend's constituency.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific trend analysis of child poverty in the Bolton North East constituency was not provided.

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Q2 Kirith Entwistle Lab Bolton North East
Children & Families
Context

The MP highlighted the Labour Government's measure to lift more than 4,500 children out of poverty and sought further details on additional measures being implemented.

Question

I am proud that this Labour Government will lift more than 4,500 children in my constituency out of poverty by scrapping the two-child limit, but what further measures are the Government implementing to tackle child poverty and support families in my constituency?

Answer from Diana R. Johnson

Reducing child poverty is a moral imperative for us all, and for this Government in particular. We know that growing up in poverty damages children's health, education and future employment prospects. We have just been discussing the number of NEETs, and many of those children could become NEETs, so child poverty is bad for the UK's economic prosperity as well. We had not just been waiting for the strategy in December; we had already introduced the extension of free school meals eligibility, tripled access to breakfast clubs and supported the holiday activities and food programme, and we have put £1 billion into the reforming crisis and resilience fund.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific measures to tackle child poverty in the constituency were not detailed.

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