Agenda item

Child Poverty

9.1

It was formally moved by Councillor Adam Hurst, and formally seconded by Councillor Zahira Naz, that this Council:-

(a)       notes the recent publication of analysis by the Trade Union Congress (TUC), from Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, finding that the proportion of household debt is at its highest level for five years; on average UK homes owed 26.5% of their annual income to loans and credit cards in the third quarter of 2015, the highest rate since 2008; and the average amount owed by households is now £12,887, the highest figure recorded, and the calculations do not include mortgages;

(b)       is concerned by the need for households to be relying on such high levels of debt, demonstrating that the Government’s handling of the national economy is fundamentally flawed – with average earnings falling below 2% since October - as increases in earning slow, household debt increases and this situation could have serious detrimental long term consequences for raising families out of poverty;

(c)        recalls the findings in July 2015, by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) which found that 63% of children living in poverty were in working families in 2013/14 (compared with 54% in 2009/10); and regrets that in the last year, according to the IFS, child poverty has increased by over 200,000 and notes further reports by the IFS which suggest that the UK is set for the biggest increase in child poverty in a generation and that by 2020 child poverty will have risen by 50%;

(d)       wishes to further highlight that the cycle between debt and poverty is well known, and that for children in debt-ridden families, they are more likely to be locked into a cycle of poverty; the Children’s charity Barnardo's states that “poverty is the single greatest threat to the wellbeing of children and families”;

(e)       reiterates the motion passed at December’s Full Council meeting, which noted that Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough has the 14th highest levels of child poverty of any constituency in the country with 39.7% of children (11,706 children) living in poverty and in Sheffield Central 34.9% of children (5,452 children) are living in poverty;

(f)        believes it is outrageous that in the fifth richest country in the world [i.e. the UK] children are increasingly having to suffer the consequences of poverty, and notes that from the beginning of the Coalition Government in 2010, children’s charities have been warning that the Government’s policies would result in increased child poverty and this has been seen through the significant growth in foodbanks in recent years;

(g)       regrets that the changes to Universal Credit announced in the Autumn Statement do not address the huge cuts made by this Government and recalls that the cuts to Universal Credit introduced by this Government have taken £2,100 per year from 2.5 million working families today and the measures in the Autumn Statement will give them back as little as £150;

(h)       notes research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which highlights that lone parents with 2 children, working full time on the National Living Wage, have lost £2,586 per year due to changes in benefits since 2015; and

(i)         welcomes Labour’s proposal to reverse cuts to Universal Credit Work Allowances, to restore the important principle abandoned by this Government that work will always pay.

9.2

Whereupon it was formally moved by Councillor Joe Otten, and formally seconded by Councillor Steve Ayris, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.         the deletion of paragraph (c) and the addition of a new paragraph (c) as follows:-

(c)        recalls the findings in July 2015, by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) in the report "Living Standards, Poverty and Inequality in the UK: 2015", which found that "Income inequality has fallen back to levels last seen one or two decades ago, depending on the measure. Relative poverty is lower than before the recession, ..." and that more recently "There was also no significant change in absolute or relative poverty for any of the major demographic groups (children, pensioners and working-age adults without children).  ...  Key factors acting to hold child poverty down in 2013–14 were employment increases, falls in poverty among workless lone-parent families and falls in poverty among children of self-employed parents.”;

2.         the deletion, in paragraph (f), of all the words after the words “consequences of poverty”;

3.         the addition of a new paragraph (h) as follows, and the relettering of original paragraph (h) as a new paragraph (i):-

(h)       notes that many of the harshest cuts made by this Government, including cuts to Universal Credit, were blocked during the last Parliament by the Liberal Democrats;

4.         the deletion of the original paragraph (i).

9.3

On being put to the vote, the amendment was negatived.

9.4

It was then formally moved by Councillor Douglas Johnson, and formally seconded by Councillor Magid Magid, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the addition of a new paragraph (j) as follows:-

(j)         welcomes the Green Party’s support for the principle of a universal basic income, which ensures that work will always pay and also addresses the unacceptable hardship of poverty, and looks forward to the results of pilot programmes in Finland, Glasgow and Fife.

9.5

On being put to the vote, the amendment was negatived.

9.6

It was then formally moved by Councillor Peter Rippon, and formally seconded by Councillor Lisa Banes, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the addition of a new paragraph (j) as follows:-

(j)         supports the Private Member’s Bill tabled by Dan Jarvis MP, which will receive its second reading in Parliament on Friday 3^rd February, and the related campaign to end child poverty; and this week’s subsequent national Labour Party campaign in support of this.

9.7

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

9.8

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-

9.8.1

The votes on the Substantive Motion were ordered to be recorded and were as follows:-