Speeches by Johnson.

“I am really pleased that we have so many organisations and bodies in this country that care about child poverty and want to support the Government in bringing about its reduction. The strategy has set out the approach that we are going to take. It is worth saying that, across the board, if you talk to any of the Minist…”

“I wonder if James wants to come in at this point.”

“Absolutely. We welcome any scrutiny and we want to be held accountable. Elaine might want to go into what exactly is going to be published, so that you are clear on that. I am also sure that the Children’s Commissioners in all the nations will want to be very much looking at how this strategy is implemented and whether…”

“On the devolved nations, we as Ministers have been working with our counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, wanting to understand and hear about what they are doing, respecting, obviously, the devolution settlement. They know best what to do for their communities and local populations. We may be about to …”

“May I come in first? One thing that I am very conscious about is single parents. We know that single-parent households are more likely to be in poverty than those with two adults. I am very conscious, particularly in the employment space—we want people to be in work, because we know that good work is good for you—of ch…”

“I know that the officials in the DWP and the Home Office are working very closely together. Clearly, the child poverty strategy is a whole-Government strategy.”

“I want every person who wants to work, who should be in work, to have that opportunity. As you will know, another big problem is that we have too many young people who are not in employment, education or training. The Government have a big offer in the youth guarantee. For those young people, again, we are not prepared…”

“I congratulate the Chair of the Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams), on securing today’s debate and on all the work that she and her Committee members do. It has been a pleasure to hear not one but two maiden speeches this afternoon. I congratulate the hon. Memb…”

“Like my hon. Friend, I am very proud of what the child poverty strategy will deliver. It may be worth reflecting on what the Chancellor said about child poverty at the end of last year in the Budget. She said that “because I am tackling fraud and error in our welfare system, cracking down on tax avoidance and reforming…”

“I agree with the hon. Gentleman’s comments about the excellent DWP officials in our area. Youth hubs will be in areas where we are working with, say, sports clubs and other organisations. We are also looking at whether we can use buses to get mobile youth hubs out to rural areas in particular, so perhaps that is a conv…”

“The employment rate is 78.4% in rural areas, compared with 74.8% in urban areas, with job opportunities in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and scientific and technical sectors. Under this Government, economic inactivity among people aged 16 and over in rural areas has fallen by 0.8%, and through the new jobs and career…”

“I acknowledge what my hon. Friend says and I commend him for his work on the Right to Food UK Commission. I know that many people who work very hard doing important work in sectors like retail and care do not earn enough, so at the end of the week there is insufficient money and they rely on foodbanks. I invite my hon.…”

“Yes, I am very happy to meet the hon. Gentleman.”

“The Department publishes data on universal credit and keeps labour market trends under review. In January 2026, 3.1 million people were on universal credit in employment, representing 37.8% of all claimants. Universal credit is designed to support people into and in work, allowing individuals to move into employment wh…”

“The hon. Lady raises a very important point. The child poverty strategy is a 10-year strategy. We are very clear that, as Ministers across Government, we need to be looking at all areas of what Government can do to address child poverty, and there is a key measure around deep material poverty that we need to look at. I…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her interest in this area. Through our child poverty strategy, we are already taking substantial action, including the expansion of free school meals eligibility, the removal of the two-child limit and the introduction of the £1 billion crisis and resilience fund. Actions in the strategy will…”

“The question was about rural areas. It might be interesting and helpful for the hon. Member to reflect how under the last Government the number of jobs in agriculture—a key sector in rural areas—fell by 50,000 while under this Government it has risen by 5,000.”

“I fully appreciate that the case is not unique, and that far too many people are not getting the service we want them to have through Access to Work. I will say a little about what we are already doing and what we plan to do next. Access to Work is key to delivering this Government’s objectives. It removes the barriers…”

“The Department for Work and Pensions will always be looking at and evaluating the schemes we have, and what the cost is if a scheme is not available to people, so that work will be underway. I want to go back to the issue of people being aware of the Access to Work scheme. Some will remember that Access to Work was onc…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that case. The Minister for Social Security and Disability, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Ham (Sir Stephen Timms), has responsibility for Access to Work. He sadly cannot be with us this afternoon, but I have heard that particular case, and if my hon. Friend supplie…”