North East Child Poverty

That this House notes the rapidly increasing levels of child poverty in the North East, including in Wansbeck, among other areas of the North, rising from 26 per cent in 2014-15 to 37 per cent in 2019-20 now the second highest rate across the country only behind London; further notes the profound effects this has on children growing up in poverty in Wansbeck and elsewhere on almost every facet of life from educational outcomes, health outcomes, economic outcomes which puts them at a huge disadvantage compared with their peers; notes that these problems will all be compounded by the £20 cut to universal credit that will only serve to widen the already gross inequalities in this country; and notes the need to act urgently to tackle child poverty as an essential aspect of any levelling up project before the worst economic, social, and political effects manifest themselves.