Labour MP Frank Field appointed as 'poverty tsar'

He will chair the Review on Poverty and Life Chances, which will report to Prime Minister David Cameron at the end of the year.

Part of his brief will be to review the current official definition of poverty – of households with less than 60 per cent of the median income – to possibly include social criteria such as education attainment.

He will also look closely at child poverty and what improvements can be made to family life before children start school.

Cameron added that Field's task would include looking at the barriers stopping those in low incomes coming out of long-term poverty.

Cameron said: "Understanding the real causes of poverty — both financial and non-financial, including the importance of families and the pre-school years — is vital if we are going to make Britain a fairer society in which opportunity is more equal."

Field was a Labour social security minister in 1997 but resigned a year later amid reported policy disputes with Harriet Harman and Gordon Brown.

Field described this latest review as "a real opportunity to influence the next stage in how our counter-poverty strategy develops".

His appointment has been welcomed by Save the Children head of campaigns Gareth Jenkins.

"Frank Field has a long and distinguished record in bringing child poverty to national attention. We're particularly pleased that he is choosing to focus on the pre-school years; research shows that as early as 22 months, the poorest children are already falling behind their middle-class friends in terms of development, " said Jenkins.