CYP Now - Analysis: Liberal Democrat Conference - Lib Dems confront child poverty

Environmental policy and discussions about Menzies Campbell's future as leader may have dominated the headlines but as Nancy Rowntree reports, getting children out of poverty was also a key focus at last week's Liberal Democrat conference.

At their first conference since signing up to the target to end child poverty by 2020, reducing poverty and tackling inequality were key themes for the Liberal Democrats in Brighton last week.

Central to this focus was a policy paper - approved unanimously by conference delegates - advocating taking higher earners out of the tax credit system, reforming the Child Support Agency and abolishing child trust funds.

Further school funding

The savings from these measures would instead be ploughed into increasing child benefit by around £5 per family per week - a move party officials say would lift 150,000 children out of poverty overnight - and establishing a "pupil premium". This premium would give schools extra funding for every child it enrols from a deprived background.

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