An EU citizen (WV) who is a carer for his severely disabled British wife (J) has – with support from Child Poverty Action Group - won a legal battle with the DWP after a Tribunal found the couple were wrongly underpaid universal credit for nearly 2 years while he had pre-settled status, since the couple’s joint claim was refused by the DWP in 2020.
Parents typically need to find at least £39 per week for a child’s secondary school education and £19 for a primary-aged child, research for Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) finds.
School governors, head teachers, PTAs and others working in schools have written to the Chancellor urging him to increase child benefit and expand free school meals eligibility to reduce the impact of poverty and hardship on children and on schools. The open letter says schools increasingly see children finding it harder to learn because of inadequate family incomes.
A three-judge panel of the Upper Tribunal has held that AT, an EU national with pre-settled status (limited leave to remain) but no qualifying EU right to reside in the UK for the purposes of universal credit, is entitled to rely upon the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights even after the end of the Brexit “transition period” (ie after 31 December 2020).
John Dickie, Director of Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, responds to the roll out of the Scottish child payment to under 16s and the increase of its value to £25 per week.
1 in 3 school-age children in England living in poverty (800,000) miss out on free school meals despite cost of living struggles of families. The main causes are restrictive eligibility criteria and lack of universal provision.
It’s great to see so many families already benefiting from the Scottish child payment. We know that this extra cash support is really making a difference to families.