County Durham Labour lambasted the “appalling and shameful” child poverty records of LibDems and Tories, before claiming another Council Chamber victory.
Labour overturned a Motion by the Tory/LibDem/Independent Coalition running the Council, critical of the Government’s approach to addressing the two-child limit to benefit payments.
Instead, a Labour amendment to back the Government and North East Mayor’s drive for a Child Poverty Strategy Plan, and take a regional lead in County Durham, was passed.
The amendment, put forward by Cllr Angela Surtees, Labour’s shadow lead for Communities & Poverty, said:
“This Coalition motion is nothing short of laughable. The record of Tories and LibDems when it comes to addressing spiralling child poverty is appalling and shameful.
“The Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 repealed the Child Poverty Act 2010 which contained a detailed plan and ambitious targets to reduce child poverty to below 10% by 2020.
“I’d ask this Coalition, where were you in 2015 when the two-child limit was put on the table? Where in 2017 when it passed? Yet they now have the audacity to demand the Council write to the government about their “concern” over the policy!
“This is rich, from a Coalition that refused to write to a Tory government to feed hungry children during lockdown. Refused to criticise a Tory government for removing the Universal Credit uplift as we recovered from a pandemic. And refused to demand justice when County Durham was ignored for Levelling Up cash.”
Cllr Surtees’ Amendment was seconded by Cllr Danny Wood, who added:
“The Liberal Democrats admitted in Full Council this morning that the sole reason for submitting this motion was that Labour won the General Election. It is shameful that they sought to play party politics with an issue impacting over 4.2 million children across the UK.
“The country voted for change and we are supporting the Government and North East Mayor’s work to do this, after 14 years of chaos and failure from the Conservatives.
“I am delighted members accepted the amendment at Full Council, as it shows that the writing is on the wall for the Coalition running Durham County Council’.