The government has created a new ministerial taskforce for its child poverty strategy, led by Work and Pensions secretary Liz Kendall and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. It is urgently needed: 4.3 million children in the UK are living in poverty.

The government has already committed to making sure free breakfast clubs are available in all primary schools in England.

We know that having a good breakfast at school can help improve child behavior and readiness to learn, and helps children achieve more at school. The introduction of breakfast clubs for all primary school children is welcome—but this cannot be the limit of the government's ambitions if it is serious about tackling child poverty and dealing with its consequences. Extending free school meals in England would be a powerful step here.

One in five children live in food insecure households, and children in the UK are getting sicker and smaller as a result of poor diet and poverty.

The education system has been left to pick up the pieces of Britain's crumbling public services and counter the country's child poverty and food insecurity crisis. Ongoing research I'm leading suggests that there are now more food banks inside of schools than outside of them.

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