Member

I agree, up to a point. As the noble Lord, Lord Bird, made clear, no one argues that targets on their own will reduce poverty, and of course their effectiveness depends on the Government of the day taking them seriously. But it is generally believed that the existence of targets in Scotland has galvanised action there. As I remember it, there was a time when the previous Labour Government started to lose momentum in reducing child poverty, and civil society was able to use the targets to exert the pressure that resulted in them putting their feet back on the pedal. Moreover, fears of what a future Government might do have not stopped the Government setting clear targets in their homelessness strategy.