Heather Stewart’s excellent analysis (Labour must seize the moment to show child poverty matters in push for growth, 9 February) draws attention to those parts of the social safety net – housing, employment and benefits – that need to be strengthened by Labour’s child-poverty strategy. There are also two parts of the nutritional safety net, which, with the right reform, would put more money in poorer families’ pockets.
First, the NHS’s Healthy Start scheme is worth at least £4.25 a week for families on low incomes with children under the age of four, enabling them to purchase fruit and vegetables, milk and pulses. Yet, at any one time, about one-third of eligible recipients are not registered for the scheme, leaving tens of millions of pounds worth of support unclaimed each year.
