Big Issue founder tables bill for new government ministry dedicated to eradicating poverty

Big Issue founder Lord John Bird brought his landmark bill for a ‘Ministry of Poverty Prevention‘ back to the House of Lords today – despite his own admission that it doesn’t have a “snowbell in hell’s chance” of being adopted by the government.

Lord Bird said that the bill is his way “banging the drum” for the government to shift its focus to preventative activities, rather than solely “firefighting” crises in homelessness, prisons, benefits and other areas of poverty.

This is the second parliamentary term in which Lord Bird’s private members’ bill for the establishment of a Ministry of Poverty Prevention has been put to the House of Lords. He is campaigning for a single government department to be made responsibility for reducing – and ultimately eradicating – poverty in the UK. But it will not proceed without government support.

Among the measures laid out in his bill, Lord Bird stipulates that the government must set out legally binding poverty reduction targets.

With Joseph Roundtree Foundation’s newly published UK poverty report for 2025 predicting that the number of people in extreme poverty is unlikely to fall across England in the next four years, Big Issue wants to force the government to take greater action by implementing ‘Poverty Zero’ targets which they are legally bound to meet.

John Bird said: “No teacher, no doctor, no prison or police officer is trained to get rid of poverty, but they have to deal with the results thrown up by poverty. It is an unhappy truth that our public servants are in the poverty firing line but are capable only of responding to poverty’s toxic outcomes.

“We must move from firefighting to a massive coordinated long-term government strategy of poverty prevention and poverty cure. That’s why I am once again banging the drum for a Ministry of Poverty Prevention, even when the reality remains that my private members’ bill doesn’t have a snowball in hell’s chance of being adopted by the government.

“The new Labour government’s cross-governmental strategies on homelessness and child poverty are very much in the spirit of prevention, but they must widen their scale to embrace the causes of poverty and the inheritance of poverty to meet the scale of the crisis at hand. Only turning the tap off can finally turn the tide of poverty and homelessness in this country.”

The first reading of Lord Bird’s Bill comes just days after a report from the Public Accounts Committee last week criticised the government for a lack of “joined up” leadership when it came to tackling homelessness.

The committee’s report called for an end to local authorities’ practice of using their Homelessness Prevention Grants – which will total £440m in 2024-25 – on “often unsuitable, sub-standard” temporary accommodation.

And yesterday, new statistics from the National Child Mortality Database highlighted that 80 children died homeless in temporary accommodation between 1 October 2023 and 30 September 2024 – a number which deputy prime Minister Angela Rayner said “broke [her] heart”.

Rayner – who is also housing secretary – responded by saying: “No family should ever have to endure such a tragic loss of life and be failed by the very system there to protect them.”

Lord Bird called the figures a “shameful tragedy”, arguing that the best way for the government to tackle homelessness would be to “establish a Ministry for Poverty Prevention… which will scrutinise every penny spent and ensure we’re turning off the tap of people falling into homelessness, as well as helping those who are homeless to find long-term sustainable housing.”

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