Guidance

Child Poverty Analytical Expert Reference Group - Terms of Reference (HTML)

Published 25 November 2024

1. Purpose

The Child Poverty Analytical Expert Reference Group brings together external expertise on child poverty to be an independent sounding board and provide advice and scrutiny on the analysis underpinning the development of the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy.

The group’s overall aim is to support the Child Poverty Unit to better understand the current evidence and to act as a “critical friend” by providing robust external insight and ideas.

The Group is asked to: 

• Provide insight into challenges the Government is facing in tackling child poverty by sharing relevant expertise and evidence. 
• Challenge and identify gaps in the evidence and or interpretation.
• Bring specific knowledge and insight to the fore, in particular, but not limited to, metrics, participatory methods, research, evaluation and evidence relating to the core themes of the strategy.

Participation in the expert group is on the basis of agreement that there is value in undertaking this work though participation does not necessarily mean endorsement of the final strategy.

2. Confidentiality 

Information that is shared with you as part of your membership of the Analytical Expert Reference Group is not to be copied or shared without agreement from the Child Poverty Unit.  

Any meetings will be conducted under Chatham House Rules to encourage open discussion, with proceedings not to be discussed externally. 

3. Engagement

This engagement will commence from October 2024 and will continue until terminated by either party.

Participation as part of the Child Poverty Analytical Expert Reference Group is unpaid. We expect any meetings to be virtual and a lot of the engagement will be by correspondence. 

The Child Poverty Unit will provide the Chair and Secretariat function for this engagement. 

4. Potential conflicts of interest

Whilst members of the group won’t be excluded from undertaking any analytical work that is externally commissioned for the Child Poverty Strategy development, members will be asked to adhere to an ethical wall to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. Any member of this group will not be able to contribute to the bidding process (as an individual or as part of an organisation/consortium) but could be part of the delivery team if a contract was to be awarded.

5. Membership

Members have been invited to the Child Poverty Analytical Expert Reference Group on the basis of their personal technical expertise and/or knowledge in some aspect of poverty analysis.

The Child Poverty Unit does intend to publish a list of members for the Analytical Expert Reference Group.

List of members

Jonathan Bradshaw, Professor Emeritus of Social Policy, University of York

Mike Brewer, Interim Chief Executive, Resolution Foundation;

Emma Congreve, Principal Knowledge Exchange Fellow and Deputy Director , Fraser of Allander Institute, University of Strathclyde

Sara Davies, Associate Professor in Household Finance, University of Bristol

Ciara Fitzpatrick, Lecturer in Law, Ulster University and the Transitional Justice Institute

David Gordon, Professor in Social Justice, University of Bristol;

Rod Hick, Professor of Social and Public Policy, Cardiff University

Donald Hirsch, Professor Emeritus of Social Policy, Loughborough University

Tim Leunig, Independent Consultant, Public First/ London School of Economics

Peter Matejic, Chief Analyst, Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Jane Millar, Professor Emeritus of Social Policy, University of Bath

Carey OppenheimStrategic Project Lead, Nuffield Foundation

Ruth Patrick, Professor of Social Policy, University of York

Kitty Stewart, Professor of Social Policy, London School of Economics;

Tom Waters, Associate Director, Institute for Fiscal Studies