To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) people and (b) people in families with children live in households with below 40 per cent. of median income. (153426)

The information requested is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will introduce a system in his Department for the collection of information on child poverty at county level. (154766)

The official measure of child poverty is derived from an annual survey, the Family Resources Survey. While this gives an accurate picture of the national position, the survey sample is too small to allow for disaggregation to county level. However, I recognise the importance of measuring child poverty at a more local level and have asked analysts in my Department to investigate the feasibility of producing an alternative measure that will give an indication of progress locally.