Several constituents have contacted me this week about child poverty, including the importance of next week's Budget in making children and young people a priority.

Brighton and Hove City Council recently published an assessment of child poverty in the city which reveals that almost a quarter of our children and young people are living in poverty.

But I was shocked to learn via a parliamentary question that local authorities are not required to collect this kind of data for constituencies like mine.

The Government's public spending cuts are making things worse for our young people, often hitting the most vulnerable hardest.

I think it is wrong for children in particular to pay the price for an economic crisis that was not of their making.

Greens locally are committed to doing what we can to lift children out of poverty, and I have written to the Minister responsible asking for the same commitment from the Government.