Poverty statistics release delayed a third time

from the Telegraph

Ministers were accused of burying bad news yesterday after delaying the release of child poverty figures again.

Data on households with below-average incomes is widely expected to show that the Government will miss its flagship target for halving the number of youngsters in poverty by 2010.

The figures were originally due to be published last month, but were put back to May 2 for extra checks.

James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary, yesterday admitted that the figures would not be ready till June.

In a statement, he said: "In the course of validating the statistics, DWP statisticians identified a small but important inaccuracy in the 2006-7 data which impacts upon some of the headline figures.

"As a result, the DWP statistics head of profession has decided to delay publication."