Create a ‘National Sleep Strategy’ to end child bed poverty
18,496 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 4 January 2022; it closed on 4 July 2022. The Government responded on 23 March 2022. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 19 December 2022.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Create a ‘National Sleep Strategy’ to end child bed poverty
As a teacher in 2018 I started a bed poverty charity, since then schools have referred 1400 children without beds. Bed poverty is affecting educational outcomes for children across the UK
A national sleep strategy must resource local authorities to identify, address and ultimately end bed poverty
‘Sleep should be acknowledged as a key public health issue, which is as crucial for our wellbeing as diet or exercise.’ -Mental Health Foundation
Buttle UK 2018 estimated up to 400,000 children in the UK didn’t have a bed.
Schools, national media outlets and third sector organisations- including Zarach- have documented the impact of long term tiredness on a child’s capacity to learn & the increasing rates of bed poverty due to the pandemic & the surge of families fleeing domestic abuse.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 23 March 2022. Its summary:
Sleep is vital to children’s health, development and wellbeing. The government is tackling the underlying causes that lead to children being deprived of sleep.
The opening 342 words of the 796-word response:
The government recognises how vital sleep is to ensuring children and young people have the energy they need to perform at their best. We also recognise that the causes of poverty, including bed poverty, are various which is why we are adopting a holistic, sustainable, long-term approach to tackling it backed by £240bn of funding through our welfare system.
Councils in England are already empowered to establish local welfare provision in their area. Many of them run programmes that help vulnerable and struggling households to meet essential costs. Local authorities are also responsible for delivering children’s social care which includes ensuring that children and young people are getting what they need to live happy, healthy lives. This government has boosted real-terms funding to councils: the social care grant has increased significantly from £410m in 2019 to £1.7bn this year.
On top of targeted support through local councils, we are providing £695m from 2022-25 to extend our Supporting Families programme. This scheme helps disadvantaged families who are facing multiple and complex problems from unemployment and the risk of homelessness to poor mental and physical health.
The Department for Work and Pensions gives support to benefit claimants to spread the cost of buying the most essential furniture for any home, like beds and mattresses. People who have been receiving Universal Credit for at least six months can apply for a Budgeting Advance, while those who have been claiming legacy benefits for at least six months can access Social Fund Budgeting Loans.
The government recognises that a combination of cold temperatures and poor heating affects everyone’s ability to get a good night’s sleep. We recently announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills. This includes:
* A £200 discount on their energy bill.
* A £150 non-repayable rebate in Council Tax bills for all households in Bands A-D in England.
* £144m of discretionary funding for councils to help struggling households not eligible for the Council Tax rebate.
The devolved administrations are also receiving around £715m funding through the Barnett formula.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 649 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 921, came from Pudsey.
18,380 of the signatures were from the UK and 116 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Pudsey | 921 |
| Leeds North East | 879 |
| Elmet and Rothwell | 789 |
| Leeds North West | 640 |
| Leeds East | 517 |
| Morley and Outwood | 501 |
| Leeds West | 460 |
| Shipley | 365 |
| Leeds Central | 323 |
| Selby and Ainsty | 258 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 9,394 |
| North West | 1,581 |
| South East | 1,310 |
| South West | 878 |
| London | 871 |
| East Midlands | 860 |
| East of England | 800 |
| West Midlands | 739 |
| North East | 523 |
| Scotland | 485 |
| Wales | 375 |
| Northern Ireland | 70 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 19 December 2022. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/604509.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
cbe9a1a9f9679274… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.