Jane Dodds has questioned the Welsh Government about its efforts to cut child poverty.
The Mid and West Wales MS said at the Senedd that the latest childhood poverty statistics for Wales paint a disheartening picture of stagnation.
Video from Senedd.tv
The Mid and West Wales MS said at the Senedd that the latest childhood poverty statistics for Wales paint a disheartening picture of stagnation.
Video from Senedd.tv
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00:00 Secretary, what measures is the Welsh Government taking to set targets for the reduction of child poverty?
00:06 We are developing a framework of indicators and measures of child poverty, informed by
00:11 Professor Rod Hick from Cardiff University and our external reference group. A policy
00:16 progress report and evidence from those with lived experience of poverty will also be provided
00:21 at the next progress reporting point in 2025.
00:25 Thank you very much, Cabinet Secretary. Sadly, the latest childhood poverty statistics for
00:31 Wales released last month paint a very disheartening picture of stagnation. Twenty-nine per cent
00:38 of children now live in relative poverty, representing 190,000 children. The Bevan Foundation's
00:46 recent State of Wales report laid bare the harsh reality that children remain the demographic
00:52 at the highest risk of poverty, with those from households without full adult employment
00:57 as well as those in rented homes facing even greater risk of deprivation. We cannot be
01:05 complacent about these figures, nor accept the lack of progress. Behind these numbers,
01:10 as you say, lies the lived experiences of children who are literally suffering. These
01:16 figures show the urgent need for measurable, clear targets to reduce child poverty, as
01:24 recommended by the Equality and Social Justice Committee in the report last November. I am
01:30 very disappointed to hear that these will not be with us until 2025, because it takes
01:35 time for us to have those targets in place. Could you, Cabinet Secretary, commit to creating
01:43 clear, quantifiable targets urgently for reducing child poverty? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
01:50 Angela Burns AM: Thank you. Well, I can certainly assure Jane Dodds and all Members that I am
01:55 not complacent. Obviously, I've just come into this portfolio and, as you say, unfortunately,
02:01 we have seen a rise in the number of children in relative poverty. It went up 1% from the
02:07 previous year. So, I can absolutely assure you there is no complacency on my behalf or
02:12 on behalf of the Welsh Government. I think it's really important to recognise that the
02:17 levers that we do haveóand we don't hold all the levers, obviously, to enable poverty
02:22 to be tackledóit's really important that we do everything we can with what we have
02:27 as a Welsh Government. I've had an initial conversation with the First Minister around
02:31 how, as a Government, we make sure that every Cabinet Secretary and Minister contributes
02:37 to the way that we tackle poverty. I met with the Bevan Foundation myself on Monday of this
02:42 week, because I'm very keen to hear about the research that they have done to make sure
02:47 that the schemes and the funding that we have and that we use specifically to tackle poverty
02:54 is absolutely going to the correct places. You'll be aware that the child poverty strategy
03:00 was launched by my predecessor, Jane Hutt, who's just walked into the Chambra in January,
03:06 and we have not committed to targets there. I have looked at countries that have targets,
03:11 and I've looked at best practice from countries that don't have targets. I think, for me,
03:17 the biggest thing that comes out about tackling poverty is ensuring that we have a compassionate
03:21 and fair welfare system. So, I've looked at New Zealand, for instance, where we don't
03:27 have the lever in relation to that, but they do. So, I'm very keen to look at what best
03:31 practice we can have that. Again, my predecessor committed to having an academic help inform
03:38 us around child poverty strategy, and I mentioned Professor Hick, who is advising on the developing
03:45 of the monitoring framework.