Jane Dodds says the UK Government’s refusal to scrap the two-child welfare benefit cap is driving more children into “relative poverty” in her region and across Wales.
The Mid and West Wales MS raised the issue with First Minister, Eluned Morgan, at the Senedd today (Tuesday).
She asked Ms Morgan to outline the Welsh Government's strategy to reduce the number of children living in relative poverty.
Video from Senedd.tv
The Mid and West Wales MS raised the issue with First Minister, Eluned Morgan, at the Senedd today (Tuesday).
She asked Ms Morgan to outline the Welsh Government's strategy to reduce the number of children living in relative poverty.
Video from Senedd.tv
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NewsTranscript
00:00will happen pretty soon.
00:02Jane Dodds AM, First Minister.
00:07Would you please outline the Welsh Government's current strategy to reduce the number of children
00:12in relative poverty?
00:13OAQ52321 Jane Dodds AM, First Minister.
00:15Our child poverty strategy, which was launched in January this year, sets out our long-term
00:20ambitions to tackle child poverty and to mitigate the worst impacts of poverty here in Wales.
00:26It also notes how we will work across Government and with partners to maximise the impact of
00:31the levers available to us.
00:33Jane Dodds AM, First Minister.
00:36Thank you for that response.
00:37We will know that, over the past six years, we have seen a startling increase in the amount
00:42of larger families who are living in relative povertyó43 per cent of children in households
00:48of three or more are now at risk of relative poverty.
00:53That represents a staggering 100,000 children here in Wales.
00:59The two-child benefit cap is a key factor driving that crisis.
01:04This policy, widely criticised as being cruel and a violation of children's rights by numerous
01:10civil society organisations, including the Children's Commissioner for Wales, affects
01:15over 11 per cent of childrenó65,000 children.
01:20In Brecon and Radnorshire, nearly 1,000 children are living in families affected by the two-child
01:26benefit cap.
01:28This week, the Child Poverty Action Group said that 10,000 children have fallen into
01:35poverty since Labour took office in Westminster.
01:40I'm calling on you, as the First Minister, to raise this once again with the Prime Minister,
01:44and perhaps you could do that on Friday in your meeting with him.
01:48But I'm also just reflecting on the fact that my party, when we were in government
01:53in the coalition, made mistakes, and I'm very clear on record as saying that one of those
01:59was playing our role in austerity.
02:05First Minister, I'd like to call on youówe are all adults here and we should be able
02:09to acknowledge that people make mistakes.
02:12I'm calling on you to make a statement that it is a mistake to putó
02:16Y Llywydd, allow the Member to finish her question, please.
02:24There are too many noises off today from all directions.
02:28I wasn't actually expecting that one just now, but I do want the Member to finish her
02:33question.
02:34Please do so.
02:35Y Llywydd, just in Bradegar, it is one more sentence.
02:37I'm calling on the First Minister to say that she believes that the two-child benefit
02:41cap and the failure of the Labour Government not to scrap it is a mistake.
02:47Diolch yn fawr iawn.
02:49Thanks very much.
02:50Well, I think there are lots of people within the Labour Party who are very uncomfortable
02:54about it.
02:55That's the truth of it.
02:56But there is a £22 billion black hole that is difficult to fill, and what we've got to
03:04do in Wales is to do what we can to support children living in poverty, and that's why
03:10things like the free school meal support is absolutely fundamental, so that at least they
03:16are getting a hot meal once a day.
03:18So, there is some support there, and, obviously, we have a huge number of other areas where
03:24we give support, in particular to those vulnerable families.
03:29We gave about £5 billion-worth between 2022 and 2025.
03:33That's not a small amount of money to give support to some of the most vulnerable people,
03:40and so, where we can, we will provide that support, but the kind of quantities of money
03:47that you would need is simply beyond the ability of the Welsh Government to support.