Jane Hutt: ...of eligibility for benefits, concentrating on the public services that people use the most. And, as the Member proposing this motion has said, our Welsh benefits, which include support like free school meals, pupil development grant access, the council tax reduction scheme, the discretionary assistance fund and Healthy Start vouchers, are a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of people...
Jane Hutt: ...with our Scottish Government colleagues, we were supersponsors to provide that welcome, that wraparound support. That includes the support that, obviously, is crucial, in assessing health needs, educational needs of the children, and I've talked about access to benefits and also to skills and jobs. So, you know that, through our website and through our work, we have free personalised...
Jane Hutt: .... I can't answer all of the points in terms of all of the recommendations, but I'll focus on some that were raised most frequently. Can I thank the Chair of the Children, Young People, and Education Committee, Jayne Bryant, for reflecting on your expectations, your reflections of what you've hoped that the new children's commissioner could bring in her term of office as we move into very...
Jane Hutt: ...16 recommendations to the Welsh Government, and these fall under four themes: adequate standard of living; family environment and alternative care; protection from exploitation and violence; and education, citizenship and cultural activities. These recommendations cover important issues right across Government, including tackling child poverty, health advocacy, children and young people in...
Jane Hutt: ...Minister announced a couple of days ago. You might have heard on Radio 4, on the food programme at the weekend, about Big Bocs Bwyd and the fact that this is also spreading throughout Wales where schools are involved with community food organisations as well. But we're actually saying in my statement that we want to help social supermarkets, community cafes, lunch clubs, cookery classes;...
Jane Hutt: Thank you for those very important questions. The way we try to tackle poverty with our powers is about universal approaches, such as the free schools meals to all pupils, which will help many of those who are on that brink of being disadvantaged or finding it hard at this present financial time. Just to say, in Powys County Council, this actually now includes an additional 1,067 learners...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Mark Isherwood. Before I answer that question, I do want to say, in terms of the programmes that tackle child poverty, that the roll-out of our free school meals for primary school pupils—as part of our co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, working with local government—means that the commitment for every primary school pupil to receive a free school meal by 2024...
Jane Hutt: ...income. Now, I won't go into all of the responses in that report, because it looked at evidence from across the world—it included the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, the London School of Economics, the New Policy Institute—to ensure that we can, with our powers and levers, make the right decisions in tackling poverty in Wales. But I do believe that the focus at the moment is...
Jane Hutt: ...out; it will all be clearly communicated, and we will take that point about the transport providers, in terms of their websites, et cetera. I want to just also comment on your point about access to education and higher education. This is particularly important in terms of the opportunities for the young people coming here. When we also hear from the UK Government, we'll be able to give you...
Jane Hutt: ...who may arrive in the UK without a Ukraine scheme visa and ensuring those studying remotely with Ukrainian universities are provided with help to continue their studies. As we move into the new school year, we are seeing many Ukrainian children enrolled in schools and many parents and adults now working in Wales too. We are seeing very encouraging signs of integration in Welsh communities,...
Jane Hutt: ...Faith in Families project, an important project, in Swansea East and seeing what they were doing as a charity supporting the local community, very much engaged in tackling food poverty during the school holidays, as well as during the term. And I was pleased on Monday at the cost-of-living crisis summit, which I chaired with the Minister for Finance and Local Government and the Minister...
Jane Hutt: ...responsibilities, and I'm going to add to that. To respond to your question, Laura Anne Jones, we're also going to extend the childcare offer to parents of two-year-olds and those in training or education, and since November we've provided more than £380 million in additional funding to support households affected by the cost-of-living crisis. It's good to give the figures again today:...
Jane Hutt: ...support for our flagship Flying Start programme of early intervention; extending the pupil development grant access, a scheme worth up to £200 per child to support more families with the school uniforms, school kit; and we're so pleased that, as part of the co-operation agreement we've given that commitment to roll out free school meals to all primary school children. I could go on, but I...
Jane Hutt: ...kind of experience. In terms of outcomes, the money that we made available, £3.1 million since March 2020, looking at response and adaptations to the pandemic, is helping children get back to school, providing clean water and soap stations and essential PPE, raising awareness about the impact of COVID-19, dispelling fake information, stressing the importance of receiving vaccinations,...
Jane Hutt: ...Government, because I know that, in terms of our local authorities, this is very much in terms of all aspects of the strategy, 'Everybody's Business'. It's the whole of Welsh Government, from education to health and social services. And we sat together yesterday—and what a good idea to invite three Ministers to give evidence yesterday. So, I can assure you that we will be taking all of...
Jane Hutt: ...their children, their sons, as well as clearly their daughters, in terms of the ongoing risks in terms of tackling violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. Sexual harassment in schools is a priority across the Welsh Government—that every child and young person is supported, that they feel able to report any concerns that they may have. You've mentioned the Hafan...
Jane Hutt: ..., and on prevention. Our programme for government contains a commitment to expand the scope of the strategy to street and workplace harassment. This is therefore a strategy for public authorities, education and housing, and specialist services in the third sector, creating a collective sense of endeavour towards a shared vision and it will make a contribution to our collective well-being...
Jane Hutt: ...of how this will set them off to be fully contributing citizens, paying their taxes and enabling them to contribute to society in the way they want to—running businesses, going into further education and higher education and jobs—that's what we want for our care leavers in Wales.
Jane Hutt: ...services that have to come forward in terms of homelessness, substance misuse and, indeed, unemployment, because we hope these young people will then progress in their lives in jobs, employment, education.
Jane Hutt: ...will have the choice as to whether they take part, and that will be about their circumstances and, indeed, looking at other earnings they might have, and their position in life in terms of jobs, education and opportunities. But in terms of evaluation, we will look at these kinds of factors because we need to learn from the young people, those who do take part throughout the evaluation,...
