Carl Sargeant: The Member is right to raise these issues for his constituency and many others across Wales. Families First and Flying Start are two very important parts of our tackling poverty and family support programmes. I am seeking to continue those into the future.
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for his support. I did a little rough estimate of Members who may be supportive of the legislation, as we move forward, and I think that we’re on the right side of that at the moment. I hope that we can continue that dialogue. The Member is right about the protection of young people. There is a raft of legislation already in place, but it’s not yet complete and we have...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for Aberavon. The 2015 child poverty strategy sets out our priorities for tackling child poverty across Wales. They include a focus on early years and increasing employability. I am also exploring opportunities to address adverse childhood experiences, reducing their impact on children’s life chances.
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for his comments. I intend to start negotiations with all parties to see how we can find a collective way forward through this. My initial starting point is to provide a positive parenting programme, where we see a holistic view for families, and support for young people, in terms of a better offer for Wales, and alongside that we will include the legislation that the...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for her question. To co-ordinate this crucial work in Government, we’ve established a dedicated parenting team, which will drive forward this agenda. My officials have already started the process of engagement with parents and other stakeholders to inform the development of this legislation. I wish to be inclusive in this process and I’m sure the Member will have lots...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for his question. The First Minister has announced our intention to take forward, on a cross-party basis, legislation that will remove the defence of reasonable punishment. I have recently met with the Children’s Commissioner for Wales and will be engaging with stakeholders, including Assembly Members, as this matter goes forward.
Carl Sargeant: Thank you. I’ve received the letter from the Member that gives full support to the application of Raglan village hall, and you were right to say that they have received a significant amount of money from the Big Lottery in regard to design. The community facilities programme is a capital grant scheme, which provides up to £500,000 for community-led projects to improve community facilities...
Carl Sargeant: I’ll be making a statement early next month regarding the communities division and our vision for the opportunities for communities across Wales, which will be more detailed in terms of how we see tackling poverty featured at the top of our agenda. The Member made a very general statement there about what hasn’t worked in European funding, but didn’t give me any detail of what hasn’t...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for his question. Bringing together a range of services and organisations within community hubs can potentially improve both service delivery and customer access.
Carl Sargeant: I think the Member raises a very interesting point. And the Member will be aware of her colleagues in Government too promoting and spending some of the European funding across Wales in many years previously. The issue for me, which is the important point I think the Member was getting to, was the issue around that we shouldn’t scare people about what’s going to happen—we should be...
Carl Sargeant: It’s a very important question the Member raises, and the First Minister has been very clear, in terms of negotiations with the UK Government, on how and when we expect to see funding coming forward. To date, we haven’t had much indication, or much luck on that indication, but he is pressing the UK very hard. We have done some assessments on impacts of Brexit, particularly around the...
Carl Sargeant: We have a faith forum, which I chair, alongside the First Minister. We work on the ability to help cultures change from within, rather than them being told what people should be doing. We have to work with sympathetic organisations that can work and operate in that culture or faith. We are having some success, but there’s an awful lot more work to be done in this field.
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for her question. We legislated in Wales around violence against women and sexual exploitation. We have a programme working with the NHS regarding FGM—and other third sector organisations. It is a priority of my department to make sure that the safety of our communities and individuals should be maintained and I will continue to do so.
Carl Sargeant: I don’t have any figures for the Member today, but I will write to the Member in terms of further detail. As I said earlier on, this is a very complex area in terms of what is believed to be socially acceptable in some of these circles. It is clearly not. We don’t believe that is the case. And we are working with third sector organisations—sorry, the public sector, like the NHS, and...
Carl Sargeant: I’m under no illusion about how positive the funding stream for Supporting People is and it has a great impact in delivering services in a ‘prevent’ method. My Cabinet colleagues recognise that too and that’s why we have done our best under the previous Minister also to protect as much Supporting People budget as possible. But we cannot continue in the same guise. We’re in a very...
Carl Sargeant: I’m very grateful for the Member’s question. I don’t doubt his integrity in raising this with me today, but what I will tell the Member is that our investments have to be strategically managed on the basis of our reducing budgets year on year. What we have to do, and what we’ve done in Wales, is protect the Supporting People budget, whereas is England, under the UK administration, the...
Carl Sargeant: Yes.
Carl Sargeant: I’m grateful to the Member for the question and the non-partisan way that she raised it, too. I think many Members in this Chamber could be familiar with the examples the Member sets out. I think what we are very keen as a Government to do is ensure that our funding streams go to the maximum benefit of our larger communities, working with organisations such as the Wales Council for...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for her question. I strongly believe in effective community engagement in designing and delivering local services. The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 requires public bodies to demonstrate collaboration and involvement in delivering the well-being goals. Communities must be engaged in local government and have their views heard and influence how local...
Carl Sargeant: I’m grateful for the recognition by the Member that the previous Labour administration of this Welsh Assembly was investing in areas across Wales, including Colwyn Bay. I visited there, with the Member, indeed, to see this great success, and also places like Rhyl and other areas in north Wales have received significant amounts of funding. I think we are currently considering the next stages...
