Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. It is pleasing to note that progress has been made in reducing child poverty. However, we still have an awful long way to go if we are to meet the goal we all share of eradicating child poverty once and for all. I note from your statement today that you will be unable to meet your target to eradicate child poverty by 2020, and to a degree you have blamed the UK Government’s welfare reform. Does this mean that you have abandoned the target altogether? The UK Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission’s annual state of the nation report was critical of the Welsh Government’s policies, stating that they were not having the right level of impact. Therefore, do you take any of the blame here for not perhaps acknowledging this sooner rather than later, and maybe changing something to eradicate the poverty sooner in Wales than we are doing at present?

We also note that people in less affluent areas have a lower life expectancy. Therefore, this brings inequality all round. My region, in particular, has some of the highest levels of child poverty in the UK—between 26 and 28 per cent; it fluctuates across the region—and while the levels are reducing, we are not making progress fast enough. Obviously, with child poverty comes inequality in so many ways—in education, less pursuit of recreational activities due to lower finances, stunting, therefore, the emotional growth and well-being of the child. A poor diet also doesn’t enable children’s bones, for example, to develop as effectively as people with a good diet. So, do you think, Cabinet Secretary, do you agree, that it may now be time for a revised child poverty strategy that has a clear road map and a timeline for eradicating, or attempting to eradicate, in regions like mine and throughout Wales altogether? Thank you.