<p>Child Poverty in South Wales</p>

Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children – in the Senedd at 2:57 pm on 14 December 2016.

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Photo of Caroline Jones Caroline Jones UKIP 2:57, 14 December 2016

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Wales continues to have some of the highest levels of child poverty in the UK. Within my region, South Wales West, we have over 36,000 children living in poverty, and that’s 28.4 per cent of the region’s children. The UK Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission annual state of the nation report was critical of the Welsh Government’s policies, stating that they’re not having the right level of impact. You announced yesterday that it was unlikely that we would achieve the target of eradicating child poverty by 2020. The children’s commissioner has said that instead of an arbitrary target, we would now need to deliver an ambitious plan with specific and measurable actions that will improve outcomes for children and families in poverty. Cabinet Secretary, could you tell me please what changes you are proposing to make to your child poverty strategy for my region over the next three years, because poverty is blighting the opportunities of these children, who are more likely to suffer poor health, do less well at school and have poor employment prospects in the future?