Being in employment provides the most effective route out of poverty. Investment in the early years is also critical. In Neath Port Talbot, Communities for Work and PaCE support parents to enter sustainable employment, while programmes such as Flying Start are supporting children to have the best start in life.

Initiatives within my portfolio that contribute to tackling poverty include childcare, affordable housing, financial and digital inclusion, and employability programmes such as Lift and Communities for Work. To further support our most disadvantaged communities in Wales, I am consulting on a new approach to building resilient communities.

Our refreshed package of support, which includes initiatives such as Veterans’ NHS Wales and the housing referral pathway, set out Welsh Government’s policies and actions to support former members of the armed forces community in Wales.

This financial year, we are providing £4,200,000 to third sector organisations, which include voluntary organisations, through our homelessness prevention programme. It supports a wider range of work, including advice, outreach and family mediation. Support is also provided through our Supporting People programme via local authorities.

The alternative projection of future housing need made by the late Professor Alan Holmans in 2015 does not take into account changes in household size and type as recorded by the 2011 census. These changes do inform the principal projection made in the report. It is important to note the assumptions on which all such projections are based.