5. What plans does the Welsh Government have to improve support for communities to reduce child poverty in south-east Wales? OAQ(5)0108(CC)

Our priorities for tackling child poverty include improving outcomes in the early years, building a strong economy, increasing employability and supporting parents into work. Empowered and engaged communities will play a vital part in ensuring children in south-east Wales, and throughout the rest of Wales, have the best start in life.

Thank you for that reply, Minister. When announcing the scrapping of the Communities First programme, the Cabinet Secretary said that he wanted to create communities that can offer children the best start in life. However, the Bevan Foundation has warned that organisations that deliver Communities First and the communities themselves are in a real period of limbo by the scrapping of the scheme. When will the Cabinet Secretary be in a position to remove this uncertainty by announcing his proposal to replace Communities First and will he confirm that reducing child poverty will be a key priority of any replacement scheme in his budget? Thank you.

I’m slightly surprised by the Member’s question. I’m not sure if the Member was in the Chamber only a week ago when I announced the issue of the transition of Communities First and the programmes. He’ll not see in any of the statements that I made that I was intending to scrap any programme. We have made a very positive proposal for a transition. My team have been out last week meeting the north Wales and south Wales local delivery boards for Communities First to discuss the future and how that will look, with 70 per cent of the funding allocated for this year and a transition funding of £10 million revenue and capital for the next four years. I think it is a great opportunity for communities to start becoming different in the way that they manage resilience for the individual cases that Members have in their own constituencies.

Cabinet Secretary, the Flying Start scheme is making a very significant contribution to tackling issues amongst some of our youngest children and delivering considerable benefits in my constituency, but there are some families that are outwith the reach of the scheme due to the postcode nature of accessing that particular provision. So, are you able to say anything today to those constituents of mine, and I’m sure of other Members, Cabinet Secretary, who are outwith the scheme at the moment as to whether it might be extended and have a wider reach?

Well, we should say, ‘Congratulations and thank you’ to the Flying Start staff right across Wales. In South Wales East, we’ve reached around just under 10,000 children in that area, supporting them with services for their families. With the transition from Communities First into the new community resilience programmes, Flying Start and Families First are part of the integrated approach to delivery of services, and I’m looking to support that with a flexibility in that approach, where the people in need outside of that area may have the opportunity to access Flying Start or Families First or adverse childhood experiences profiling, which will help, I hope, your community and communities right across Wales.