The next item is the short debate, and therefore—. Please leave the Chamber quietly because business continues. I therefore call on Vikki Howells to speak on the topic that she has chosen—Vikki Howells.

Diolch, Llywydd. Like the hydra of Greek legend, poverty in Wales is a many-headed monster. It presents a variety of challenges, and seemingly, as each one is overcome, two further problems arise in its place. However, unlike the mythical hydra, poverty is all too real and impacts on the lives and well-being of those affected across Wales on a daily basis. For my short debate today, I will explore some of the ways in which poverty manifests itself in Wales, considering the multifaceted challenges it poses and drawing up some possible solutions. I’m delighted to be able to give Hefin David a minute of my time today.

Whilst definitions of what exactly constitutes poverty can be disputed, there is no argument about the scale of the number of people affected: 700,000 people—just under one in four people in Wales—are living in poverty, according to figures from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. That’s 700,000 people whose lives and chances are constrained and blighted by poverty. If we took the more broadly based approach, going beyond simply considering relative income poverty, as has been suggested by groups such as the Bevan Foundation, the number could be even greater. Whilst these figures have largely remained static, despite the best efforts of Government, there have also been changes in the demographics most likely to find themselves living in poverty today. Indeed, the variation amongst how people experience poverty takes me back to the analogy with which I opened my short debate: different groups of people in different areas can experience poverty in different ways, but it is possible to detect certain trends.

The Deputy Presiding Officer took the Chair.

Previously, being of pensionable age could be synonymous with living in poverty. This has changed, in large part, due to the actions of the 1997 to 2010 Labour Government, but it is still estimated that around 50,000 older people live in parlous financial circumstances. Similarly, whilst well-meant commitments to end child poverty within a generation may not have been met, it is still useful to notice the analysis of the Institute of Fiscal Studies. This shows that child and pensioner poverty would either have stayed the same or risen, rather than fallen substantially, if not for the policy decisions of the previous UK Labour Government. This progress is to be welcomed, but child poverty’s persistence still affects far too many of our young people, with charities suggesting a third of Welsh children experience poverty, with significant impacts on their life chances.

Trends are especially pronounced in certain parts of Wales, and the shape of poverty can vary between different Welsh regions. Across large parts of Wales, there seem to be challenges presented by a dearth of good-quality well-paid jobs. In some parts of Wales, such as the predominantly rural areas, challenges seem to be around in-work poverty, where people are employed in poorly paid jobs with insufficient numbers of hours. The contrast is with Valleys constituencies, like my own, where the problem can be a lack of jobs in the first place, let alone those that pay well and are secure.

A further clear link is that between gender and poverty. Indeed, as Chwarae Teg reminds us, drawing on research from University of Oxford, poverty is not gender neutral. Welsh women are more likely to be engaged in part-time or elementary work, with average earnings of under £8,000 a year. A marginalised role in the workplace is reflected by a central role in the home, meaning that both the causes and experiences of women’s poverty differ from that of men.

In all this variety, poverty truly is a multiheaded beast. The ways in which it can impact also shows diversity. I want to focus on four of these today. Firstly, I want to talk about food poverty. Since being elected I have been proud to work with the Merthyr Cynon Foodbank, part of the Trussell Trust network of over 400 food banks, to both highlight their work in my own constituency and the simply unacceptable fact of people across the country not having enough to eat. It is shocking that, in 2016-17, the Trussell Trust foodbank network in Wales provided over 95,000 three-day emergency food supplies to people in crisis, which was a 10 per cent increase on the previous year; 34,803 supplies—over a third—went to children. The Trussell Trust suggests most of its users are not unique as, on average, people need multiple foodbank referrals. Furthermore, where news reports tell of police officers and nurses who are having to turn to food banks, we see that this is, indeed, a widespread phenomenon. Food banks and their supporters do excellent work, and I want to take this opportunity to thank them, but it is little short of scandalous that, in one of the richest countries in the world, people rely on their presence to ensure that citizens do not go hungry.

Secondly, I want to touch on fuel poverty. Households experience this when, in order to adequately warm their homes, they need to spend 10 per cent or more of their income on energy costs. I recently met with National Energy Action Cymru to discuss fuel poverty, and look forward to working with them on the planned cross-party group on this issue. NEA Cymru highlighted that whilst Government energy efficiency improvements have brought a welcome reduction in the levels of fuel poverty, 291,000 households are still unable to afford to adequately heat their homes. Of these, 3 per cent of Welsh households are estimated to be in severe fuel poverty, needing to spend 20 per cent or more of their income on energy to achieve an adequate level of warmth. There is a poverty premium associated with this issue, caused by the reliance on expensive pre-payment meters that are on average 20 per cent more expensive.

Fuel poverty can literally be a matter of life or death. NEA Cymru has calculated that 540 winter deaths during 2015-16 were attributable to cold homes. This means that between four and five people in Wales died every day of that winter period because of this.

Thirdly, I want to touch on the impacts of poverty on educational attainment and life chances. The gap in attainment has narrowed over recent years, but we cannot escape the stark reality that, from the age of 3, and at every stage of subsequent education, children from low-income backgrounds will achieve worse results at school than those from better-off homes. This impacts on their ability to tap into their talents and can lead to marginalised employment experiences during their adult lives. As Save the Children have said, a child and young person growing up in poverty is more likely to be low paid, unemployed and welfare dependent in adult life. Certain groups can face particular barriers within education, and again, bespoke solutions to these challenges must be developed.

Fourthly, I want to consider briefly the impact of poverty on health, well-being and mental health in particular. This is an issue of particular concern for me. The second-worst lowest super-output area in Wales for health outcomes is in my constituency, which has a disproportionate number of LSOAs amongst the bottom 10 per cent. This manifests in long-term illness rates, prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle choices, emotional distress and many other ways that I simply do not have time to fully explore today. I just want to cite two brief facts. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health earlier this year stated that poverty is the biggest threat to children’s health in Wales. They noted that children from the most disadvantaged fifth of the population are 70 per cent more likely to die in childhood than those living in the most affluent parts of Wales. This echoed the thought-provoking annual report from the Chief Medical Officer for Wales, which was published last November. The report explored the social gradient in health, whereby inequalities in population health outcomes are associated with the socioeconomic status of individuals. People in poverty are less likely to experience good health for the bulk of their lives than those who do not live in poverty. The CMO’s report also performs a useful role in explaining why this matters to all of us. Poverty-related health inequalities cost Wales an estimated £3 billion to £4 billion annually, and that’s in addition to the economic benefits lost by people not being able to thrive and achieve. As Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson pointed out in ‘The Spirit Level’, more equal societies do better for all their citizens.

What can we do? My starting point here is that we must recognise that, to a certain extent, our hands are tied by the decisions taken in Westminster. For example, levers like the social security system are reserved to Westminster. The Trussell Trust has suggested that we have not yet seen the full effects of changes like the roll-out of universal credit, and our ability to absorb their impact is limited. Similarly, on fuel poverty, decisions on energy prices and the winter fuel allowance are out of our hands, and the overall context of an ideological Tory commitment to public sector austerity has removed billions of pounds from budgets and inflicted untold damage on our ability to tackle poverty. Money has been removed from the health and educational sectors that could have tackled health or educational inequality, hurting the essential services people in poverty are more likely to rely on, and resulting in an economy that has not grown sufficiently to create the high-quality jobs that offer one crucial way out of poverty. It is good that the Chancellor has recognised we are weary of austerity, but action must now follow his words. However, in the meantime, here in Wales, we must make sure we can use the tools we do possess as effectively as we can. I welcome the fact that poverty reduction is at the heart of the Welsh Government’s well-being objectives, but I do not have time here today to address the full range of actions taken across Government to help those affected.

For the final part of my short debate today, I will limit myself to two aspects of our response. The first relates to Communities First. I note the communities Secretary’s comments from the equality committee this morning that the programme hasn’t delivered the fundamental change it should have done, but that equally it did stop poverty getting worse. Communities First did deliver some real wins in my constituency. I want to place on record my thanks to the staff who helped in this. In any future programme, I hope the most successful elements of the policy will be retained. This in particular applies to the employability agenda and I want to address this as a second key aspect.

The critical tool by which we can get people out of poverty is by increasing employment opportunities, making work pay, empowering our citizens to not just get jobs, but get good jobs, and tear down the barriers that stand in the way of doing so. For areas like Cynon Valley and indeed the rest of the northern Valleys, one solution is provided by improving and enhancing transport links. Schemes like the metro can be transformational, but fares and charges must be affordable. As I have mentioned here in this Chamber before, a return rail journey from Cardiff to Aberdare currently costs the same as an hour’s pay on the national living wage.

We must also create job opportunities in areas like the Valleys. There are some really good ideas here and I look forward to following the progress of Better Jobs Closer to Home. The Wales TUC made a really good case and I’m glad the Welsh Government has run with this. There are also opportunities in growing the foundational economy, making a better success of what’s already there. It is welcome that the economy Secretary has noted the role of this in reducing inequalities between people and between our communities.

Joined-up approaches like the city deal can play a key role in tackling poverty, as involved council leaders have suggested, although this aim must be a concrete one to ensure it does not slip down the agenda, as concerns from the Bevan Foundation have said. Policies like the new Welsh Government childcare offer are vital for enhancing and improving women’s work and tackling gendered aspects of the question. To tackle poverty we must be innovative and recognise its disparate challenges. We must also work together across all tiers of Government, and both private and public sectors, and not relent or waver from our purpose. But, if we do that, we can slay the beast.

In spite of the bleak facts that Vikki Howells has presented there, she’s also presented, towards the end of her speech, a very optimistic and forward-thinking set of tools to help us with the route out of this. Poverty is a gross injustice and we recognise it as a gross injustice, and we can be therefore justifiably angry about what poverty does to our communities. Therefore, we should welcome the fact that Vikki Howells has identified these ideas that can help us alleviate these issues and, as she said, slay the beast. And indeed, on these benches, across these Labour benches, we’ve been holding discussions on those things and feeding into Welsh Government what can be done. She’s mentioned Better Jobs Closer to Home—not just about work, but about the quality of work; the foundational economy; connecting the northern Valleys; and quality housing. If we can achieve these things through the economic strategy and the work of the Cabinet Secretary, then we can build on the work that the previous UK Labour Government did in alleviating poverty.

Thank you very much and I now call on the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children to reply to the debate. Carl Sargeant.

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I start by thanking Vikki Howells for bringing forward this important debate today, and Members who’ve contributed? As you’ll know, Dirprwy Lywydd, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure now leads on these issues, but I’m very happy to stand in for him today.

I want to begin my contribution by saying that we’re incredibly proud of the interventions the Welsh Government have made to strengthen the Welsh economy—an approach that has helped bring jobs to our communities and supported individuals and families to be more prosperous. Thanks to programmes such as Jobs Growth Wales, ReAct and Lift, and support from Welsh businesses, we have seen strong economic growth in our communities over recent years.

There are 8,000 more people in work in Wales than 12 months ago, with employment up by 1 per cent over the year to a near-historic rate, and, meanwhile, improvements in economic inactivity in Wales have outperformed the UK average and fallen by 1.1 per cent over the year. But, listening to Vikki Howells, she is right: there is much, much more to do. As a pro-business Government, we’ve brought high-quality jobs to Wales through investments by Aston Martin, TVR and General Dynamics. However, as the Welsh Government will be clear, despite these successes, we have not cracked the issues of structural poverty impacting on Welsh communities right across Wales. That is why the Welsh Government is currently in the process of refreshing its approach to tackling poverty.

The Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure has overall responsibility for the co-ordination of cross-cutting measures to provide economic opportunity for all, and he has emphasised the need for a new approach right across Government—one in which our communities are supported to be more resilient in the face of the economic challenges that lie ahead. As the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure has made very clear, resilient communities are underpinned by good-quality local employment, connected infrastructure and skills for work: exactly what Vikki Howells was talking about. The next five years will present a huge challenge for our communities. The withdrawal from the European Union and the full impact of welfare reform will be compounded by the increasing pace of technological change and its impact on work and the labour market.

I listened carefully to the contribution of both Members, and I hope also that the now new Chancellor makes a choice about the austerity measures they have had in place, and makes the right choice to stop that now. I would urge the Chancellor and the UK Government to reconsider those interventions that they consider. But we shouldn’t take it all away from the Conservative Government: what they have had success in doing—one of the economic successes they’ve had—is growing food banks. It’s an absolutely tragedy that we have people—we have nurses; we have firefighters—we have people in all our communities using foodbanks, and 34,800 children accepting food parcels in a community today is something that the UK Government should be ashamed of.

The issue around fuel poverty, the attainment rate, poverty and health and mental well-being are things that cross-Government interventions are looking at. The housing agenda is also with that too. I’m grateful to the Member for raising this important issue. I spoke at a children’s conference this morning, where the concern of agencies was about welfare reform and the impact that will have on our children longer term. I’ve talked many times about the impact of neglect and adverse childhood experiences, and the fact that if we don’t pick that up now, we will pay the price in many years to come.

So, I’d like to finish, Dirprwy Lywydd, by thanking Vikki Howells and the contributions by other Members, and to say, ‘This has to be on the agenda, at the forefront of Government policy.’ I’m grateful to the Member for highlighting the issues that she’s raised today in her very positive contribution, but also a thought-provoking contribution. We should make sure that we act on that as a collective Government to make the changes in her communities, and communities right across Wales. Diolch.

Thank you very much. That brings today’s proceedings to a close. Thank you.

The meeting ended at 18:38.