3. Will the First Minister make a statement on poverty among young women in Wales? (OAQ51108) [W]

Young women are more likely to be represented in single-parent households and part-working households, which are more at risk of living in poverty. We are providing a range of support to build prosperity by helping them overcome barriers to employment and to maximise their employability and access decent, well-paid work.

Diolch yn fawr. The First Minister will be aware that, last week, in the Labour Party conference, Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, suggested that a new Labour Government would commit to ending period poverty in schools. Does the First Minister have any intention of introducing such a measure in Wales?

Yes, I did note the announcement. It is something I know that we will look at as a Government to see how it can be dealt with in the most effective way. But it is a concept that needs to be examined very closely in order to make sure that it can be dealt with effectively in Wales.

First Minister, last week, I visited Severn Trent’s testing labs in Bridgend—you may know them already—and most of the senior team there were women. They weren’t educated recently in Wales, I’m afraid, so it doesn’t help you on Andrew’s question, but, even so, it is a great example of women getting into good STEM careers. They’re also a good example of where, in a facility where you would normally expect a degree level of education, their interest is now turning to the further education sector to see whether students from there can be brought into appropriate roles, and, as we know, people from poorer backgrounds tend to use FE a little bit more. Welsh Government announced in January that the Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales was setting up an internal working group developing the ‘Talented Women for a Successful Wales’ report findings. So, I’m wondering whether you could provide us with an update on that on that, when we might be seeing some results on the back of it.

I will write to the Member with a date as to the publication of that document. In terms of the pumping station, I’ll be there on Friday so I’ll be able to hear at first hand what they have already said to her.

In a letter to the Chair of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee on 17 July, the Cabinet Secretary for the economy said this: it would not be wise to publish a national action plan for poverty. Isn’t this an entirely shocking statement? No particular action plan. No targets for the mitigation of poverty. No monitoring, because there is nothing to monitor, despite the fact that over 30 per cent of children live in poverty in Wales. Do you agree with me that this is a clear sign that this Labour Government has turned its back entirely on poor families in Wales?

‘No’ is the answer to that. Poverty is something that’s being dealt with across Government; it just doesn’t come under the portfolio of one Minister, because we know how important it is. If you look at what we published last week then it’s obvious that we consider poverty as something that it’s vital we resolve in Wales, and the way of doing that is to ensure that people have the skills that they need, that they have the opportunities that they need, and that they can have free childcare—and that’s something that we put in our manifesto in the election and we’re moving forward to act on that—and that there are jobs available to them that are well paid. We don’t have every lever within our grasp, because we know that there is much around employability and payment that is in the hands of the United Kingdom Government, but we must ensure that we can do everything possible in Wales in order to address poverty.

First Minister, the child poverty action group has identified very early on that the way that universal credit is structured poses a real risk to the financial autonomy of women in the household. It actually undermines their ability to be autonomous and to have financial independence.

We now know from Citizens Advice Cymru that some people in the pilot areas, some women, are giving up work due to childcare issues, as a direct result of the design and the roll-out of universal credit as it is. And we now know, of course, this week, according to the Government’s own figures, that over 80 per cent—over 80 per cent—of recipients of universal credit that is being rolled out are now falling into rent arears. The Government’s own pilot areas are showing that it is an unmitigated disaster and it is driving young women, but also all people, into poverty. Could I ask the First Minister what further representations he can make to the UK Government? Because the impact in all of our communities is going to be significant.

Well, we’ll continue to make those representations, but we’ll have to get in a queue. I mean, their own MPs are saying that the roll-out should be stopped. If I could sum up the attitude of the Conservative Government, it would be this: lessen the financial burden on the rich—cut tax—and increase the financial burden on the poorest—getting rid of tax credits, the bedroom tax, universal credit. We know, of course, that on top of that they do these things incompetently, and that’s what the current roll-out of universal credit is doing. The leader of the opposition finds it funny. When we talk about welfare, he finds it funny. Well, why doesn’t he go and talk to people who are affected by this? Why doesn’t he go and talk to people about the threat of homelessness? Why doesn’t he go and talk to people who find themselves in a position where they’re going into rent arrears? Then he might learn what real life is actually about. Because we deal with these issues on a regular basis, on a constituency basis, and we see the inhumanity of universal credit, along with so many other of the policies developed by a Conservative Government that benefit only the richest.