3. How will the Welsh Government deal with the anticipated spike in child poverty in Wales as a result of changes to welfare benefits? OAQ51298

I'm concerned about the significant projected increase in child poverty in Wales, driven by the UK Government’s planned tax and benefits changes. Our child poverty strategy does set out objectives for tackling child poverty and we're taking action to ensure every child has the best start in life. 

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has calculated that in Wales we will see a spike of 7 per cent in the rate of increase in child poverty, which obviously is statistically huge. We know that those on working-age benefits are seeing a real cut in the amount of money they get to live off. What do you think can be done to mitigate the policies of the UK Government, which obviously are not of our making, but what can we in Wales do to try and mitigate the appalling impact that this is likely to have on children in this situation? 

Let me give my colleague a number of ways in which we are dealing with that issue. Early implementation of the childcare offer is taking place in seven local authorities. That started in September, delivering childcare to 4,725 children. For 2017-18, we've invested over £38 million in the Families First programme, more than £76 million in Flying Start. We have allocated a budget of £400,000 for 2017-18 for Positive Parenting. Communities for Work, for example, has engaged with 11,000 participants, with 3,000 entering into employment. Those are just some examples of what we are doing in order to alleviate child poverty in Wales.

Thank you. We know that the figures show that, in general, children growing up in working households do better in school and adult life. How do you respond to concern expressed since the recent publication of the Office of National Statistics figures for 2016, showing that the number of children living in long-term workless households fell by 92,000 across the UK last year—down in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England, and it's actually down by 0.5 million since 2010—but actually increased in Wales?

I think, first of all, if we look at our figures, historically we have seen an increase in the rate of employment in Wales and a decrease in the rate of unemployment, but it's not sufficient simply to look at whether people are in work or not, because we have to look beyond that and understand what people are earning. We used to say that if people found a job then that was a route out of poverty, yet we know that in-work poverty is one of the scourges that we have. We know—we've heard stories of nurses having to use foodbanks. That's why it's so important, I believe, now, for there to be a loosening of the bonds of austerity by the UK Government, for money to be made available for the devolved Governments to make sure that we can look now to improve the incomes of our public sector workers, many of whom, of course, have struggled in terms of their pay rises for some years.