I mentioned access to food banks a moment ago, and I was speaking to a trustee of the Vale of Clwyd food bank only last week, and he told me that around a third of the people who receive food packages from them are children. Over 500 children received food parcels from them last year alone. All of this means, of course, that people are having to make impossible choices on a daily basis, which they shouldn't have to make. We've heard it before, haven't we? They have to choose between putting food on the table, clothing their children, or heating their home.

I was pointed recently in the direction of an article that appeared in the British Medical Journal that warned that the next public health crisis in the UK would be child malnutrition—child malnutrition in a twenty-first century western economy. Now, this, in turn, of course, impacts on educational attainment, with teachers doing their best to work with children who are hungry, who are tired, and who are suffering some of the other physical impacts of poverty. One teacher in a primary school near to where I live was telling me recently how she had to deal with the social services in the last couple of years more than she had ever done before—to unprecedented levels, compared to her experience of a long career in teaching.

So, let's be clear: child poverty is a rights violation, and Ministers of this Government have a due-regard duty to the UNCRC through the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011. Now, the question we're faced, asking ourselves, is this: is child poverty really now becoming the norm for many families, schools and communities across Wales, and what's being done about it? Now, I touched, at the start of this contribution, on some of the initiatives from previous Welsh Governments from over a decade ago now to try to tackle child poverty. So, where are we today? The Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 continues to provide the legislative framework for tackling child poverty in Wales. It places a duty on Welsh Ministers and named public bodies to set objectives for tackling child poverty.

The previous Welsh Government published their revised child poverty strategy in December 2015, and after evaluating the strategy and assessment, a progress report was published in December 2016. However, it's not clear how this strategy is being utilised, nor how, today, it's shaping this current Government's thinking. 'Taking Wales Forward', the Government's foundational strategy is seen as the new vehicle for taking actions; however, it doesn't have an explicit reference to poverty, aside from a brief mention of fuel poverty. Indeed, the Government's flagship 'Prosperity for All' national strategy—in that, there's only one reference to poverty, which can be found within the text of the early years cross-cutting priority, but of course there's no child poverty action plan to deliver the strategy.

The Government did have a broader tackling poverty action plan, which had within it measurable milestones, targets and key performance indicators between 2013 and 2016. However, this plan came to an end with the end of the last Government, and we've seen no replacement action plan to deliver this agenda. Of course, what we have seen, however, is the scrapping of the anti-poverty Communities First programme, we saw the initial scrapping of the school uniform grant, which was subsequently reversed due to mass public outcry, we know that Flying Start provides a service, but it's very much a postcode lottery, where we recently reported from the Children, Young People and Education Committee that most children who need those services don't actually live within those areas that can access it, and, of course, we're now seeing the Government bringing forward a childcare offer that proposes to give couples earning up to £200,000 a year free childcare whilst excluding the poorest children from workless families from receiving that same support. A poverty advisory group that was convened under the last Government and had representation from all sectors and key groups has also been scrapped.

The sad truth is that Wales is now without a headline target or a similar pledge to eradicate child poverty by a certain date in the future, and there doesn't seem to be an appetite, from what I see from this Government, to introduce such a target, either. But we must have ambition, and we must have a target to aim for. How else can we measure whether or not Government policies are successful in any meaningful way? The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called for concrete targets within a time frame back in July 2016. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation called for an aim that fewer than one in 10 people are in poverty at any one time by 2030. Indeed, a 2030 target would be in line with Wales's sustainable development goals on ending poverty and inequality, providing a solid relationship with the intentions of the well-being of future generations Act. The End Child Poverty Network Cymru has also repeatedly called for the Welsh Government to renew its previous ambition and set new headline targets, something that we in Plaid Cymru very much support. 

The Government also lacks an annual reporting mechanism that would bring together all of the activities in one place and would allow a better understanding of how all the different programmes—such as Flying Start, Families First, the different funding streams and policies—are together contributing towards an overarching target. Such a single coherent plan could be a compendium of existing actions with clear and complementary targets and milestones and a strong narrative around it as well to reinvigorate the whole debate around child poverty. That will help us as well move from problems to solutions and send an unequivocal message to all delivery partners, including public bodies and the public services boards, of the Government's clear intention and expectations, putting an explicit focus on tackling child poverty. 

Contrast our situation in Wales with Scotland, where the Scottish Government has set itself new targets for 2030, such as having less than 10 per cent living in relative poverty, less than 5 per cent living in absolute poverty, less than 5 per cent living in persistent poverty—and there are others too. They've also published a child poverty delivery plan, which clearly sets out the actions to be taken to progress towards the ambitious child poverty targets set for 2030. It pains me to say that our Government's response here in Wales has been weak in comparison.

Key recommendations put forward by the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee that a clear tackling poverty strategy is published and that the Welsh Government develops a dashboard of poverty indicators have both been rejected. I'd urge the Government to reconsider their refusal and to look at these proposals again. Plaid Cymru has been clear in terms of our policies: we want to see universal childcare for all parents rather than the limited proposals that are on offer from the Welsh Government. Why can't we reorientate adult skills programmes to reward providers on outcomes such as income rather than qualifications achieved? And of course we want to see adopting a no-evictions policy due to benefit cuts for all families with children.

I realise that time is short so I'll make one important point, and I made a similar point in an earlier debate. There are strengths to having a cross-Government approach very often to some of these broader issues, but there can be risks as well. I'm not convinced in this context that it's actually working. It says something that I really had no idea which Cabinet Secretary or Minister was going to be responding to this debate this afternoon. I'm not sure what that tells us about the clarity around who actually leads on this within Government. There may be plenty of back-seat drivers, but who's sitting in the driving seat here, leading on this agenda, leading the charge from the front?

I am running out of time, so I'll conclude my remarks by saying that child poverty in Wales is getting worse and the Government's response really needs to reflect that fact, because it is a fact. We need to be intensifying our actions, redoubling our efforts, being more ambitious and more determined than ever to rid Wales of this scourge. Like Romelu Lukaku, we need to play the game of our lives to beat child poverty. We need the same kind of comeback in this context as the Belgian team experienced the other night against Japan. I hope, in his response, that the Cabinet Secretary will reflect that very same sentiment, that same ambition, that same determination, but backed up with action.