Despite this alarming picture, Dirprwy Lywydd, the Welsh Government does not currently have an overarching poverty strategy as it did in previous years, and greater leadership is required. The most commonly used measure of poverty is the number or proportion of the population who live in a household whose income is less than 60 per cent of median income, adjusted for their household size and type after housing costs. However, we still do not have a definitive definition of what poverty means that can be used by Government departments, by local authorities and private and voluntary sector organisations. This could be usefully addressed to provide clarity and consistency of understanding.

There is no identifiable figurehead within Welsh Government to lead on this issue and others, who would focus on the complexities of tackling the poverty agenda and concentrate on accountability, scrutiny and the delivery of advice and support. These are matters that the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee have repeatedly called upon the Welsh Government to rectify. In two of our recent reports looking at poverty, 'Communities First Lessons Learnt' and 'Making the economy work for people on low incomes', recommendations were made but unfortunately not accepted. The UN rapporteur found that the Welsh Government's approach and new 'Prosperity for All' strategy do not provide a strategic focus on and individual ministerial responsibility for poverty reduction. It lacks strong performance targets and indicators to measure progress and impact. I quote:

'We strongly recommend that a clear tackling poverty strategy is published, which brings together the many strands of poverty reduction work to help provide clear direction and to help the Assembly scrutinise the Government’s approach. The strategy should include clear performance indicators to ensure effective performance management, as well as setting out a broader evidence base to help underpin effective evaluation of different approaches to tackling poverty.'

This very much chimes with our equality committee's work. The report, Dirprwy Lywydd, is a wake-up call, and we need to see strong evidence of the way in which the Welsh Government is poverty-proofing its future decision making across all portfolios, policies and strategies in order to combat the concerning picture captured. Forecasts of poverty in Wales predict that the situation is set to worsen, which strengthens the need for strategic oversight and leadership. By 2021-22, it is estimated that 27 per cent of the Welsh population will be living in poverty, 39 per cent of whom will be children. This is an increase of three and 10 percentage points respectively, which is the third highest increase in all UK regions. This is why today we again call on the Welsh Government to produce a tackling poverty strategy with a detailed budget and action plan for implementation. This plan needs to be ambitious, comprehensive and all-inclusive, involving practical steps to improve the life experience of all those in poverty in Wales as soon as practically possible. Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd.