Imagine being a youngster waking up on one of the last school days in December, a time when excitement and fun runs through the school like electric. It means concerts, games and an exchange of cards, but then you realise you won't be going in that day. You won't be going in because it's Christmas jumper day, and you don't have a Christmas jumper; your family can't afford one. 

A research project undertaken by the Association of School and College Leaders in the north-west uncovered this pattern of absenteeism amongst disadvantaged pupils on 14 December last year. In truth, it is just the latest example of the stigma that comes with poverty, and a further example of how, unthinkingly, we are piling unseen costs, costs that cannot be met by all, on the average school year. I hope that the ASCL research can be added to the very many examples we see in Welsh schools today, from dressing-up days to school trips and events, which risk undermining so much of the good work being done in other areas of education policy. 

Today's debate, of course, is about a much wider set of considerations, but these are the simple, heartbreaking and ultimately damaging daily realities behind the figures we are talking about. There is nothing inevitable about poverty, and I want to thank the other Members who've brought forward this timely and important debate today. I fully support the motion and strongly believe it is time for a step change in our approach to poverty in Wales. Though it has now signalled a change of direction, I believe the Welsh Government was right to adopt the target of ending child poverty by 2020, and I regret the decision to axe it. This is an agenda that demands ambition. But, as the Bevan Foundation has said, with so many of the important policy drivers being non-devolved, this target was only something that could be achieved by working with a UK Government that also fully committed to that ambition. Sadly, since 2010, that has ceased to be the case.

The result is that, for a decade now, child poverty figures in Wales have stagnated, and they have now in fact started to rise—an unparalleled failure of our economic model in the UK, the unjustifiable price of austerity, a trap for future generations. The most brutal truth of the Conservative record in Government is that avoidable deaths associated with poverty, as highlighted by Leanne Wood, have risen through the age of austerity. It is to Welsh Government's credit that, through this period, with shrinking budgets available, worklessness has reduced, the employment gap with England closed, and the attainment of poorer pupils is being prioritised. But, as the recent publication of the youth opportunity index showed, there is a persistent postcode penalty in Wales that remains the same today as it did at the beginning of devolution. The research from the Learning and Work Institute showed that education and work opportunities remain thinnest on the ground in deprived areas, with my own local authority of Torfaen being ranked lowest on that list. 

So, there are plenty of elements of devolved policy that do need reassessing to add urgency to our anti-poverty agenda. I hope today will be the moment for Welsh Government to say 'yes' to revisiting an approach on child poverty in particular, and on poverty more generally. The First Minister will know, because he was finance Minister at the time, that the Children, Young People and Education Committee was critical about the lack of clarity in last year's budget on how and where the Government is focusing its resources relating to poverty. We recommended more clarity on ministerial ownership relating to poverty, a refreshed child poverty strategy to reflect the policy changes since 2015, and the publication of future budget information to show exactly how that new strategy is delivered and outcomes improved.

I realise there's a desire in Government to move away from a strategy factory mentality, and I do recognise the attraction of making poverty everyone's business in Government, rather than shoving it all into one department with a small budget. But the truth is that, so far, without the fundamental shift in the way the rest of the Government has worked to improve this agenda, a lack of clear strategy and ownership is just allowing drift to become the norm. The concerns of the Bevan Foundation, Oxfam, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the children’s commissioner come from a deep understanding of this agenda, and it’s time we acted on what they’re telling us. Fifty-five thousand children living in poverty are not eligible for a free school meal, a policy area that’s been devolved to us here. And even those who are eligible face multiple and unnecessary barriers. There is more action the Welsh Government could take to end holiday hunger—a consistent finding from recent reports. I could go on, but what this all comes back to is the need for a clear poverty strategy driven by three things: clear targets, transparent budgets and strong ministerial leadership. We know why child poverty has risen in Wales—that is a decade of Tory austerity—but that does not give us a free pass to do nothing. Indeed, it must challenge us to do even more, and I hope that work can start today.