1. What discussions has the Minister had with local authorities about the role they can play in tackling child poverty after the COVID-19 crisis? OQ55324

Thank you for the question, Helen Mary. I have worked very closely with local authorities throughout the crisis. They have played a central role in meeting the essential needs of children, young people and their families. We will continue our collaboration over the coming months to ensure addressing child poverty is an integral part of the Wales-wide recovery planning.

Thank you for your answer, Minister. I'm sure that you'd agree with me that there are many factors in this crisis that actually risk exacerbating what is already a very serious child poverty crisis here in Wales, and was before COVID, and those include things like issues with access to childcare when women may not be able to go back to work if schools are not full time—everything from that to children who are digitally excluded from remote education. Can I ask you today, Minister, to continue to work with local authorities and to re-emphasise to them that they should put tackling child poverty and raising children out of poverty right at the heart of their agendas as they begin to plan for building back better after the COVID crisis?

Yes, thank you, Helen Mary. I'm very happy to confirm that we are doing it; I'm happy to do it again. Very much as part of the Government's central planning, we are looking for a values-based recovery that makes sure that those who are hardest hit by austerity and previous crises are not double whammied, if you like, by this one. So, we're very aware of that. We've been doing a number of things to make sure that people are protected, in as much as we can do so. So, we've increased the amount of funding for the discretionary assistance fund by £11 million, so it can support calls for financial help from people across Wales during the pandemic. We've supported third sector organisations affected by the crisis with a £24 million fund to enable voluntary organisations to continue and expand their work during the crisis—very important in view of some of the things that I know you've been working with throughout this period.

Last month, I met with the Welsh Local Government Association and the children's commissioner to discuss improving outcomes for children in poverty, looking at what more could be learned about what is working well and exploring opportunities to share good practice across local authorities.

I will say, one of the small upsides of the crisis has been the ability to work on various digital platforms with leaders across local government. That has pulled us together in a way that perhaps wasn't the case before. So, we've had a much better and more comprehensive contact. I very much hope that we will be able to spread good practice in that way, working together closely as a team in the future. So, I'm very pleased with local authorities, in the way that we've worked together. It feels, I think, to them and me, more like a team than it did before.

We've obviously got a £40 million commitment to ensure pupils receive free school meals and that they're fed not just through term time, but throughout the summer holidays. I'm very pleased that we had done that; we did not need to be told to do that by a footballer, although I'm very pleased that he's managed to secure that for children across England as well. It's a very important point about tackling child poverty.

I also just want to mention that we are continuing to tackle period poverty, and we're working with the WLGA to ensure local authorities can manage distribution of products alongside free school meals. So, that's very important and, I think, a sometimes overlooked part of what experiencing poverty can mean, especially if you're a young woman in school.

Thank you. Rhianon Passmore.

Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. Minister, analysis published by the End Child Poverty coalition earlier in this pandemic showed that, across Wales as a whole—reporting 2015 to 2019—that child poverty fell marginally. During this pandemic, the Welsh Government have responded to the crisis with additional and very substantial investment to the Wales-only discretionary assistance fund, which you've just mentioned, which provides help for those facing desperate financial crisis, as well as allowing greater flexibility for those accessing the discretionary assistance fund, and in addition to the local hardship fund announcement, and, obviously, the critical, major Wales economic resilience fund.

Minister, whilst we know, in a capitalistic economy, that child poverty is heavily influenced by earned incomes and the now slashed UK welfare benefit levels for families, what support have our partners in local government asked for, and what additional support can the Welsh Labour Government give to blocking and stopping the evil of child poverty?

Yes, Rhianon, you very accurately represent the real scourge of poverty in a young person's life, and, well before this crisis, in the months leading up, in fact, to the crisis—although we didn't know they were leading up to the crisis at the time—I commissioned a review to explore what more Welsh Government could do to reduce costs and boost incomes for families across Wales. The review also looked at investment in programmes and services that contribute to tackling poverty for children and young people, to ensure that, as far as possible, they were improving the outcomes for people who find themselves in poverty. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on levels of poverty, including child poverty, in the short to medium term, is unfortunately likely to be substantial. It's against that backdrop and alongside recovery plans that recommendations following the review have been identified and subsequently discussed by Cabinet. Details of the agreed actions, along with the key findings of the review, will be published before the end of July.

Local authorities from across Wales have contributed valuable evidence to that review via a range of engagement activities, and they're obviously a key partner as we start to implement the recommendations. These include practical steps we can take to maximise income and reduce essential living costs for families living in poverty across Wales.