Coronavirus-related Poverty

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:45 pm on 1 December 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:45, 1 December 2020

Llywydd, I thank Helen Mary Jones for that powerful supplementary question, and she will know that her colleague Leanne Wood raised this issue with me, here on the floor of the Senedd, two weeks ago. I had a meeting with officials yesterday, as a result of the points that had been raised with me, and work is being done to see whether, within the financial envelope that is available to us, we can respond to the genuine difficulties that are being reported.

I know Helen Mary Jones will know that if a child has a positive test and has to stay home because test, trace, protect has asked them to, then the parent with care is able to claim the £500. The difficulty arises in the circumstances that were described, where children are sent home from school because another child in the class has been tested positive. Now, sometimes, those children are back in school very rapidly, but if it extends to a full 14 days of self-isolation, that undoubtedly places extra financial burdens, especially in the families that Helen Mary Jones described. So, my officials are working very actively to see whether it is possible to devise a way in which help could be provided to families in those circumstances, and I hope that Ministers will see the result of that work before the end of this week.