Child Poverty in South Wales East

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 1:59 pm on 30 June 2021.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 1:59, 30 June 2021

I thank Delyth Jewell for those very important questions. For me, as Minister for Social Justice, I will say there's never been a more important time to do all that we can practically to mitigate the impacts of poverty with the powers and levers that we've got. During the last Senedd term, as you will remember, the First Minister did make that commitment to re-engineer existing funding programmes to ensure that they have the maximum impact on the lives of children living in poverty. And that led to the report that I've just mentioned, and practical actions there. It's not just about maximising the incomes of families living in poverty, but also helping them to build resilience. This goes back to your key points about the impact on people's lives, on their mental health—supporting families to not just increase their income, but also to ensure that they can get into employment and that they can improve the outcomes of children and families. This is, of course, a cross-Government task in terms of backing the Flying Start programme, which has such an important support network across Wales in our most disadvantaged communities. But can I just say that, again, it is important that we look at what we're doing? There's over £60 million in additional funding to local authorities for free-school-meal provision during 2021, an additional £23 million up until 2022, in the next financial year, and the commitment I've already mentioned to review eligibility criteria. Can I say that the school holiday enrichment programme is a real opportunity? The school holiday fun and food programme, and the 'summer of fun' that has already been announced by the Deputy Minister for Social Services—those are going to be the ways in which we can reach out to those children and those families, with the potential for supporting those children in those communities and households that are experiencing poverty.