2. What consideration does the Minister give to tackling poverty when allocating funding to the social justice portfolio? OQ57198

Tackling poverty is at the heart of this Government’s agenda, as outlined in the programme for government. Yesterday, we announced a £51 million-package to support vulnerable households facing the cost-of-living crisis through the winter months. 

Thank you for that response, Minister. 

Recent analysis from the End Child Poverty coalition found that Wales has the highest child poverty rate of any UK nation. This is despite two decades of strategies, plans and Senedd inquiries, and the Children's Commissioner for Wales has called child poverty the Welsh Government's biggest challenge, yet it doesn't receive a mention in the five-year programme for government. Those on low incomes have taken a great financial cut when furloughed or made redundant, with 54,000 food bank parcels going to children in Wales between April 2020 and March 2021. That's a parcel every 10 minutes. While the £51 million of support announced as part of the household support fund is welcomed, does the finance Minister have any radical or longer term funding plans to tackle the root cause of the persistent child poverty issue here in Wales? I would hope the Minister would agree with me that the fact that so many children are living in poverty in Wales today is nothing short of a national disgrace. 

Thank you for raising this really important issue, and I'm sure that we share a great deal of concern about those children who are growing up in poverty in Wales. Clearly, it shouldn't be happening; it is distressing. But it's happening all too often. The Resolution Foundation has found that those families that now are facing the cut of the £20 universal credit will be losing £1,040 a year, which is a huge amount of money, and it's actually affecting a huge number of families across Wales. One in five households will be losing that funding, and I think that is just going to push more children into poverty. 

But, from the Welsh Government's perspective, we do have our child poverty strategy, and that sets out our objectives for tackling child poverty through a continued focus on what we know works well. During 2019-20, the First Minister undertook a child poverty review, and that identified areas that clearly work and where we would want to invest further. And I know that you have a significant interest in free school meals, and that's an area where we know that we can make a difference to families. Part of the funding I announced yesterday will be used to support and bolster food banks and community food partnerships and community hubs, to provide a wider range of support to individuals from those settings, including income maximisation, because we know that lots of individuals and families still aren't accessing all the support to which they are entitled. So, that work will be undertaken through those projects. 

Also, we provided funding yesterday to establish a further 25 Big Bocs Bwyd projects across Wales to reduce food poverty, help improve nutritional intake, improve well-being, reduce food waste and increase food literacy. And the review that we've done of the existing Big Bocs Bwyd scheme has shown that it's been incredibly positive for those families who have been supported through it. 

So, we certainly have lots of plans already in train and lots of further investment that we will look to make in this important area. 

Minister, as we approach winter, the subject of fuel poverty is on our minds and on the minds of many of my constituents in south-east Wales. The Equality and Social Justice Committee recently called on the Welsh Government to publish revised plans to tackle fuel poverty to ensure that they are indeed in place by April 2022. What discussions have you had with the Minister for Social Justice about revising your plan on fuel poverty and to publicise the schemes that are already in place to assist those vulnerable people with their fuel bills in this upcoming winter?

Yes, the price of energy is of serious concern over the course of the coming winter, which is why yesterday we introduced a £51 million-scheme to create a household support fund, and part of that will be £38 million invested in our winter fuel support scheme. What that means in practice is that eligible households who are on low incomes will be able to claim a £100 cash payment to provide support towards their winter energy bills. The point you make about publicising this support is really important, which is why we're working closely with local government, and I'm really grateful for the work that they're doing. So, each local authority will write to people within their area who they know will be eligible for this support, to make them aware of it. And also, to those who think that they might be eligible but haven't yet heard from their local authority, by the end of December, I would recommend that they also look on the local authority's website, where they'll be able to self-apply for that support. But we expect to reach around 350,000 households with that £100 payment, to help with the increased cost of energy over the winter.