1. How is the Welsh Government tackling poverty in Wales? OQ57781

Our programme for government sets out clear ambitions to deliver a more prosperous and a more equal Wales and to create better outcomes for people. I am working with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that its commitments are shaped and delivered with addressing poverty and inequality as a central driver.

Diolch. As you will know, in December 2018, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation stated that, of the four countries of the UK, Wales has consistently had the highest poverty rate for the past 20 years. In November 2020, they said that even before coronavirus, almost a quarter of people in Wales were living in poverty. And last May, the UK End Child Poverty coalition stated that Wales had the worst child poverty rate of all UK nations. What consideration will you therefore give to last November's 'Poverty Trapped' report by John Penrose MP, which argues that Britain as a whole has failed to abolish poverty because of the focus on treating the symptoms rather than structural causes and that, quote:

'a better alternative is to improve opportunity for everyone, equipping them with the skills and attitudes to take the opportunities when they appear so you can have more control over your path in life.'

It is a report that has secured many heavyweight endorsements, including the professor of social mobility at Exeter University, who stated that,

'This is a serious report on a topic that should be a central motivation for anyone who goes into politics: how do we create a society in which all can pursue opportunity irrespective of their background?'

Thank you, Mark Isherwood. Well, you know that the key levers for tackling poverty are powers over the tax and welfare system that sit with the UK Government, but we're doing everything we can to reduce the impact of poverty and support those living in poverty. And you will be well aware of our winter fuel support scheme for 2022, offering a £200 payment, which supported families to cover their energy costs and keep their homes warm, and also of the cost-of-living summit that I chaired on 17 February, with a range of stakeholders for us to not just address the short, immediate crisis as a result of, particularly, cuts to welfare and increases in tax, as a result of your Government's actions, but to look at the way forward in terms of medium and longer term needs and policies to tackle poverty, and clearly looking at the findings of our child poverty review in considering them alongside evidence about what works, in tackling poverty, for Wales.

The major cause of poverty is low pay and irregular hours. Does the Minister agree with me that we need the cruel cut to universal credit reversed and an end to exploitative contracts—fire and rehire—and for everyone to be paid at least the real living wage?

Thank you very much, Mike Hedges. Last October, the UK Government's decision to end the £20 a week universal credit uplift payment condemned thousands of households across Wales to life on the poverty line. Also, with inflation forecast to hit 7 per cent, the motion to approve the uprating in welfare benefits payments from April by only 3.1 per cent was passed in the House of Commons, and, I have to say, with the full support of the Conservative MPs. But it is true what you say in terms of also ensuring that we work to improve levels of pay and deal with exploitative contracts. It is crucial that we are leading by example as a real-living-wage accredited employer, and also ensuring that, through our fair work and our social partnership, we're tackling those exploitative contracts as well.