3. What assessment has the Minister made of the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on children? OQ57787

Recent analysis by organisations such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Bevan Foundation and Children in Wales has found that households with children are amongst the hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis. Lone parents and their children have been particularly affected.

Thank you, Minister. One in three children in Wales is living in poverty, and almost four in 10 homes do not have enough money to buy anything beyond the essentials. And anti-poverty groups say that these levels of poverty will deteriorate as the cost-of-living crisis worsens. As the budgets of too many families are under pressure, it's more important than ever before that every primary school child has a free breakfast. Starting the school day with food in their bellies is vital for education and their well-being, but according to figures by the Child Poverty Action Group and Parentkind, one in seven families on low incomes in Wales can access free breakfasts for their children, either because their primary school doesn't provide a breakfast club, or because there isn't enough space for their children. With arrangements being made to provide free school lunches to every child as a result of the co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru in primary schools, will the Government also commit to working with schools to overcome any barriers and to provide funding and additional support to them to ensure that free breakfast clubs are available to every child? Thank you.  

Diolch yn fawr. That's also a very important question, because the delivery of free school breakfasts was a proud day when we announced that so many years back now, and it was a free school breakfast scheme that was to be available in every school in Wales. I am aware of some schools that had already got their own schemes. Obviously, that has to be organised between local authorities and schools, but I will ask the education Minister to review the present take-up and availability of free school breakfasts, because my understanding is that it is very robust, and I can feed back on that. But I think it is important to recognise that that free school breakfast is the crucial free and nutritious start to the day. But can I also say that the importance of the co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru to extend free school meals to all primary school pupils over the lifetime of the agreement is crucial to your question about how can we actually help our children and young people and households who are most vulnerable, how can we ensure that we provide a shield and support as a result of the cost of living crisis on children? We are looking at the findings of our child poverty review, and looking at ways in which we can specifically target those children and families who are most at risk. We know that they are lone parents, particularly, and we know that there are other ways in which we can support, through the school holiday enrichment programme, targeting support for children, not just in terms of free school meals, but also other initiatives to help those families. 

Thank you, Minister for your answers so far. I would like to warmly welcome the extra £100 that is being awarded to every family that is entitled to the PDG access grant. That is very much welcomed by families in Cynon Valley and I'm sure across Wales this week. Can I ask, Minister, what is being done to raise awareness of that extra fund, and in particular to support families with language barriers or without access to ICT, because the application process for that is online?

Thank you, Vikki Howells. I'm really pleased that you have drawn attention to the latest announcement on 14 March by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language as regards the pupil development grant access grant, because this was part of our £330 million announcement. It will be raised, and I can share this now across the Chamber again, by £100 per learner—the Minister has made a statement about it—for those who are eligible for free school meals. It raises the funding for PDG access up to over £23 million for 2022-23. I know that our schools, particularly, are aware of the pressures on the families and households of their pupils. I know that local authorities as well, which responded to the cost-of-living crisis and attended our summit, will be ensuring that awareness is raised about eligibility for that funding. Can I say also, as part of the household support fund, that we put money into enabling schools to use extra funds to enable them to reach out, so that pupils will be able to take part in all activities—outings and schemes that might have required a personal family contribution? So, that's how we are seeking to support those children and families in need.

Minister, thanks to the pandemic and now Putin's illegal war in Ukraine, food and fuel prices are now rising at their highest rate since the second world war, forcing more families into poverty, which, as ever, has the biggest impact on children. Minister, much has been made of the support for families on benefits, but very little has been said about help for working families. What discussions have you had with Cabinet colleagues and the UK Government about the steps that you can take to help hard-pressed families? For example, have you discussed steps that you can take around childcare and minimising school disruptions, so that hard-working parents don't have to worry about taking unpaid leave to look after their children?

There seems to be a denial of the causes of the cost-of-living crisis affecting so many of our children and young people and households, as a result of the many points and questions and discussions that we have had this afternoon. I am very proud that we have the most generous childcare offer scheme in the UK, and it was extended last week by the Deputy Minister for Social Services, to reach out to parents who are in education and training. Also, I am delighted, and I'm sure that this went forward this morning—. I understand that, as a result of our co-operation agreement, there was the delivering of a phased expansion of early years provision announcement, as a result of the co-operation agreement. The flagship Flying Start programme is crucial for the phased expansion of early years provision to include all two-year-olds, with a particular emphasis on strengthening Welsh-medium provision. This is where we should be focusing our funding—to ensure that we do reach those children who will benefit from Flying Start, including the 9,000 two-year-olds who already receive high-quality childcare. The expansion will be with an intention to reach a further 2,500 children under the age of 4. These are families who need that free childcare and I'm delighted that the Deputy Minister announced that as a result of the co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru. That extension now is going to make a difference to those families' lives.