Child Poverty

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:32 pm on 25 October 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:32, 25 October 2022

Well, Llywydd, I thank Sioned Williams for some of those very important facts. I think I've reported previously to the Senedd that the Cabinet's cost-of-living committee is meeting weekly, and, at the start of each meeting, we are currently hearing from expert groups who are able to give us the most up-to-date information and ideas as to how we can do more to help people in Wales. The Cabinet committee met yesterday, and yesterday the expert evidence was indeed from the Bevan Foundation. The chief executive of the foundation went through a number of the points that Sioned Williams has raised this afternoon, and went through with us the things that the foundation believes are having a positive impact here in Wales, both the things that we have done jointly with Plaid Cymru in extending free school meals—and there are over 4,000 children additionally in the Member's region receiving a free school meal as a result of the work that we have done together—and looking at the impact of the help that we give with the cost of the school day, and with the discretionary assistance fund, with over 4,500 awards in the Member's region alone in September. All of those practical things that we are able to do, and it is the practicalities that this Government is focused on. There is work going on, led by my colleague Jane Hutt, on a child poverty strategy, but, for the moment, we are focused less on strategising than we are on identifying those practical actions that we can assist with that will help those families and those children through this winter.

I'm very pleased, Llywydd, to see more local authorities setting out the ways in which they will use the discretionary fund that we've provided to them to help families through this winter, and I know that Sioned Williams will be pleased to see that, in Bridgend for example, in her region, the local authority has decided to use the money that they now have to provide families with £50 for every child in every family who is receiving free school meals, and £150 to all those families with children who are living in temporary accommodation. Where there are further ideas, and further things that we can work on together, then, of course, the Welsh Government will always be keen to explore ideas that are practical, and which, from a financial perspective, are within the bounds of the possible.