00:00 Secretary, what measures is the Welsh Government taking to set targets for the reduction of child poverty?
00:06 We are developing a framework of indicators and measures of child poverty, informed by
00:11 Professor Rod Hick from Cardiff University and our external reference group. A policy
00:16 progress report and evidence from those with lived experience of poverty will also be provided
00:21 at the next progress reporting point in 2025.
00:25 Thank you very much, Cabinet Secretary. Sadly, the latest childhood poverty statistics for
00:31 Wales released last month paint a very disheartening picture of stagnation. Twenty-nine per cent
00:38 of children now live in relative poverty, representing 190,000 children. The Bevan Foundation's
00:46 recent State of Wales report laid bare the harsh reality that children remain the demographic
00:52 at the highest risk of poverty, with those from households without full adult employment
00:57 as well as those in rented homes facing even greater risk of deprivation. We cannot be
01:05 complacent about these figures, nor accept the lack of progress. Behind these numbers,
01:10 as you say, lies the lived experiences of children who are literally suffering. These
01:16 figures show the urgent need for measurable, clear targets to reduce child poverty, as
01:24 recommended by the Equality and Social Justice Committee in the report last November. I am
01:30 very disappointed to hear that these will not be with us until 2025, because it takes
01:35 time for us to have those targets in place. Could you, Cabinet Secretary, commit to creating
01:43 clear, quantifiable targets urgently for reducing child poverty? Diolch yn fawr iawn.
01:50 Angela Burns AM: Thank you. Well, I can certainly assure Jane Dodds and all Members that I am
01:55 not complacent. Obviously, I've just come into this portfolio and, as you say, unfortunately,
02:01 we have seen a rise in the number of children in relative poverty. It went up 1% from the
02:07 previous year. So, I can absolutely assure you there is no complacency on my behalf or
02:12 on behalf of the Welsh Government. I think it's really important to recognise that the
02:17 levers that we do haveóand we don't hold all the levers, obviously, to enable poverty
02:22 to be tackledóit's really important that we do everything we can with what we have
02:27 as a Welsh Government. I've had an initial conversation with the First Minister around
02:31 how, as a Government, we make sure that every Cabinet Secretary and Minister contributes
02:37 to the way that we tackle poverty. I met with the Bevan Foundation myself on Monday of this
02:42 week, because I'm very keen to hear about the research that they have done to make sure
02:47 that the schemes and the funding that we have and that we use specifically to tackle poverty
02:54 is absolutely going to the correct places. You'll be aware that the child poverty strategy
03:00 was launched by my predecessor, Jane Hutt, who's just walked into the Chambra in January,
03:06 and we have not committed to targets there. I have looked at countries that have targets,
03:11 and I've looked at best practice from countries that don't have targets. I think, for me,
03:17 the biggest thing that comes out about tackling poverty is ensuring that we have a compassionate
03:21 and fair welfare system. So, I've looked at New Zealand, for instance, where we don't
03:27 have the lever in relation to that, but they do. So, I'm very keen to look at what best
03:31 practice we can have that. Again, my predecessor committed to having an academic help inform
03:38 us around child poverty strategy, and I mentioned Professor Hick, who is advising on the developing
03:45 of the monitoring framework.
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