North Wales MS and Shadow Social Justice Minister Mark Isherwood has today outlined concerns that the Welsh Government’s Child Poverty Strategy for Wales “does not include any measurable targets”, and asked what timescale has been set to develop a Welsh Benefits System.
Responding to the Social Justice Minister’s Statement on the Strategy in today’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood highlighted alarming statistics regarding child poverty levels in Wales and concerns over the new Child Poverty Strategy.
He said:
“Welsh Government data shows that 28% of children were living in relative income poverty in 2022. Loughborough University’s analysis of child poverty across the UK last summer, found that more than one in five children are living in poverty in every local authority in Wales.
“The Bevan Foundation stated that this shows ‘minimal progress’ has been ‘made in reducing child poverty over the past decade’.
“As stated in the Joseph Rowntree Foundation ‘Monitoring poverty and social exclusion in Wales’ Report in 2009: ‘even before the recession, half of the previous improvement in child poverty had already been lost’. In other words, this was before the ‘Credit Crunch’ in 2008, when it reached the highest level of any UK nation, at 32%.”
Mr Isherwood went on to question the Minister over targets, and asked why recommendations in the November 2022 Auditor General for Wales Report, ‘Time for Change – Poverty in Wales’, which include ‘Local strategies, targets and performance reporting for tackling and alleviating poverty’, have not been included in the Welsh Government Strategy.
He said:
“This Welsh Government strategy does not include any measurable targets, instead using the generic national milestones within the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and a so-called ‘Monitoring and Impact Framework’. How do you therefore respond to the statement today by Barnardo's Cymru that it 'continues to be a disappointment that Welsh Government has not listened to numerous recommendations on the need for targets and an action plan attached to the Strategy so that progress can be transparently and regularly monitored'?
“Commenting on the Draft Strategy three months ago, the Children's Commissioner for Wales stated that it ‘lacked ambition, clarity and detail’, that the lack of detail on ‘actions, timescales and deliverables’ means that there was no way of holding the Welsh Government to account, and that ‘it's a list of policy initiatives which doesn't really spell out what, how, when or who will actually deliver against those different policies in order to reduce and eradicate child poverty'.
“Anyone who has ever successfully managed projects or strategies would know that she is correct, wouldn't they, Minister? How do you respond to the statement by the Children's Commissioner this morning that she was ‘deeply disappointed’ by the new Strategy and that ‘we will not be able to determine whether public money being spent in Wales is reaching those children whose lives are being so severely affected'?
“It is the case, is it not, that the Welsh Government has a number of levers to tackle child poverty under its control, so why hasn't it established real targets and milestones within the Strategy, or is this just another case of Welsh Government dodging accountability?”
Questioning the Minister further, Mr Isherwood said:
“Why is your Welsh Benefits Charter, launched yesterday, only about further work to develop a Welsh Benefits System, thereby apparently kicking the can down the road once again? What is your timescale for the actual introduction of a Welsh Benefits System, and what targets will be in place to measure progress?
“Finally, this Strategy states that you will ‘remove barriers to employment and career pathways for disabled people, women, carers and ethnic minority people’. So, who, what, when, where, and how?”