Shadow Communities Secretary Mark Isherwood AM has spoken of his concerns over the Welsh Government’s plans to tackle poverty, following its confirmation that its community focussed tackling poverty programme, ‘Communities First’, will not be replaced.
In February, the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children, Carl Sargeant AM, revealed that ‘Communities First’ would be phased out by March 2018.
Mr Isherwood said that in moving forward it is crucial that the Welsh Government recognises the need to engage with and empower people.
Speaking in the Chamber, he said:
“Six years after you chose not to be advised by the Wales Council for Voluntary Action report, ‘Communities First - A Way Forward’, which said the missing ingredient was community ownership, and after £0.5 billion having gone into the programme, you told the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee last week that the programme would not be replaced, that the record of its work in Wales’s most deprived areas had been mixed, and that the figures aren’t moving.
“You’ve now said that joined-up Government would ensure that all spending decisions would have tackling poverty in mind, which, of course, is what you and your predecessors have consistently said. But how are you engaging with the Wales Council for Voluntary Action and its partners on this agenda to ensure that that missing ingredient doesn’t remain missing as we move forward?”
The Cabinet Secretary replied: “It is now for the partnerships locally to determine what their well-being assessments are for those communities, and we’re working very closely with them to ensure that we have the best available opportunities. Ken Skates AM, the lead Minister on tackling poverty, and I believe fundamentally that the route out of poverty is quality jobs and skills, and that’s what we will be pursuing, with vigour, across all our communities across Wales.”
Mr Isherwood added: “In describing quality jobs and skills as the route out of poverty, he still seems unable to grasp the need to build bridges first, engaging, listening, empowering and supporting people to unlock their strengths and achieve their goals.”
ENDS