Welsh Conservative Shadow Secretary for Communities, Mark Isherwood AM, has called for Welsh Government action to address the fact that, after 18 years of devolution Wales still has higher child poverty than Scotland, Northern Ireland and all but two of the nine English regions.,
In the Assembly Chamber this week, Mr Isherwood challenged the Communities Secretary, Carl Sargeant AM, over the worrying figures for Wales, noting that last week the Royal College of Paediatricians said that poverty was the biggest threat to children’s health in Wales.
He said:
“The ONS figures published last July said Wales had higher numbers - one in eight children living in long term workless households - than the UK average, and research shows that children living with long-term unemployed parents tend to do less well at school and are at higher risk of unemployment later in life.
“Given the findings of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission ‘State of the Nation’ report that more than 65,000 children whose families receive out-of-work benefits or tax credits in Wales were not living in Communities First programmes, how do you respond to the StatsWales workless households figures, which came out two months ago, that show that although the percentage of children living in workless households in Wales had slightly reduced, they had gone up in Wales’s most deprived communities, from Blaenau Gwent to Bridgend, from Denbighshire to Merthyr, and many more besides?”
The Secretary said: “that’s why we are looking at reviewing all of our programmes and interventions, to make sure that we tackle the people that need, in a way that we can deliver with our programmes that we are investing in. It doesn’t given me any pleasure to say that those numbers are stubborn. But there’s nothing wrong with any Government with ambition.”
Mr Isherwood responded: “I agree, because, sadly, as you know, Wales still has higher child poverty than Scotland, Northern Ireland and all but two of the nine English regions. At least we’ve pulled ahead of two of those regions - I think London and the East Midlands. But, last week, the Royal College of Paediatricians said that poverty was the biggest threat to children’s health in Wales.
“How do you respond to the statement from the Well North Wales programme, that the more deprived communities of North Wales have around a 25 per cent higher rate of emergency admission than the more affluent communities, and that there is, therefore, a requirement to tackle issues around deprivation and poverty at a local community level by meeting the principles of prudent health, particularly around co-production?”
The Secretary replied: “I think the Member’s right to raise the issue of prudent healthcare. Health Secretary, Mark Drakeford has been for a long time raising this in the Cabinet setting, and I share his views on this about prevention and early intervention. And that’s why we are tackling issues around adverse childhood experiences, wherever they exist in families and communities.”
ENDS