Child Poverty

Inquiry5

The Welsh Government opened a consultation on its draft child poverty strategy, focusing on five draft objectives which aimed to:

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>>> reduce costs and maximise the incomes of families;

>>> create pathways out of poverty so that children and young people and their families have opportunities to realise their potential;

>>> support child and family wellbeing and make sure that work across Welsh Government delivers for children living in poverty, including those with protected characteristics, so that they can enjoy their rights and have better outcomes;

>>> ensure children, young people and their families are treated with dignity and respect by the people and services who interact with and support them and to challenge the stigma of poverty; and

>>> ensure that effective cross-government working at the national level enables strong collaboration at the regional and local level.

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The Equality and Social Justice Committee held a focused inquiry to consider the draft strategy in greater detail, with a view to influencing the content of the final strategy, which was due to be published by the end of 2023.

Terms of reference

The terms of reference for the inquiry were to consider:

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>>> the extent to which the draft strategy will support the Welsh Government and its partner organisations to maximise their contribution to reducing child poverty within the boundaries of the devolution settlement;

>>> what best practice in tackling child poverty exists within and beyond Wales, and why do these interventions work. To what extent does the approach outlined in the strategy align with this;

>>> what barriers exist to implementing solutions that successfully address child poverty in Wales, and how can these be overcome;

>>> which indicators should be used to measure progress in addressing child poverty and what specific and measurable targets should be set to assess this;

>>> how effective will the strategy be in addressing child poverty within specific groups of the population; and

>>> to what extent are children’s rights clearly addressed in the strategy and impact assessment.

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Committee Members agreed that in accordance with Standing Order 17.49 and given the intersectionality in remit, an invitation to participate in the inquiry would be extended to Members of the Children, Young People and Education Committee.

The Committee laid its report entitled “Calling time on child poverty: how Wales can do better “on 6 November 2023.

The Welsh Government provided a response on 22 December 2023.

The report and the Welsh Government response was debated in Plenary on 10 January 2024.