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Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
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Child Poverty in Wales needs action now - Black
December 19, 2007 12:00 AM
Welsh Liberal Democrat Social Justice Spokesperson, Peter Black, has expressed his concern at yet more reports, which suggest that Labour will miss their self-imposed target of halving UK child poverty by 2010.
The Treasury Select Committee of MPs has previously questioned whether this target will be met, and now the Joseph Rowntree Foundation annual report has found that the level of childhood poverty in the UK is the same in 2005/06 as it was in 2002/03.
Mr. Black said:
"These figures have stark implications. At present, there are 170,000 children living in poverty in Wales. The bald statistic does not even begin to describe the effect upon children's lives: poor health, educational underachievement, and a growing division between rich and poor in our communities are the real cost we all pay for child poverty. The Labour/Plaid Cymru Government needs to take action now.
"Experts in the field, such as the Child Poverty Action Group, recommend that Government expands childcare provision, thus allowing parents and carers to get a job more easily. They also want to simplify the benefit system so that people can understand it, and work out what they are entitled to get more easily. There needs to be a legal requirement for public bodies, including the NHS and local councils to make a commitment to tackling child poverty."
"My main concern is that the recent budget will cause us to go backwards in this objective. Local Councils deliver a number of services that can assist people in getting themselves out of poverty. Below-inflation revenue support grant increases from the Assembly Government could bring about cuts to those services and a consequent increase in child poverty."
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