Child Poverty

This week's Assembly session is again a re-run of last week in that it is being dominated by an attempt by some to score points in light of the local elections on Thursday. How much baring this will have on the actual outcome of the election is any one's guess, but its happening nevertheless.

I raised questions today on child poverty in relation to public service delivery, and the recommendation in the recently released report by Save the Children and the Bevan Foundation about the importance of Local Authorities working together in delivering the child poverty agenda effectively. I also raised concerns during business questions about the fact that the Westminster Government has yet again stalled the announcement of data on housing below the average income to June this year, as it may well suggest that the interim child poverty targets are far from reachable in the current climate.

I had a meeting with Brian Gibbons AM today, also on the child poverty strategy. It is useful for me to have such meetings as the spokesperson on this particular issue so that I can keep up to date with Government actions, and any representations that may be made to Westminster colleagues. I am deeply concerned that the DWP are looking to privatise service provision with regard to benefit take up and I will be keeping an eye on developments in this field. It just seems ironic that while the Government in Wales wants to decentralise service provision and support public sector positions, the Westminster Government are taking a very different approach altogether - purely for the sake of financial savings.