Charity urges politicians to ‘use their powers’ with six steps to tackle poverty

Kyle Bright

A charity has said that Welsh politicians must be “laser focused” on using the Senedd’s powers to address poverty, setting out six steps to help the third of Welsh children who face poverty.

The call to action by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) comes ahead of May’s Senedd election, with the aim of a future government taking these six specific measures to reverse the trend of deepening poverty across the country.

While the charity acknowledges that the UK Government control the rules surrounding workers’ rights, it calls on the Senedd to attempt to knock down barriers that people face when trying to access work.

It puts forward a number of measures, including affordable public transport, as well as a coordinated approach between the NHS and local government to help parents find jobs that adapt to their individual needs.

Chris Birt, the JRF’s Associate Director for Wales, claimed that higher rates of poverty were creating a more “turbulent” political climate in Wales.

“During the period since devolution Wales has sustained some of the highest rates of poverty in the UK. Is it any wonder that we are seeing turbulent politics in Wales?”, Birt says.

He continued: “This May’s election is a moment where a newly expanded Senedd could meet the considerable needs of people struggling to get by in Wales today.

“With substantial powers over housing, local government, education, transport, health and social care as well as economic development there are significant additional steps the Welsh Government can take to improve people’s lives.

“While there have been some positive steps taken, they have not met the severity of need in Wales, nor had the boldness required.

Free school meals

While meals in Welsh schools are free for all primary school students, it is not currently the case in secondary schools.

Families must have very low incomes for secondary school pupils to qualify for free school meals, leaving many families without support.

To solve this, the JRF argue that the next Welsh government should expand eligibility to all pupils whose families receive Universal Credit, bringing Wales in line with England.

Free school meals for all primary school students were fully implemented by 2024 as a result of the cooperation agreement between Labour and Plaid Cymru.

Expanding childcare

The charity highlights the need for a more generous childcare offer in Wales. The JRF says that expanding the offer benefits children, but importantly knocks down barriers to work and reduces costs for families.

It added that the removal of work requirements for people to receive funded childcare is vital, otherwise such requirements can cement inequalities even further.

A child payment for Wales

Following the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment, the JRF advise that Wales should explore its own equivalent scheme.

Brought in during 2021, all children under 16 whose families receive Universal Credit are eligible for the scheme, which benefits each child by around £1,400 every year.

The scheme has helped Scotland reduce rates of relative poverty by 17%, making it the only UK nation to buck the trend of rising, or stagnating, levels of poverty.

Tailoring support to different family types

The JRF adds that the Welsh Government should tailor support to different family types to reflect that children in families with the youngest children face poverty the most.

4 in 10 children in families with a child under five in poverty, compared to just under a quarter of those with a child aged 11-19.

While childcare can form some of this support, the JRF suggests that the Welsh Government look into other methods of support, such as Baby Grants.

These could be provided through the Discretionary Assistance Fund, which offers cash to people who are struggling financially that does not have to be repaid.

Support families who cannot receive benefits

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlight how the ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ (NRPF) visa condition only fosters destitution.

The condition is usually applied to a person’s immigration status, meaning that an individual cannot receive benefits or housing.

The charity calls for the Senedd and local councils to extend support to these families, such as through free school meals.

It also pushes for barriers in the application process for support to be removed, namely through the training of staff to allow them to identify and support families with the NRPF condition.

Better access to work for parents

The charity has said that, while the regulation of employment rights is reserved to the UK Government, the Welsh Government has the power to knock down many of the barriers that people face to accessing work.

Whether that’s providing childcare or providing affordable and accessible public transport. A coordinated approach is required alongside local government and NHS services to facilitate parents accessing work that adapts to their individual needs and reverses the increasing trend of in-work poverty seen in Wales, and across the UK.

‘Step up’

The associate director went on to call for the Welsh Government to “step up to the challenge” of reducing poverty, saying that the blame cannot solely be put on UK Government in Westminster.

He added: “In common with the devolved administrations in Belfast and Edinburgh, to blame Westminster for all the struggles that people face is to diminish the potential of the Welsh Government and Senedd to make change in the lives of people in Wales.

“Of course, the UK Government still have a crucial role to play in raising people in Wales’s standard of living – but the next Welsh Government will have to step up to the challenge too.

“Ultimately the next Senedd needs to bring a laser focus and prioritisation to reducing poverty if it wants to improve the lives of the people its members will be elected to represent.”