Ministers welcome progress towards key tackling poverty targets

Tackling Poverty Minister, Lesley Griffiths and Education Minister, Huw Lewis, have jointly welcomed the publication of two new reports which show the Welsh Government is making good progress towards key tackling poverty targets.

The Tackling Poverty Action Plan and Rewriting the Future annual reports show the Welsh Government has reached its target of reducing the attainment gap at the end of the Foundation Phase between pupils eligible for free school meals and those who are not by 10%, three years ahead of schedule.

The reports also reveal good progress on reducing the number of young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) in Wales. The proportion of young people aged 16 to 18 who were considered NEET at end 2013 was 10%, just one percentage point off the target for 2017.

Wales is maintaining an employment rate well above its historical average. The percentage of workless households in Wales fell from 23% in 2009 to 19.3% in 2013. While the same period also saw the percentage of children living in workless households fall from 20% to 16.5%.

This progress is reflected in the Tackling Poverty Annual report, which shows the Lift Programme is progressing well. As of the end of May 2015, Lift had provided 1,821 training and employment opportunities to people from workless households, with 314 people helped to secure employment.

The reports also show the Welsh Government is on track to meet its ambitious housing targets of creating 10,000 additional affordable homes and bringing 5000 empty houses back into use by 2016.

Between April 2011 and March 2014, 6,890 new affordable homes have been delivered across Wales, while 4,471 empty buildings have been brought back into use, which is only 529 short of the target, with two years to go.

Lesley Griffiths said:

“I welcome the reports which demonstrate our cross-Government approach to tackling poverty is achieving results. We face significant challenges in reducing poverty in Wales, however, as the reports show, we are making excellent progress in key areas such as housing, educational attainment and employment.

“We will continue to build on the successes highlighted in the report and will take action to improve the lives of people living in low income households across Wales.”

Huw Lewis added:

“One of my key priorities for education is breaking the link that exists between poverty and low attainment. These reports show that we are making significant progress towards realising this aim.

“Today’s reports are encouraging. They show pupils eligible for free school meals are performing at historically high levels and the attainment gap between FSM eligible pupils and their counterparts is closing. The reduction in the number of NEET young people is also hugely welcome.

“The challenge now is to build on this progress. We must ensure more young people continue to engage in education, training, or employment to help them fulfil their potential. This will only have a positive, long term impact on the lives of not just today’s young people, but generations to come.”