Oxfam Cymru reaction to Welsh Government Cabinet announcement: 

Oxfam Cymru has read with interest the First Minister’s announcement on his newly appointed Cabinet, and we have been struck by the absence of a ministerial position with direct responsibility for tackling poverty.  Nearly one in four families live in poverty in Wales – struggling to put food on the table and to adequately heat their homes – and tackling this should be high on the agenda, not completely absent. 

In our Blueprint for Change we called for a practical solution, and sought the appointment of a deputy minister within the Finance Department, with sole responsibility for assessing work to tackle poverty, reduce economic inequality and raise living standards of low budget households. This recommendation is all the more pertinent given that the Tata Steel crisis has yet to be resolved, which could lead to thousands more families living below the poverty line. Economic prosperity is unlikely unless we tackle poverty simultaneously.

We understand full details of each portfolio are to follow. We eagerly await these details, together with the Welsh Government’s forthcoming Programme for Government, which should outline their plans to slash the stagnant poverty levels that have trapped Welsh families for a decade.

The new Welsh Government, in their election manifesto, promised to be “there for you and your family at the moments that matter”. Now is the time to deliver on that promise, and to deliver it for all families in Wales.