Oxfam Cymru response to new Cabinet responsibilities

Oxfam Cymru has grave concerns that ‘tackling poverty’ has slipped off the Welsh Government’s top agenda, following the publication of the Cabinet members’ specific responsibilities today.

It now appears the new cabinet has no position with overall responsibility for tackling poverty across Welsh Government or to deliver the existing Tackling Poverty Action Plan. This is a retrograde step given that the Welsh Government was the first to introduce a poverty minister across the UK. At this stage, it is unclear whether Cabinet members will continue to have responsibility within their own portfolios to contribute towards reducing poverty.

Only last year the Fourth Assembly’s Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee severely criticised the last Welsh Government for its “lack of progress in reducing poverty, particularly given its long-term commitment and investment in the issue”. This criticism was levelled at a government that, at the time, had a named Minister for Tackling Poverty.

Oxfam Cymru recognises that poverty levels are in part determined by factors outside the control of the new Welsh Government. Yet this should strengthen the need for strategic oversight and leadership. Scrapping the ministerial role is not the answer.

Poverty is going nowhere in Wales: nearly one in four families lives in poverty. Half of those households living below the poverty line already have one salary coming in. The increasing number of people turning to food banks is shameful.

If the Welsh Government is serious about the business of tackling poverty and economic inequality, it must now deliver detailed plans within the forthcoming Programme for Government that will include:

· A clear plan to increase rates of pay for lowest earners in Wales, looking at procurement and other levers to help establish Wales as a Living Wage Nation
· An intention to robustly measure and monitor food insecurity in Wales, ahead of production and implementation of a detailed plan to reduce food insecurity
· Embed a people-centred approach in all future poverty programmes and services
· Improve and enhance childcare provision
· Provide improved services for refugees and asylum seekers, who are among some of the most marginalised communities within Wales.

The First Minister, on announcing his Cabinet spoke of “Taking Wales Forward”; this is unlikely without strategic oversight and leadership for tackling the static, and stubbornly-high, levels of poverty in Wales.