Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 1:58 pm on 30 June 2021.
Delyth Jewell
Plaid Cymru
1:58,
30 June 2021
Thank you, Minister. Wales now has the highest rate of child poverty of any UK nation, with one in three children living in poverty. I worry that we've become so used to hearing that figure that it's lost its potency, so just to remind the Chamber that what that figure—that one in three children figure—means is that thousands of children in Wales are going to bed hungry. They're going into school, into classes, with their bellies empty, but they're also having to deal with the worry and the anxiety knowing that their parents are stressed. They may feel that they have to hide their situation from their friends, so they've got no-one to talk to. What I'm getting at, Minister, is that the impact of child poverty isn't just physical: it's not just about malnutrition or not keeping warm or comfortable, as damaging as those things are; it's also about the emotional strain, the bullying that can happen and the toll that poverty can take on young people's well-being and mental health. What will your Government do to address this hidden issue?
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.