5. Will the First Minister outline the Welsh Government's current strategy to reduce the number of children in relative poverty? OQ61674

Our child poverty strategy, which was launched in January of this year, sets out our long-term ambitions to tackle child poverty and to mitigate the worst impacts of poverty here in Wales. It also notes how we will work across Government and with partners to maximise the impact of the levers available to us.

Thank you for that response.

You'll know that, over the past six years, we've seen a startling increase in the number of larger families who are living in relative poverty. Forty-three per cent of children in households of three or more are now at risk of relative poverty. That represents a staggering 100,000 children here in Wales. The two-child benefit cap is a key factor driving that crisis. This policy, widely criticised as being cruel and a violation of children's rights by numerous civil society organisations, including the Children's Commissioner for Wales, affects over 11 per cent of children—65,000 children. And in Brecon and Radnorshire, nearly 1,000 children are living in families affected by the two-child benefit cap.

This week the Child Poverty Action Group said that 10,000 children have fallen into poverty since Labour took office in Westminster. I'm calling on you, as the First Minister, to raise this once again with the Prime Minister, and perhaps you could do that on Friday in your meeting with him. But I'm also just reflecting on the fact that my party, when we were in Government in the coalition, made mistakes, and I'm very clear on record as saying that one of those was playing our role in austerity. First Minister, I'd like to call on you—we are all adults here and we should be able to acknowledge that people make mistakes. I'm calling on you to make a statement that it is a mistake to put—[Interruption.]

Allow the Member to finish her question, please. There are too many noises off today from all directions. I wasn't, actually, expecting that one just now, but I do want the Member to finish her question, please.

Thank you, just one more sentence.

Just one more sentence. I'm calling on the First Minister to say that she believes that the two-child benefit cap, and the failure of the Labour Government to scrap it, is a mistake. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Thanks very much. Well, I think there are lots of people within the Labour Party who are very uncomfortable about it; that's the truth of it, but there is the £22 billion black hole that is difficult to fill. What we've got to do in Wales is do what we can to support children living in poverty, and that's why things like the free-school-meal support are absolutely fundamental, so that at least they're getting a hot meal once a day, so there is some support there. Obviously, we have a huge number of other areas where we give support, in particular to those vulnerable families; we gave about £5 billion-worth between 2022 and 2025. That's not a small amount of money to give support to some of the most vulnerable people, so, where we can, we will provide that support, but the kinds of quantities of money that you would need are simply beyond the ability of the Welsh Government to support. 

First Minister, the Welsh Government's 'Child Poverty Strategy for Wales 2024' in part talks about how children living in poverty are at a higher risk of speech, language and communication needs, and that early intervention can improve outcomes long term. Evidence suggests that over 50 per cent of children in socially deprived areas may start school with impoverished speech, language and communication skills, and, sadly, this can hold them back in their learning.

The Welsh Government's programme, Talk With Me, which you will be well aware of, has been designed to improve awareness of how adult interaction, particularly in the early years, can improve speech, language and communication. An implementation plan was designed to record baseline current performance and then introduce a more robust data-collection mechanism to monitor progress. What evidence can the Welsh Government now provide that this programme has been successful in helping to improve speech, language and communication among children, and what funding have you identified is needed to continue to improve the programme? Thank you.

Thanks very much. I do think it's fundamental to make sure that we give that support, particularly to those vulnerable families, and that's why things like our Flying Start programmes and targeting those areas are so fundamental. I'm really pleased to see that we've been able to expand that programme, because that's where you can give that intensity of support that is so crucial in those early years. We all know that the first 1,000 days really, really matter in the formation of a child's development. 

You were talking specifically, though, about speech and language. Obviously, some of those can be called in to support those Flying Start areas. The Talk With Me programme has been successful. The issue is, actually, finding enough speech therapists to support that, and that's not straightforward because, actually, it takes quite a while to train each speech therapist. The demand is increasing constantly, and, obviously, the NHS is very keen to take advantage of those skills as well. So, there's more to do in that space, but we're very aware that there is a need. I'm pleased to say that Health Education and Improvement Wales has increased the number of speech and language therapists. 

You talk about the millions spent on supporting children in poverty, as if that's something to be proud about—it's not, it's something we should be ashamed of, that we have to do it. We have to provide that support because, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies termed it,

'the single most cost-effective policy for reducing the number of children living below the poverty line is removing the two-child limit.'

And that's not within our power. A year ago your present social justice Minister said:

'we continuously call'— talking about the Welsh Government—

'for an abolition of the benefit cap and two-child limit, because we believe that these are key drivers of poverty amongst larger families in Wales, in particular.'

That was only a year ago. So, what will you be calling on the UK Labour Government to do differently in this year's budget to help the Welsh Government tackle child poverty?

Thanks very much. I think the key thing when it comes to child poverty is to make sure that there are opportunities also for people to get jobs, and if people are working they are able to support their families. In order to do that, we need to make sure that the child support is where it should be, and I'm pleased to say that we've seen an expansion in that in this Senedd term. But the focus, I think, on growing the economy is absolutely key, because if we grow the economy you can use those taxes in order to support the kind of social justice agenda that you and I are so interested in.

Question 6, Janet Finch-Saunders.

You can ask your question, Janet.

Thank you.