Ending child poverty in Wales

from News Wales

Gwynedd and Rhondda Cynon-Taff councils have been selected as the two Welsh councils to pilot pioneering work to tackle child poverty.

Keith Towler, Programme Director, Save the Children in Wales said:

"Action is needed by all levels of government in order to achieve the target of eradicating child poverty by 2020 and this is a positive step towards that all-important goal. By working together we can bring dramatic change to the lives of Wales' poorest and most vulnerable children."

The Save the Children and Welsh Local Government Association Child Poverty Project, piloted by both Gwynedd Council and County Borough Council, aims to place child poverty at the heart of local authority policy and decision making in an attempt to eradicate poverty and reduce the negative impacts that poverty can have on children and young people.

Iwan Trefor Jones, Gwynedd Council Lead Director for Children and Young People, said:

"Gwynedd Council aims to ensure that every child and young person in the county has access to the best opportunities in life. The Council will make the best use of this exciting opportunity to address some of the factors which contribute to child poverty such as unemployment amongst parents, lack of basic skills and limited job opportunities locally."

Councillor Richard Parry Hughes, Council Leader and Member for Children and Young People on Gwynedd Council, said:

"As a Council, we are very aware of the existence of poverty in some of our towns and large villages, and the negative impact it has on the lives of the people living in those areas.

"However, poverty is also something that affects many of our smaller, rural communities, but this isn't always captured and reflected in official statistics and data on poverty. We will work hard to ensure that we use this important pilot project to explore how we can tackle child poverty within rural areas as well as within our towns and larger villages."

During the 18-month project, the Council will be working with its partners to identify a range of positive actions to tackle child poverty at a local level. They will then share their experiences with other Welsh Councils, helping to meet targets set by the Welsh Assembly Government's strategy for eradicating child poverty in Wales by 2020.

Councillor Derek Vaughan, Leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, added:

"Over the next 18 months Gwynedd Council and Rhondda Cynon Taff Council, with the support of their key partners will identify a range of positive actions for tackling child poverty at a local level and putting child poverty issues at the heart of their planning and decision making to ensure that their services deliver better outcomes for vulnerable children.

"This project will also provide good practice examples to help other local authorities move forward in tackling this very important issue."