NDM8990 - Opposition Debate
Tabled on 24/09/2025 | For debate on 01/10/2025To propose that the Senedd:
1. Condemns the stubborn levels of child poverty in Wales which currently stands at 32 per cent.
2. Regrets that Wales is predicted to have the highest child poverty rates across the UK by 2029.
3. Commends the Scottish Government for introducing the Scottish Child Payment, a policy projected to lift 60,000 children out of poverty in 2025–26 and to position Scotland as the only UK nation expected to see an overall reduction in child poverty rates by 2029.
4. Notes:
a) Plaid Cymru’s commitment to implement Cynnal, a child payment for Wales as a government priority; and
b) that Policy in Practice have identified that the most powerful and effective intervention designed to reduce poverty is a direct child payment.
5. Calls on the Welsh Government to:
a) implement a child payment; and
b) re-commit to eradicating child poverty with measurable statutory targets.
Tabled By
Amendments
Delete all after point 2 and replace with:
Further regrets that Welsh families pay the highest childcare costs in Great Britain, which contributes to child poverty.
Believes that taxpayer money is better spent on improving childcare in Wales and on improving the Welsh economy to lift more families out of poverty.
Calls on the Welsh Government to:
a) use consequential funding from the UK Government to ensure Welsh families receive the same amount of childcare support that families in England receive; and
b) re-commit to eradicating child poverty with measurable statutory targets.
Tabled By
Delete all after point 1 and replace with:
Believes that ending child poverty must be an absolute priority for all levels of government.
Supports the Welsh Government’s commitment to using all the devolved levers available to their full extent and taking a leadership role in coordinating wider action to end child poverty, as set out in the Child Poverty Strategy.
Notes that the Welsh Government:
a) has repeatedly called for an end to the two-child limit and welfare benefit cap;
b) does not currently have the powers to legislate for a child payment;
c) supported the Welsh Benefits Charter, adopted by all 22 local authorities in Wales, that provides real support for people to maximise their family income; and
d) will be publishing a progress report on the Child Poverty Strategy later this year.
