LABOUR ‘BUILDING IN’ INEQUALITY IN HOUSING

Plaid Cymru have accused Labour of ‘building in’ inequality through their failure to support families through the housing crisis faced by Wales.

Statistics show that almost one third of people living in permanent accommodation in Wales are children, meaning that inequality is ‘built in for future generations’.

Sian Gwenllian, Plaid Cymru’s housing spokesperson, have accused Labour of ‘actively worsening the situation’ for people in Wales looking for housing by pushing ‘more and more’ people into poverty.

This comes after the Labour UK Government have decided to continue to freeze Local Housing Allowances, while rent prices in Wales are rising at a higher rate than the rest of the UK.

The Plaid Cymru MS continued by stating Plaid Cymru’s commitment towards creating a fair housing system that works for the people of Wales.

Plaid Cymru’s housing spokesperson, Sian Gwenllian MS, said:

“Wales is facing a housing crisis which is deepening every single day, and Labour don't know how to deal with it.

"Waiting lists for social homes are 170,000 people long, 13,000 have applied for homelessness support, and 10,000 people including 3,000 children are stuck in temporary accommodation.

"When a third of people in temporary accommodation are children, inequality is literally being built in for future generations.

"Rents are rising faster in Wales than anywhere else in the UK, but the Labour UK Government have chosen to continue the freeze on support for housing costs - meaning more and more people are pushed into poverty.

"Labour are not only unable to support people in this housing crisis, but they’re also actively worsening the situation for those who desperately need support.

"Plaid Cymru is serious about creating a fair housing system that works for the people of Wales, that supports individuals and families to live in warm, safe and permanent housing."

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LEARNING FROM SMALL NATIONS

Plaid Cymru Shadow Education Minister and Senedd Election candidate for Arfon, Siân Gwenllian, has set out how a Plaid Cymru government would work towards providing free school meals for children in Wales, helping to close the attainment gap and tackle child poverty.

Figures from the Child Poverty Action Group show that around 70,000 children in Wales living below the UK poverty line are currently not eligible for free school meals.

 

Siân Gwenllian said that the policy would focus on supporting Welsh farmers and businesses through boosting local procurement, and that the rollout should begin by extending free school meals eligibility to primary children from households in receipt of Universal Credit. Every child in primary school would receive free school meals before the end of a Plaid Cymru first term in government.

 

Siân Gwenllian said:

 

“The attainment gap poses a real challenge in Wales. A Plaid Cymru government would start the important work of closing this gap expanding free school meals provision, starting with extending eligibility to all primary children from households in receipt of Universal Credit.

 

“By the end of the first term of a Plaid government, we would extend the eligibility even more by offering free school meals to all primary pupils, going further than any Labour government ever has.

 

“With almost one in three children in Wales living in poverty and the last Labour Government having scrapped their target of eradicating child poverty by 2020, a Plaid Cymru government would focus on addressing this failure. 

 

“Wales can learn from other small nations such as Finland and Sweden who place an emphasis on Free School Meals as an investment in effective learning and children’s early development. 

 

“Plaid Cymru’s free school meals plan would also benefit wider society, placing a focus on supporting Welsh farmers and businesses through boosting local procurement, and promoting the benefits of nutritious, home-grown produce in terms of health, the economy and the environment.”

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LEARNING LESSONS?

“A year of education disruption – surely government has learnt some lessons by now?”

 

Siân Gwenllian MS calls for additional measures to keep our schools safe – and open

 

More can be done to help protect school staff and pupils, according to Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Minister for Education, Siân Gwenllian MS.

 

Ms Gwenllian says that the Welsh Government’s current approach – with community lockdown as the lever they seem able to pull – is limited in its approach, and more could be done to stop educational premises having to close. These measures include:

 

·       Vaccination: Within each vaccination priority group, move school staff and other key workers, including those that drive school transport, to the top of the list. Children are not currently on the list of those due to receive a vaccine, so school workers could face higher exposure to the virus.

·       Testing: Early identification through school-wide testing is key, particularly when children can often be asymptomatic and yet still transmit the virus.

·       Ventilation: Aerosols containing coronavirus can aggregate in the air in closed indoor spaces such as classrooms. Plaid Cymru is calling for dedicated funding to help educational settings monitor and ventilate their premises adequately. Learners and school staff shouldn’t be prevented from wearing appropriate warm clothing in addition to any uniform. If children are fully prepared for cooler temperatures, then outdoor learning also becomes a possibility.

·       Social distancing in classrooms: When community transmission is high, schools should be given all options to enable socially distanced face to face learning. Including a rota system where a proportion of the class is on-site and the rest off-site. For this to be truly effective, all learners need adequate access to remote learning. While Wales remains in lockdown, and there are unused public buildings, schools should be given the option of using these, if they provide bigger indoor spaces.

 

Ms Gwenllian has renewed calls for a clear catch up education plan, including better monitoring and measurement of digital poverty in Welsh learners.

 

Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Minister for Education, Siân Gwenllian MS said,

 

“It’s been a year of disrupted education but surely the Labour Welsh Government has learnt some lessons about how to open schools safely in the meantime?

 

“The only lever government seems to be able to pull is lockdown. When community transmission is high, they lock us down, and schools inevitably close again. Only when infection rates have dropped in the community, do schools re-open. This approach, while simple, is far too limited.

 

“Parents, learners and staff need reassurance that the school environment is safe, and there are certainly things that can be done to give them confidence, such as more extensive use of ventilation, school workers moved to the top of their vaccine priority group, and schools must be given all options to enable adequate social distancing in classrooms.

 

“With a year of hindsight, it pains me to think how much more face to face education our children and young-people could have had, if Welsh Government had used all the tools in their gift earlier.”

 

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