Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for North Wales, Eleanor Burnham, has criticized the Deputy Minister for Children’s response to the latest Annual Report of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales.
Ms Burnham, Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Children and Young People in the Assembly, said:
“Child poverty targets are being missed, Wales has the highest percentage of children in severe poverty of all the UK nations, and progress in addressing these and other children’s issues is far too slow.
Time and again the same issues crop up in the Commissioner’s reports. Year after year we are told that school toilets are below standard, yet next to nothing has been done to put that right. Despite a variety of reports since 2004, the Government decided its best course of action was to carry out a consultation on best practice guidance in relation to school toilets. That consultation began in November last year and ended on 24th January, 2011.
“Seven years have passed by and many children will have spent the whole of their secondary education without seats or doors on their school toilets. It is appalling.
“The Deputy Minister could not even promise us today that the results of the latest review will lead to the implementation of any improvements. Instead, he chose to blame local authorities and the UK Government.
“The Deputy Minister knows the figures: 90,000 children in Wales now live in severe poverty and live without basic necessities on an everyday basis. 32% of children in Wales live in some sort of poverty.
“Quite frankly, the Labour-Plaid Government’s lack of any sincere desire to accept responsibility and get to grips with the Children’s Commissioner’s recommendations is shameful.”
