Jeff Cuthbert AM has backed funding for a scheme that gives access to books for babies and children.
Labour’s Deputy Children’s Minister, Huw Lewis, has unveiled plans to protect funding for “Bookstart” as well as three other programmes, Language and Play, Family Support and Letterbox, receiving a total of £3.6m.
Bookstart involves giving bilingual book packs to children at nine-months and two-years-old to give them an early introduction to literacy.
The announcement comes as the Labour-led Welsh Government launched its new Child Poverty Strategy.
The strategy’s objectives are to reduce the number of families living in workless households, improve the skills of parents and young people living in low income households and reduce inequalities that exist in health and education.
Huw Lewis said: “Tackling child poverty in Caerphilly remains a top priority for Welsh Labour. The new Child Poverty Strategy reaffirms our commitment to do everything we can to eradicate it by 2020.”
Jeff said: “We will continue to prioritise the needs of the vulnerable and the poorest, especially in the current financial climate. We must make sure that those blighted by poverty have the same opportunities and life chances as the more affluent.
“Bookstart, in particular, is an excellent scheme as it encourages young children to read early on in their lives and sets them on the right path to literacy – a skill needed in all our daily lives.”
