Speeches by German.

“I thank the right hon. Member for his intervention, but to be frank, I do not recognise any of it. The Tories sat on their hands and allowed low-paid work to grow, access to work to dwindle, welfare dependency to deepen and daily living costs to soar.”

“Tackling the causes of child poverty is the reason I came into this place. As a teacher and then cabinet member for education, I know only too well about the child poverty that has grown for over a decade—I could see it happening before my eyes. In Wales, much has already been put in place to mitigate the impact, inclu…”

“Some of our local authorities are ahead of the game, which is great news for Wales, because we can pick up and run with that as the initiative develops.”

“Those trailblazers are being developed in partnership with the Welsh Government, so is that one of the examples of how that local area focus can help?”

“Welcome, Secretary of State. In March, the UK Government published the “Pathways to Work” Green Paper. In that Green Paper, they note that the spending on health and disability benefits for working-age adults has increased by £20 billion in the UK as a whole since the pandemic and is expected to reach over £70 billion …”

“The hon. Member speaks with passion about coastal communities, and I share that passion because I also represent a coastal community. I am pleased that some of the barriers he has highlighted are in fact being addressed in my coastal community through the work there that has now been chosen as a trailblazer. Transport …”

“Just to clarify, this is about what was allocated by the previous Government. I take your point all day long about EU structural funds, but I am asking about the point we were at with the shared prosperity fund.”

“I would not disagree, but my question is about what would have been in place had we carried on with the previous Government.”

“The spending review announced that there would to be a replacement for the shared prosperity fund and that the money that Wales would have received would be safeguarded in the round, which was good news, but it is safe to say that we are looking at a different way of doing things. What is the best way to use structural…”

“But how would the fund as it stands be best used in Wales? Where should we be going with criteria and needs-based calculations?”

“Thank you, that is valuable input.”

“So there are things that both Governments can do towards that, particularly on housing and childcare. There is work to do on one side of the border and then the broader work, such as on the benefits system, would come from the UK.”

“I suppose my greatest wish is for us to do something about the drivers, rather than mitigating the impact, which is what we have focused on so far. I think that joint working is crucial, because devolution means that some of the levers will be with the Welsh Government, and some with the UK Government. I hope that is w…”

“I am a member of the Bevan Foundation.”

“Very quickly—David touched on this before—the funding that has been announced, as far as I understand, is not the end of the package. We know it is a downpayment on what we want to achieve initially in Wales, but we will obviously be pushing for more coming down the track, if you will excuse the pun. I want to ask abou…”

“Guto and Steffan, I am not sure if you have anything to add. You looked a bit put upon with that question. I suppose the broader point, as David said, is that we do not just exist within Wales. Particularly in my patch, it is absolutely crucial that we invest in both sides. I just wanted thoughts, but thank you for you…”

“The UK Government are due to publish their child poverty strategy in the autumn. It is a UK-wide strategy, which will obviously need to consider the needs for Wales as well, so I am wondering from the Welsh perspective. I am familiar with the drivers of poverty that you mentioned, Steffan, and that despite good efforts…”

“It is safe to say that the topic of today’s debate has been my overriding focus in recent months. I thank my constituents and all organisations for their input, as well as the Secretary of State and the wider DWP team for listening to concerns, and indeed for acting on them with recent amendments. The Bill will raise t…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) for bringing this important debate to Westminster Hall. Every young person deserves the opportunity to thrive, explore their talents, pursue their ambitions and succeed on their own terms. Too often,…”

“It is a pleasure, Ms Jardine, to serve under your chairship. From discussions I have had in Clwyd North, it is clear that our systems need urgent reform. I have heard too many stories from PIP claimants of unacceptable obfuscation and delay that have led to both mental anguish and financial hardship. That has to stop. …”