Tackling Poverty Action Plan

We placed a duty on public bodies in Wales to develop Child PovertyStrategies. As a result the National Museum for Wales developed astrategy for supporting participation in cultural activities for children,young people and families in poverty 2012-2015.What we are doing nowAdvice and support servicesWe are providing Citizens Advice Cymru with £2.2m per annum forconsolidated benefit take-up and advice provision, to help peopleaccess the support to which they are entitled. This includes the BetterAdvice: Better Health, Council Tax and Housing Benefit take-up andBenefit take-up for Children with Disabilities schemes along withgeneric advice provision through Adviceline Cymru.We are taking action to mitigate the impact of UK Government Welfarereforms through consultation and continued close work with ourpartners on Welsh successor arrangements to Council Tax Benefit andthe discretionary Social Fund due to be devolved in April 2013.Through housing associations, many tenants in Wales are receivingsupport that specifically tackles poverty through helping them toincrease their incomes or reduce their debt levels. Nearly £800,000was spent on this in 2010-11 by registered social landlords.Support with the costs of livingThe Blue Badge Scheme enables disabled people to park close toservices without charge. In 2010-2011 nearly 230,000 badges were incirculation in Wales. We have recently set out our plan for modernisingthe Scheme, extending it to children under 3 with specific medicalconditions and seriously injured service personnel. The administrationof a Blue Badge will in future incur no cost to applicants in Wales (inEngland local authorities may charge up to £10, and in Scotland up to£20).We are maintaining our commitment to providing free bus travel tothose over 60, the disabled and their companions and extendedeligibility for the concessionary travel scheme to seriously injured warveterans and armed forces personnel living in Wales.We will measure the number of concessionary fare journeys (brokendown by disability / age), Bus user satisfaction ratings from the BusUsers Survey and the number of new blue badges issued at no cost.Over 23,000 families with a low income receive weekly vouchers forfruit, vegetables and milk.19