Council cuts may leave children in Wales poorer - charity

Children could slide deeper into poverty if Wales' councils suffer more cuts, a charity has warned.

Councils expect a combined shortfall of £394.8m over the next two years, leaving services at risk.

One youth club said securing long-term funding would be a challenge and feared the effects on the young.

As data showed 34% of Wales' children are impoverished, the Welsh government said ending poverty was an "absolute priority".

In comments to BBC Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford blamed UK government funding.

Councillor Dawn Lynne Jones volunteers at Porthi Dre, a scheme in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, attended by 20-40 youngsters.

"I know from speaking to the police that the anti-social numbers here have declined on Wednesdays," she said.

"We don't get as many complaints from people around the town and the children have got somewhere safe to come."

Millie, who goes most weeks, said: "I like to be here because it's just a nice place. It's warm and better than sitting in bus stops all the time."

The scheme is funded by sponsors including North Wales Police and Gwynedd and Caernarfon councils.

According to the Bevan Foundation, 21% of children in Gwynedd's Arfon constituency are impoverished.

That is lower than the national average, but a foundation report said: "The headline data does not capture the impact of poverty fully."

As town hall budgets face being squeezed, Caernarfon ward councillor Dewi Jones said he wanted young people to be protected.

"The things we will face in the next round of cuts will significantly impact people and cause a lot of damage," he said.

"It won't just be fewer bin collections or cutting of the grass - it will be cutting important, integral services."

Less funding could hit projects like Porthi Dre.

The Children in Wales charity described future cuts as "deeply concerning".

"There will be a direct negative impact," charity head Hugh Russell said.

"People tell us about an inability to access basic services, transport being too expensive, young people missing out on access to health services and education.

"They tell us they feel they have nowhere to go, nowhere to be without youth services so these are really concerning signs."

Bangor University social policy lecturer Dr Hefin Gwilym said: "Youth services have been worst affected, they've been cut by around 50% in Wales since 2010 as part of the austerity measures.

"So if further cuts are made to a service that has no way for more cuts, it's going to have a huge impact on those children and their opportunities."

First Minister Mark Drakeford blamed the UK government over warnings young people will slide further into poverty if councils have to cut services.

Westminster provides much of the funding to the Welsh government in Cardiff.

He told BBC Wales: "We are in the 13th year of a period of austerity where support for public services goes down year after year.

"Many public authorities survived through those difficult times because interest rates were so low and inflation was very low as well.

"So although your money was going down, at least the value of it was being sustained. Now we've been in a period where not only budgets are going down, but the value of those budgets is being eroded over time."

A UK government spokesperson said: "The Welsh government funds Welsh councils and is currently receiving the largest funding settlement from the UK government in the history of devolution. We are providing a record £18bn per year settlement, which is still increasing in real terms over the 2021 Spending Review period."

Earlier, the Welsh government said it was providing £13m this year to support youth work, which it said was more than three times the equivalent in 2018.

"Addressing child poverty is an absolute priority, however the major levers for tackling poverty such as welfare benefits and many fiscal powers sit in Westminster," it said.