As a Welsh Liberal Democrat I am committed to ensuring that children in Wales have a fair start in life. However, the Labour and Plaid Cymru are falling down badly on this issue.
From failing to ensure adequate neo-natal services to burdening Welsh students with debt, throughout their childhood, children in Wales are continuously let down by the Welsh government.
Failures include:
· Overstretched and understaffed neo-natal services.
· One in three children living in poverty in Wales
· Annual funding per pupil in Welsh schools is over £500 lower than in England
· Failure to ensure that youth services are provided on a statutory basis.
· Cutting the Further Education budget
· Introduction of crippling student tuition fees.
From the moment you are born to the time when you chose to go on to further education or university, Labour and Plaid Cymru’s policies and are preventing children and young people from reaching their full potential.
Neonatal services that provide care for premature and sick babies are overstretched and understaffed, a child born in Wales has a one in three chance of living in poverty, each pupil in Wales is underfunded to the tune of £500 compared to their English counterparts, further education opportunities are dashed by the cuts in funding and Welsh students leaving university will have massive debts dragging them down.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats believe that education is the ladder out of poverty and believe that we need to make sure our education system gives everyone in Wales the chance to get on in life and fulfil their potential. That’s why we want to target money at schools with the most disadvantaged children and improve schools for everyone.
The Liberal Democrat policy of raising the income tax threshold to £10,000 will ensure that over 200,000 workers in Wales will pay no income tax and a further 800,000 will see £700 back in their pocket a year. Child poverty in Wales is a problem that needs to be addressed by action not consultation after consultation. Our tax policies will help thousands of families make ends meet and help reduce the number of children living in poverty.
We’ve balanced our books so that it’s easier for families to balance theirs at the end of the month.
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