Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew has called on the communities minister to urgently bring forward the Anti-Poverty Strategy.

The chair of the communities committee was speaking following the release of a report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) looking at the previous plan to tackle poverty.

Colm Gildernew said:

“This report highlights the urgent need for the communities minister to bring forward a new plan to tackle poverty, and this should happen without delay.

“The British government’s austerity agenda has severely hampered our ability to tackle child poverty, with year-on-year funding uncertainty during the Tories’ 14 years.

“As previous communities minister, Deirdre Hargey supported those most in need by binning the shameful bedroom tax and ensuring families affected by the benefit cap were supported. Despite this, more must be done to tackle child poverty and to give every young person the best chance to flourish in life.

“The British government must ensure the Executive is fairly funded and the communities minister should also take on the recommendations in this report to effectively deal with child poverty.”