I refer to the opinion piece entitled ‘A new anti-poverty strategy’ by Ivan Bartolo, the PN’s spokesperson on social accommodation (November 23).
Bartolo starts with the words “we are living in extraordinary times”. Indeed, it is extraordinary that the opposition spokesman claims that the government’s anti-poverty strategy “has not been implemented and its mission statement has not been followed through”. And he then has the temerity to state that we should be truthful. Bartolo is sadly out of date.
In November 2017, my ministry published an implementation and evaluation report 2014-2016 evaluating the national strategic policy for poverty reduction and social inclusion 2014-2024. This provided information on the policy actions addressed in the first three years of the strategy and the impact of these on poverty. A second similar report shall be published in December.
Contrary to the false claim that the strategy has not been followed through, we have drastically cut down on benefit dependency and continued to push down the number of persons facing material deprivation. The rate of material deprivation plunged from 19.9 per cent in 2013 to 8.4 per cent in 2019, representing a drop of 41,000 persons. Over the same period, the severe material deprivation rate fell by 6.5 per cent, from 42,000 to 18,000. The rate of at-risk of poverty or social exclusion also went down from 24.6 per cent to 20.1 per cent since 2013.
One or two small blips in the rates mentioned by Bartolo do not make a trend. The trend is downwards. The truth is that our 94 strategic actions and 23 policy objectives have already contributed towards the lifting of thousands of people out of poverty or social exclusion in three years.
In the first three years since the launch of this strategic policy, the government implemented 276 measures and initiatives. Through these measures and initiatives, we continued to enhance our social protection system, introduced activation measures, created more employment opportunities and facilitated job mobility, addressed social, educational and cultural inequalities, ensured equal access to quality healthcare, promoted an environmental health friendly approach, enhanced social services at community level and developed evidence-based policies and practices to address emerging needs and challenges.
We have continued to push down the number of persons facing material deprivation
The report details the progress achieved over the years and Bartolo would do well to read it rather than making untruthful claims. There is a wealth of statistics to demonstrate the government’s achievements and the actual actions taken are amply explained in the report and its annexes. It is impossible to quote all the statistics in such a short article but readers can satisfy themselves about the truth by accessing the document. I also invite Bartolo to read the upcoming publication of the second updated report covering 2017-2019.
Bartolo says that both rent and the cost of living have increased, without saying over what reference period. The truth is, though, that Malta has had one of the lowest inflation rates in the EU.
Our inflation during the period 2013-2019 has averaged 1.1 per cent per annum versus 2.3 per cent per annum during the last five years of PN government.
He further claims that the COLA adjustment has not been enough to compensate for the increase. Not really. During the period 2008-2012, the annual average COLA was €197.82 compared to €126.95 between 2013-2019. Pro-rating the COLA according to the inflation mentioned before, the COLA between 2013-2019 should have been €94.61. So, this government has awarded COLA increases of 34 per cent higher than required by the mechanism.
I could go on and on. Let me just say that this government is well aware that there remain pockets of poverty and social exclusion that need to be addressed and we will continue to do so. The prime minister has made it clear over the last few months that this government’s policy is to deliver a better quality of life to all.
As for the introduction of a living wage, we have followed closely, and indeed adopted, the Caritas basket for our continuous analysis of the policy adjustments required. The hundreds of measures enacted since 2013 are testament to this. The government has also requested a technical report on the matter, which will eventually be discussed within the MCESD, and this in line with its 2017 manifesto pledge.
Clearly, it is not the case, as Bartolo is implying, that the MCESD would eventually have to be requested by a PN government to look into this. This government is already doing so, however, the opposition spokesman seems to be totally unaware of it.
The readers of this newspaper are now in a better position to judge who is putting the money where its mouth is and who is out of touch with reality.
Michael Falzon is Minister for Solidarity and the Family