Huw Lewis AM

Huw Lewis was first elected to the Assembly in May 1999.  Huw was Assistant General Secretary of the Welsh Labour Party prior to his election.  Born in Merthyr Tydfil in 1964, he was educated at Edinburgh University.  A former chemistry teacher, his interests include education and the challenges facing the South Wales valleys.

Huw was appointed Deputy Minister for the Economy and Transport with special responsibility for Regeneration before losing his post in the coalition reshuffle. He has reviewed the Welsh Government’s flagship anti-poverty programme, Communities First and wrote the Welsh Government’s Action Plan to eliminate child poverty.  In December 2009 he was appointed Deputy Minister for Children.  Following re-election to the National Assembly for Wales in May 2011, Huw Lewis was appointed Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage and in March 2013 was appointed Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty.

The Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty is responsible for:

• Cross-cutting responsibility for Sustainable Development;
• Welfare Reform;
• Equality and equal opportunities (to include: gender issues, equal pay, race relations and equality, disability (including sensory deprivation), sexual orientation and the mainstreaming of equality, Digital Inclusion (including Communities 2.0), British Sign Language, Braille and all minority ethnic languages in Wales).
• Non devolved issues relating to asylum, immigration, migrant workers and community cohesion, except counter terrorism measures;  
• Co-ordination of issues relating to gypsies and travellers, except where they relate specifically to other portfolios e.g. education policy;  
• the Voluntary Sector and Volunteering;
• Communities First (including the Communities Facilities and Activities Programme);  
• Cross cutting responsibility for Anti-Poverty initiatives, including the Tackling Poverty Action Plan;
• Financial inclusion, including credit unions;
• Children’s Commissioner for Wales;
• Children’s Advocacy;
• Family Support Policy;  
• Play policy;
• Child Poverty, including co-ordination of cross-government matters relating to Child Poverty;
• Families First;
• Childcare;
• Flying Start Initiative for children 0-3;
• Disabled Children Matter Wales campaign;  
• Children’s and young people’s Rights and Entitlements;
• UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; and
• Lead responsibility for monitoring Post Office and Royal Mail matters in Wales.

Writing to Ministers

Contact Huw Lewis by email at: correspondence.huw.lewis@wales.gsi.gov.uk

We aim to provide a response to correspondence to Ministers, including electronic mail within 17 working days.  Ministers will respond to matters that fall within their portfolio. Please follow the link ‘Writing to Ministers’ on the left hand side to direct your correspondence to the right Minister.