MONMOUTHSHIRE'S alarming rates of 'hidden poverty' have been highlighted in a newly published report by charity End Child Poverty.

The shocking statistics show that while the figures for Monmouthshire and Powys remain the lowest in Wales, some 11 per cent of children in Monmouthshire are living in poverty with numbers escalating to over one third in some wards.

Plaid Cymru submitted a Freedom of Information Act request asking for the the number of applications by social housing tenants for DHP, which also looked into the number of people affected by the bedroom tax across the county.

A reported 692 people have been affected by the changes in Monmouthshire, which is expected to have led to a high proportion of those people seeking help from their authorities, with more applications to be expected over the coming months.

Jocelyn Davies, Plaid Cymru's Shadow Minister for Housing said, "These figures reveal the true impact of the UK Coalition Government's policies on social housing tenants. They are hitting vulnerable people hard.

"It is clear that many people have turned to local authorities for top up help with their housing costs after seeing their benefit cut."

Out of the applications over the April-May period, 247 have been successful, with DHP cover for applications lasting up to 24 weeks.

Local councillors were this week left reeling by the figures published in the report with many unaware of the high incidence of child poverty in their wards.

Perhaps unsurprisingly Lansdown ward in Abergavenny - previously part of the north Abergavenny Communities First area - has been found to have the highest figures of expected child poverty, with a reported 36 per cent of children living under the level of acceptable income.

But perhaps more surprisingly, Llanfoist Fawr is not much lower with recorded poverty rates of 25 per cent, something which ward councillor Martin Hickman was extremely disconcerted to discover.

Councillor Hickman said, "If these statistics are correct then it is really quite alarming.

"It comes as quite a surprise to me, as child poverty has never been brought to my attention, nor do I think it was brought up to my predecessor.

"I don't want to judge a book by its cover, but it comes as quite a shock that the figures for Llanfoist are so high.

"I know there is some social housing in Llanfoist but I didn't expect the numbers to be high."

The figures are based on the rates of families on tax credits, unemployment figures, and those on incomes 70 per cent and below the acceptable median rate of living.

Commenting on the numbers, Enver Solomon, Chair of the End Child Poverty campaign said, "The huge disparities that exist across the country have become more entrenched and are now an enduring reality as many more children are set to become trapped in long term poverty and disadvantage.

"Far too many children whose parents are struggling to make a living are having to go hungry and miss out on the essentials of a decent childhood that all young people should be entitled to."

There have been concerns that as a seemingly affluent area, Monmouthshire is not getting the help it needs and many problem areas are going unnoticed.

Councillor Dimitri Batrouni, Leader of the authority's Labour group, said "Many Monmouthshire families are struggling in the current financial climate.

"It is clear Tory economic policies are making Monmouthshire residents' living standards drop and making Monmouthshire's hidden poverty even worse.

" Poverty in Monmouthshire often exists out of sight, but it is there."

End Child Poverty has called for changes across local authorities to take place, to put emphasis on struggling families in all areas.

Mr Solomon said, "Local authorities are having to deal with reduced budgets but they have critical decisions to make.

"We're calling on authorities to prioritise low income families in the decisions they make about local welfare spending, including spending on the new council tax benefit, and on protecting families hit by the bedroom tax."

Following the release of these statistics, many Monmouthshire councillors are looking into solutions to tackle these problems, especially where they were previously unseen.

Councillor Hickman said, 'We will definitely have to look into it, and if the figures are correct then we will have to organise groups together to see what we can do about it."

The revelations about child poverty come as a report comissioned for Plaid Cymru shows that applications in Monmouthshire for additional housing payments over the past two months are almost five times higher than the entire previous year.

Over the 2012-2013 year, 57 applications were made within Monmouthshire, for the Discretionary Housing Payments.

This is in stark contrast to the figures from April-May 2013, where 266 applications had been made following the announcement of the so-called 'bedroom tax'.