Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. I mentioned that we've provided over £71 million to flood risk management activities in the current financial year and, of course, many of those flood defences address the issues that you've referred to. This is on top of similar funding year on year over the past decade. We have to face facts: with our summers getting warmer and our winters getting wetter, we are going to see...
Lesley Griffiths: Despite the fund operating in a plainly devolved area, the Welsh Government has been denied any role in its development or implementation in Wales. The levelling-up fund, like the shared prosperity fund, has been beset by delays, underfunding and chaotic arrangements that are costing Wales jobs and growth.
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. Ministers have had ongoing discussions around the levelling-up fund, but I'm afraid it's fallen on deaf ears. We've absolutely, consistently argued for funding to be needs based rather then allocated on a competitive basis. As you know, local authorities have had to bid. Unfortunately, the UK Government has taken an approach that saw just 11 out of 43 Welsh bids approved in the...
Lesley Griffiths: The Member clearly didn't hear what I said. Levelling-up in Wales means a £1.1 billion loss in unreplaced EU funds—a Welsh budget cut in real terms. It's also an assault on the devolution settlement, which might have passed him by. I think having deeply flawed UK Government programmes foisted on us is not something to celebrate at all. They'll have a very limited impact. They'll probably...
Lesley Griffiths: The Welsh Government's current £380 million package of support includes the Warm Homes programme, which improves the energy efficiency of lower-income households. Eligible low-income households are also benefiting from our £200 fuel support scheme. Our 'Claim what's yours' campaign helps people to claim the benefits they are entitled to.
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. It's extremely disappointing that the energy price guarantee is increasing, as you referred to, from £2,500 for a typical household to £3,000 for a further 12 months from the beginning of April this year. We know that in Wales many would need to spend far more than £3,000 due to the age of the housing stock and extremely high standing charges. I don't think the average that the...
Lesley Griffiths: As I said, currently, officials are looking at the pilot scheme to see what the benefits were before they give further advice to the Minister for Climate Change for the next iteration. But, just to reiterate for all of our constituents, advice and support for householders is available. We do have the Warm Homes programme Nest helpline.
Lesley Griffiths: Public transport connects people to one another, binds communities together and enables businesses to grow and expand. The Wales transport strategy sets out our plans for an accessible, sustainable and efficient transport system across the nation, including in Aberconwy.
Lesley Griffiths: As the T19 service was operated commercially by the bus company, they have told us that, unfortunately, passenger growth has not matched the operator's expectations and driver shortages have impacted on their ability to continue to operate the weekday and the Saturday service on a purely commercial basis. So, I go back to an earlier answer: this is why we're trying to bring forward the bus...
Lesley Griffiths: The Minister for Finance and Local Government attended a meeting of the Finance: Interministerial Standing Committee last week in Edinburgh to discuss the UK Government's spring budget with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, amongst other finance-related issues.
Lesley Griffiths: I think I said a couple of weeks ago to you that we obviously support the Cardiff Crossrail project that the UK Government did announce under its levelling-up fund, and we're matching that investment, but we weren't involved in the development of that levelling-up fund, so we've had no role in strategy or delivery. I think the continued categorisation of HS2 by the UK Government as an...
Lesley Griffiths: Well, I wish I had your confidence that the Prime Minister and his Chancellor will be addressing their priorities in the spring budget. I know that the Minister for finance obviously discussed what was upcoming; I don't think she got very far with much information about what was going to be upcoming in the spring budget. What's really important is that we get our fair share of funding, and...
Lesley Griffiths: We are awaiting confirmation of the final Wales rail enhancement funding from the UK Government. You will have heard me say in my earlier answer that the Minister for Finance and Local Government raised this again last week with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, particularly around HS2 being an England-and-Wales project. I'm really not sure how they can possibly believe that; it's really...
Lesley Griffiths: The pathways of care reporting pilot has been successfully rolled out across all health boards. Whilst the full impact is not yet known, it's intended to provide a single data source to better understand the reasons for delays at the point of discharge and help partners identify solutions together.
Lesley Griffiths: I think the real living wage was a vital first step, really, and it provided a very important starting point for improved working conditions for our social care staff. I know that the Deputy Minister continues to work very closely with the social care fair work forum to look at more ways of how we can further improve the terms and conditions of all of our social care workers across Wales. We...
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you. You raise a very important point: it is about making sure that they have that multi-agency approach, as you say, so if there are specific barriers to someone being able to leave hospital, all the partners are working very closely together. The pathways of care reporting framework has been developed jointly by an expert group, and that comprised of partners from across a range of...
Lesley Griffiths: People with health needs have been severely affected by the crisis. Our 'Here to help' campaign is supporting people to access all the financial support that they are entitled to. Training for front-line workers is also helping support workers to signpost vulnerable people so they can receive the help that’s available.
Lesley Griffiths: Thank you, and you clearly outline, as you say, that some families face difficulties and challenges that we just haven't had to in our lives, and they're very, very difficult. As you know, we've allocated £90 million for a second Welsh Government fuel support scheme—I do hope your constituents have been able to access that—and there are a variety of schemes that have been brought forward...
Lesley Griffiths: Diolch, Llywydd. There is one change to this week's business. The Packaging Waste (Data Collection and Reporting) (Wales) Regulations 2023 have been withdrawn and the debate postponed. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out in the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.
Lesley Griffiths: The Member will be aware that the setting of council tax is a matter for each local authority, and whilst, of course, any increase of council tax is often very unwelcome to the majority of local tax payers, I think it is good to recognise it's a significant source of funding for local services. You say the funding formula is flawed—well, you'll appreciate that that funding formula is not...
