Jane Hutt: Well, diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams. Thank you for this very important question. The UK Government has committed the greatest act of levelling down by cutting the £20 universal credit uplift, condemning hundreds of thousands of hard-working families to life on the poverty line. We shall not abandon families in Wales. Our discretionary assistance fund will help them keep their homes warm...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams, and very powerful words, which are shared and echoed in terms of what you said on this side of the Senedd. I know, and you are right, this is a cruel decision, and the Chancellor's response, as you say, to end the increase is the focus must be on jobs, but over 97,000 people receiving universal credit in Wales are working, and 76,000 people on universal credit...
Jane Hutt: I am surprised that Mark Isherwood hasn't listened to my answers to the questions that have been put so powerfully by Sioned Williams this afternoon. I can perhaps remind him that, actually, it was Stephen Crabb, the Conservative MP, who actually pointed to the fact that the reality is that even if the £20 per week payment is maintained it will not make up for the income that our poorest...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Joyce Watson. I have responded to many of the important and valid points that you've made. I think it is important to recognise this joint letter that went from the First Minister of Scotland, the First Minister of Wales and the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland to Boris Johnson, calling on him, urging him, not to proceed with this completely...
Jane Hutt: I thank Jenny Rathbone for that important question. We've got £25 million allocated—as I said, a derisory amount—to Wales. What I have sought to do—. As soon as we heard about that allocation, I've gone across the whole of the Welsh Government to say, 'What is it?' It's a one-off sum of money; it's not recurrent. It's a one-off sum of money, which is the hardest to spend sustainably....
Jane Hutt: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to debate the Children’s Commissioner for Wales's annual report for 2020-21 today. And the publication of Professor Sally Holland's annual report provides an important opportunity for us to collectively focus on children's rights. It's a time to take stock of progress and to take account of the commissioner's calls for us to go...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you to all the Members today who've contributed to the debate on the children's commissioner's annual report. Also, it was very important to hear from Jayne Bryant, our new Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee, that her committee will be considering this and considering the recommendations and the report as well. All of this is...
Jane Hutt: And, of course, there are key issues that have been raised by Members today. Siân Gwenllian raised the important issue in terms of the recommendations around exclusions for our youngest children in the foundation phase. Just in 2019, of course, you will recall we published updated guidance, which was published back in 2015, on exclusions from schools and pupil referral units. This sets out...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm proud to be standing here again to address you at what is the third annual debate in this Welsh Parliament, with a motion on race and race equality fully supported across this Chamber. And it is to all our credit that we've built on each year's work to seek equal outcomes for our black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. In doing so, we recognise that...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I want to thank everyone for contributing to this important and significant debate on race. The speakers in the debate this afternoon and, indeed, our minority ethnic communities are telling us that we need to act now to deliver on our vision of a Wales that is anti-racist, where everyone is treated as an equal citizen. I want to start, in acknowledging the...
Jane Hutt: And I would just want to say that the nation of sanctuary vision—and we're so proud—in fact, the Llywydd spoke about our nation of sanctuary when she spoke last Thursday, and we were proud of that, weren't we, in that all-important ceremony, the opening of our sixth Senedd. The nation of sanctuary is about making Wales not just welcoming to migrants, but also harnessing the opportunities...
Jane Hutt: Analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that the brutal cut to universal credit is impacting on all communities in Wales. In every Welsh constituency, over a quarter of families with children have seen their income fall. To be taking money from our poorest families when bills are rising is shameful.
Jane Hutt: Well, can I thank Ken Skates for his questions? You will all have heard yesterday that the First Minister provided an update on the basic income pilot in response to his First Minister’s questions. He said, and I will repeat again to clarify, 'Subject to the resolution of remaining practical matters, including the interface of our basic income payments with the benefits system, we plan to...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Rhys ab Owen, and you gave a very clear example—a human example—of great concern of the adverse impact already experienced by your constituent in terms of that cut of the £20 universal credit. And it is quite clear that we have to play our part to ensure that we can support those families. The UK Government may have abandoned these families, but the Welsh Government will...
Jane Hutt: I thank Mark Isherwood for that question, and I do look forward to attending the cross-party group on fuel poverty. Clearly, this has to be addressed in a cross-Government way, so working very closely with the Minister for Climate Change, Julie James, and appreciating it from her perspective as being responsible for housing and tackling climate change. So, working together, particularly in...
Jane Hutt: Thank you, again, for that follow-up question. I've mentioned the plan to tackle fuel poverty, published earlier on this year. What's crucial about that is that we also have a fuel poverty advisory panel, which, of course, is attended by many of those who you are working with in terms of the cross-party group, and it is actually helping us to co-ordinate action to tackle fuel poverty in...
Jane Hutt: Well, of course, in response to your specific question, which I will respond to, about the cold weather plan, we will have a cold weather plan in place. I talked about our plan to tackle fuel poverty, and ,of course, all of these are interacting strategies and plans to tackle fuel poverty. But we'll be able to respond to that in terms of updating by the end of November. This is where the...
Jane Hutt: Well, thank you very much. And it's absolutely right and timely that these questions are coming about what role and power we have got, as a Welsh Government, in terms of tackling fuel poverty. We talked this morning about the perfect storm that is going to be hitting and affecting vulnerable families. So, we need to ensure that we can have as much of a grip and a hold and responsibilities in...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Peredur, for that question. I was very proud to be health Minister when we started along that route, with the refugee doctors scheme, as we called it then, 20 years ago. And I always recall Aled Edwards reporting on how many of those refugee doctors we were supporting through language skills, through the scheme that developed, and which has now been replicated and followed,...
Jane Hutt: Well, thank you for that question. It's very timely again, because tomorrow I'm meeting with the lead PCC, police and crime commissioner, Dafydd Llywelyn, and I will be, and he will, I'm sure, be aware of questions asked to me this afternoon with my lead role in terms of policing. I co-chair with the First Minister the policing partnership board, and I have to say that, over the last 18...
