Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Mark, and I'll come on to that point in my speech this afternoon. I think it was very helpful, Rhun ap Iorwerth, that you drew attention to that film showing what has happened as a result of our team Wales approach to the Afghan evacuation, with the role of the Urdd in the summer. We heard about that. We heard from an Afghan refugee and Siân Lewis from the Urdd at the...
Jane Hutt: Jane.
Jane Hutt: Well, this is what we're calling, very clearly—that we need this refugee resettlement scheme. We really feel that, in terms of our previous experience with Afghan and Syrian programmes, we need a fully funded refugee resettlement scheme. I know that the ambassador of Ukraine has asked that visas shouldn't be needed at all, Jane Dodds, and this is why, in the EU, people are able to come over...
Jane Hutt: Our programme for government sets out clear ambitions to deliver a more prosperous and a more equal Wales and to create better outcomes for people. I am working with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that its commitments are shaped and delivered with addressing poverty and inequality as a central driver.
Jane Hutt: Thank you, Mark Isherwood. Well, you know that the key levers for tackling poverty are powers over the tax and welfare system that sit with the UK Government, but we're doing everything we can to reduce the impact of poverty and support those living in poverty. And you will be well aware of our winter fuel support scheme for 2022, offering a £200 payment, which supported families to cover...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Mike Hedges. Last October, the UK Government's decision to end the £20 a week universal credit uplift payment condemned thousands of households across Wales to life on the poverty line. Also, with inflation forecast to hit 7 per cent, the motion to approve the uprating in welfare benefits payments from April by only 3.1 per cent was passed in the House of Commons, and, I...
Jane Hutt: On 16 November, I announced a £51 million package of support for low-income households. Additionally, on 14 February, we announced a package of support worth more than £330 million, to fund a range of initiatives that will help Welsh households manage the cost-of-living crisis.
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Alun Davies. And it is, indeed, as a result of a decade of austerity, made in Downing Street, that people, households are facing this cost-of-living crisis. It is a Tory cost-of-living crisis, and it's being fuelled by rising energy prices, but also, pressures on household budgets, changes to universal credit, mean that three-quarters of households on universal credit...
Jane Hutt: Well, for the benefit, Janet Finch-Saunders, of those who have already benefited from our unique, bespoke winter fuel support scheme, it's really important to see the fact that that scheme has reached out, particularly reaching those households who are in receipt of working-age, means-tested benefits to help them with essential housing costs, and recognising that many of those were the ones...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Heledd Fychan. And it is really welcome that you also held that local summit in terms of looking at the cost-of-living crisis. We had over 140 partners at the all-Wales summit, including the Welsh Local Government Association, who are critical at local authority level for co-ordinating, as well as the voluntary sector in terms of meeting that demand. I think we just have to...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Jane Dodds. Of course, the cost-of-living crisis will see many more households struggling financially in Wales, including those in rural areas. We have focused our support, with the finance Minister, on those households that are most vulnerable and we've actually published analysis showing the distribution and effects of our immediate response, which I'm sure you will...
Jane Hutt: Thank you, Mark Isherwood, for very important questions in relation to the delivery of our commitments to Gypsy, Roma and Travellers to ensure that local authorities do fulfil their statutory duties to provide adequate and appropriate sites where there is need. And we recreated this duty—the Welsh Government and the Senedd here—to identify and meet the need for appropriate accommodation....
Jane Hutt: Thank you, Mark Isherwood. Well, I'm very happy to meet with Hourglass. But also, I've met with the Older People's Commissioner for Wales on this issue, who has herself, and with her team, done research and engaged with older people in terms of identifying elder abuse. This is crucial to the next phase of our VAWDASV strategy. We've consulted on it, we're developing the next five-year...
Jane Hutt: I made a statement, actually, a couple of weeks ago, as you'll recall, on period dignity, again highlighting the fact that we've prioritised this in our programme for government. We've got our strategic action plan on period dignity as a result of consultation, and I do chair a round-table with external stakeholders, including those from the education, school and colleges sector. And indeed,...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much. Diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams. And of course I endorse the First Minister's commitment to this. We need to ensure that there are no barriers to supporting people fleeing the war in Ukraine. We want to provide that sanctuary and safety in Wales. We want them to come here. Any checks that need to be done can be done when they get here, so I completely endorse what the...
Jane Hutt: Well thank you very much again for that follow-up question. We actually have worked with the Scottish Government, as you will be aware, so that the First Minister of Scotland and that of Wales, Mark Drakeford, raised this proposal for us to become supersponsors, actually based on our experience, our commitment as a nation of sanctuary, our experience as a result of the Afghan evacuation, but...
Jane Hutt: Recent analysis by organisations such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Bevan Foundation and Children in Wales has found that households with children are amongst the hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis. Lone parents and their children have been particularly affected.
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr. That's also a very important question, because the delivery of free school breakfasts was a proud day when we announced that so many years back now, and it was a free school breakfast scheme that was to be available in every school in Wales. I am aware of some schools that had already got their own schemes. Obviously, that has to be organised between local authorities and...
Jane Hutt: Thank you, Vikki Howells. I'm really pleased that you have drawn attention to the latest announcement on 14 March by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language as regards the pupil development grant access grant, because this was part of our £330 million announcement. It will be raised, and I can share this now across the Chamber again, by £100 per learner—the Minister has made a...
Jane Hutt: There seems to be a denial of the causes of the cost-of-living crisis affecting so many of our children and young people and households, as a result of the many points and questions and discussions that we have had this afternoon. I am very proud that we have the most generous childcare offer scheme in the UK, and it was extended last week by the Deputy Minister for Social Services, to reach...
