Jane Hutt: Finally, can I just reassure you that the Welsh Government is supporting this motion today? I think it's the first step to us looking at a co-productive route to our new communities policy. Diolch yn fawr.
Jane Hutt: Diolch, Llywydd. In February this year, I announced the Welsh Government’s intention to develop and deliver a basic income pilot for care leavers in Wales. Today, I'm pleased to confirm that the pilot will begin on 1 July 2022 and run for a total of three years. During this time, we will test the stated benefits of basic income, such as improving health and financial well-being, and...
Jane Hutt: In line with their corporate parenting responsibilities, Welsh local authorities will play a critical role in delivering the basic income for care leavers in Wales pilot. They will act as a first point of contact for the recipients of the basic income and will be responsible for guiding the young people in their care through the pilot. They will escalate issues and highlight any...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Joel James. I was grateful we had some positive comments at the start of your questions today. I think you recognised that this pilot could offer great opportunities for our care leavers, and this is a basic income pilot. I just want to start by answering your questions about why we're focusing this pilot on care leavers. We're, as a Welsh Government, committed to...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Luke Fletcher, and thank you very much for welcoming the basic income pilot for care leavers in Wales. I'm very glad you drew attention to the fact that the UK Government Department for Work and Pensions has declined—I would say, 'refused', but they declined to engage with us. They have declined to disregard this income payment that we're making. They declined to actually...
Jane Hutt: Well, can I just thank Jack Sargeant, and particularly thank him for his chairing of the Petitions Committee and the recommendations that came from that committee? We've accepted them all in full or in part, and I think particularly those recommendations—. Guaranteed unconditional pay to the individual—unconditional—but also that care leavers should include care leavers from as diverse...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Jane Dodds. Well, I can't say anything more in response to Jane except to thank her for her support and also just to, again, look at the importance of the global evidence about basic income pilots. And I hope that the Conservatives will at least recognise that this is an opportunity for our care leavers, to give them hope, to open doors, to open opportunities for them.
Jane Hutt: Well, thank you very much, Peter Fox. I hope that this basic income pilot will prove you wrong. Our local authorities are all behind this. I've met with the social workers, our young people's advisers, as Julie Morgan has, and the First Minister and myself last week. They see this as an opportunity to actually deliver on their responsibilities as corporate parents to young people leaving...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Ken Skates. The service will provide direct advice to young people—that £2 million package that I've already responded to questions about, the package of support, financial advice and guidance, alongside the young people's advisers as well, which are perhaps wider aspects of advice and guidance needed, but particularly one to one. But also, it's independent, and I think...
Jane Hutt: Diolch. That's a very important question, and I can say 'yes'; I can say 'yes' to all the points. Also, there will be the opportunity to look at whether they want their rent paid direct, as well as looking at their needs in terms of supported housing opportunities, both current and in the future.
Jane Hutt: Well, we've identified and we've agreed in our budget the £20 million. It is actually—. I wanted to say that one of the points that I haven't been able to highlight is that this is one of the most generous payments in the whole of the world that we're making. We're making it, actually, partly because, when we heard that the UK Government was going to tax it, we knew that we had to make it...
Jane Hutt: Diolch, Llywydd. I am grateful to have the opportunity to make this statement to mark the launch of our national VAWDASV strategy and to seek the support of the Senedd, because making Wales the safest place in Europe to be a woman or girl is everybody’s business. On the twenty-fourth of last month I published the strategy, having consulted widely on a draft and engaged extensively on its...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Mark Isherwood. I welcome the commitment and the engagement of Welsh Women’s Aid. You referred to their response when I published the strategy in May. They, of course, have been part of the consultation. They have helped to co-produce the strategy and, indeed, they serve on the new national partnership board. The new national partnership is a new way of taking this...
Jane Hutt: I think the issues around the survivor voice are very important and key to my response already. Voices of survivors must be at the centre of everything we do, so we're actually developing a survivor voice scrutiny and involvement panel, and that has to be a diverse group of survivors, covering the whole spectrum of VAWDASV. That will also be chaired by the national adviser, and it's also...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams. I think I've expressed all your values, principles and objectives in my statement, and why this statement is a much tougher and stronger recognition about the toxic masculinity and misogyny that underpins the patriarchal abuse of power. For many years, and I was part of it decades ago, we set up a Women's Aid refuge to respond to that, and we have wonderful...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Joyce Watson. Can I say how pleased I was to be able to speak at the launch of 'A Duty to Support' on Monday? I gave my commitment that I would be taking back the recommendations—I think that the First Minister did as well—to reflect on them. What's interesting, of course, is that your report actually drew attention to the evidence that this is not just a Welsh...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Jenny Rathbone. I think this partly moves on, in addition to what I've already said, to our campaigns and communications. So, this is about how we challenge societal attitudes to prevent violence against women, men and children happening in the first place. So, it's the Live Fear Free campaign—that's continuing to raise awareness of stalking, harassment, abuse and...
Jane Hutt: Well, thank you very much to Buffy Williams, and it would be great if every Senedd Member made the same sort of request to me, because I think we do need that county-by-county, community-by-community round-table to address these issues. And thank you also for drawing attention to Drive, which has been effective—really effective. Also, we haven't discussed key parts that we have already...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much for the question. Well, this item was on the agenda today for the local government partnership council, chaired by my colleague Rebecca Evans. It relates to the anti-racist Wales action plan goal of local government being an exemplar employer, with anti-racist employment and human resources policies, with improvement funding used to drive such best practice, contributing...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, and I do welcome that question. Indeed, if you look at the anti-racist action plan for Wales, it covers every department of the Welsh Government, with actions and goals. So, clearly, that includes not just health but health and social care as well. So, the goals, as far as the Wales NHS are concerned, are that it should be and must be anti-racist, and staff should be able...
