Jane Hutt: Thank you very much for that question. We weren't sure how many would be eligible—we're very much dependent on DWP data and information about that. As you recall, we actually created this to very much follow the cut to the £20 of universal credit, so we were looking, very initially, at working families, and that's why we now need to widen it beyond that. But the take-up was reaching the...
Jane Hutt: The Deputy Minister for Social Services leads on our rights-based strategy for an ageing society. Building on our co-produced guidance 'Making rights work for older people', Age Cymru is delivering a campaign through multiple channels, including a toolkit for advocates and older people that supports the protection of their rights.
Jane Hutt: The Welsh Government is committed to working with the police and other partner organisations to help ensure our communities are safe, not only in Rhondda but across Wales. We continue, for example, to provide significant funding for police community support officers in all of our Welsh police forces.
Jane Hutt: The Welsh Government continues to commit significant investment to a range of policies and programmes to promote prosperity and prevent and mitigate poverty. Thanks to the £150 cost-of-living payment, to date £6,693,000 has already reached the pockets of the eligible households in the Caerphilly area alone.
Jane Hutt: The Welsh Government is committed to advancing equality and protecting the rights of everyone in Wales, including deaf people. Work is being undertaken through the disability rights taskforce to ensure that the rights of the deaf community and other disabled people are protected.
Jane Hutt: I thank Luke Fletcher for that question. The key levers for tackling child poverty—powers over the tax and welfare system—sit with the UK Government, but we will continue to do all we can with the powers we have to tackle inequalities and improve outcomes for all children in Wales so that they can fulfil their potential.
Jane Hutt: Well, thank you very much for those important supplementary questions. I did see that the End Child Poverty alliance made some very clear calls on the UK Government that benefit payments should permanently keep pace with inflation—3.1 per cent, the uplift in April—and also that the two-child limit on child benefit, and, indeed, the benefit cap, should be abolished. And I've called for...
Jane Hutt: Well, I do have to ask Laura Anne Jones: are you going to join us, are you going to join me, are you going to join those opposition MPs in Westminster today, raising the issues that were raised by the End Child Poverty alliance, and raised, actually, with us on Monday at the cost-of-living summit, which was joined by—[Interruption.] Can I please answer the question, Deputy Presiding Officer?
Jane Hutt: So, can I just say again: will you call on the UK Conservative Government to make sure that benefit payments—which has been called for—permanently keep pace with inflation and also that the two-child limit on child benefit and the benefit cap is abolished? And of course we will play our part. I've already outlined ways in which we are playing our part in terms of our responsibilities, and...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Mike Hedges, and I do remember coming to visit your Faith in Families project, an important project, in Swansea East and seeing what they were doing as a charity supporting the local community, very much engaged in tackling food poverty during the school holidays, as well as during the term. And I was pleased on Monday at the cost-of-living crisis summit, which I chaired...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, acting Presiding Officer. The topics of this debate today are close to the heart of this Welsh Government's priorities, as well as the priorities of Members who proposed this motion for debate today. Our programme for government sets out our plans for building a stronger, greener economy as we make maximum progress towards decarbonisation. And in our 2021 co-operation...
Jane Hutt: These are challenging times for businesses and individuals, with costs of energy and raw materials increasing significantly. And it is against this background that we need to develop a more resilient economy in Wales whilst at the same time achieving our carbon reduction goals. Achieving a just transition to net zero is essential and has been at the forefront of the Minister for Climate...
Jane Hutt: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I do welcome the inquiry and report from the Equality and Social Justice Committee on fuel poverty and the Warm Homes programme, and thank Members for their contributions in this important debate today. But the report from this inquiry makes a valuable contribution to the delivery of our programmes and initiatives to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, particularly in...
Jane Hutt: Formally.
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Llywydd. Can I start by thanking Plaid Cymru for bringing forward this debate? We've just had a very powerful debate on the Equality and Social Justice Committee report on tackling fuel poverty, and indeed yesterday the First Minister also made a statement on how the Welsh Government is tackling the cost-of-living crisis, and seeing this as a critical priority of this...
Jane Hutt: Well, I think it is important, as the First Minister did say yesterday on this point, that we actually do have a rent freeze in the public sector here in Wales until the end of March. I mean, these are crucial issues in relation to reaching out in terms of rent issues, which of course we will be addressing. But that rent freeze is in place. I think, just looking at our £330 million...
Jane Hutt: Well, I mean, I think this goes back, I say to the leader of Plaid Cymru, to how are we going to get support in order to support our public services, because there is no indication that we're going to get any support from the UK Government on Friday in terms of action to support public services. Actually, of course, that does mean that we're going to have such a corrosive impact on our...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd, for an opportunity to provide an update to Members about our ongoing work to support people from Ukraine seeking sanctuary in Wales. When I last updated you in June, Wales had welcomed just over 2,200 Ukrainians to Wales under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, including our supersponsor route, and I'm pleased to say that this number has risen significantly over the summer...
Jane Hutt: In recent weeks, we have seen a change of UK Government and, with it, the resignation of the UK Minister for Refugees, Lord Harrington. Whilst we had some particular requests of the UK Government, which have not been implemented—from funding, safeguarding processes and improvements to the visa system—Lord Harrington was always willing to make himself available to discuss matters with...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Mark Isherwood. I think I made it very clear in my statement how important it was to have a Minister for refugees, Richard Harrington. Actually, we were meeting with him on a fortnightly basis; the job certainly wasn’t done. He played a very important role. He actually resigned the day before the leadership of the Conservative Party was announced, and I believe that his...
