Jane Hutt: Well, as far as your Government is concerned, I wish that they would listen to the calls that we've been making to ensure that the costs that are placed on household bills, those social costs and, indeed, environmental costs, are actually met by general taxation. That is our call to the UK Government, and, also, that they increase the Warm Homes discount. The fact that they're actually...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much for that very helpful question, because I can now give you a full response on the plans for the round-table summit next Thursday, 17 February. We have invited all of the organisations that are at the sharp end of tackling poverty across Wales. Obviously, that includes those not just in terms of food poverty—the Trussell Trust and other foodbanks and community food...
Jane Hutt: Diolch, Delyth Jewell. As the cost-of-living crisis intensifies, we have doubled the amount of the winter fuel support scheme payment, from £100 to £200, and extended our funding for foodbanks, community food partnerships and community hubs.
Jane Hutt: I thank the Member for that important question as well. Of course, local authorities do have a statutory responsibility for the preparation of an accessibility strategy, and that is, in fact, for the entire educational estate. I appreciate that you're also referring to playgrounds in the community as well, which are the responsibility of local authorities. But that is where the statutory...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams, for that very important question and feeding back that evidence. We are addressing additional learning needs as a result of our commitment to children's rights and commitment to disabled children's rights, in fact, very much embedded in the Rights of Children and Young Person's (Wales) Measure 2011. So, we're investing in disabled children's lives through our...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams. The Welsh Government is committed to achieving equity and inclusion in education. Our sustainable communities for learning programme promotes access for all. Schools and further education institutions supported through the programme must ensure their buildings allow access for disabled pupils, students, staff and visitors.
Jane Hutt: Area analysis such as the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation alongside programme data help shape our response to poverty in rural areas. We know that rising inflation and energy price rises, alongside planned tax increases, will see many more households struggling financially, including those in rural Mid and West Wales.
Jane Hutt: I have not met police forces on the specific issue of unregulated car washes. However, we regularly engage the police and other partners on the Modern Slavery agenda, including in regular meetings of the Wales Anti-Slavery Leadership Group, Operational Delivery Group and Regional Anti-Slavery Groups.
Jane Hutt: As part of the Household Support fund, I announced £500,000 revenue funding to support community food organisations which are experiencing increased demand as a result of the decision by the UK Government to remove the £20 uplift for Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit claimants.
Jane Hutt: Indeed.
Jane Hutt: Thank you. That's a very helpful additional contribution to the debate today, working obviously in terms of the police tackling domestic violence at every level, including social media online violence, which it often follows and is included in the stalking incidents that we've heard about, and certainly working with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales and our UK Government...
Jane Hutt: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I start by thanking Plaid Cymru for tabling this important motion for debate today? It's very timely that you've brought this for debate in the run-up to National Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week, an annual event that actually aims to bring people together to both condemn this behaviour and to push for change. I am also pleased to support the Welsh...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Jenny Rathbone. You will know from the work that you're doing as Chair of the Equality and Social Justice Committee that the Minister for Climate Change, Julie James, and I wrote to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy way back in early January. I shared that letter with Senedd Members. So, many calls, some of which I've mentioned already in...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams, and thank you for highlighting the pressures on your constituents, the cost-of-living pressures that are so real and are so vivid and coming through every day in terms of reports from the Resolution Foundation, the Bevan Foundation. Local authorities are playing their role. I think the take-up, given the time we've had—. We've extended the timing for this,...
Jane Hutt: Well, thank you very much, Mark Isherwood. We are in the middle of, as the Resolution Foundation calls it, a cost-of-living catastrophe, and this winter fuel support scheme was launched as part of the household support fund to target families and those who are most vulnerable in terms of the questions that are now facing many families about whether to heat or eat. We find that shocking, don't...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Mark Isherwood. The Welsh Government winter fuel support scheme payment is being doubled from £100 to £200 as the cost-of-living crisis intensifies. A written statement has been published to accompany my announcement.
Jane Hutt: Thanks very much, Peter Fox, and thank you, also, for your very powerful contribution this afternoon, drawing, as many of us will do and have done this afternoon, from your own constituent, from a survivor, and for that survivor being able to share her story and the story of her family, and her survival and the horrific impact that the Holocaust had on her life, but being able to share that...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much, Delyth Jewell. I will simply say that every word you said is pertinent and important for us, not just today in responding to this statement, but in how we move forward as elective representatives, as Government Ministers and in communities. Commemorating the Holocaust is important, to recognise and to ensure that we never forget—never forget—how dangerous, hateful and...
Jane Hutt: Diolch yn fawr, Samuel Kurtz, and can I say how moving it is to learn more about our new Senedd Members? Thank you very much for the statement today, Samuel, because I mentioned the Holocaust Educational Trust earlier on. I know—it was since 2008 when I was the former education Minister, when we started that funding of the Holocaust Educational Trust—how important it has been to fund...
Jane Hutt: Thank you very much indeed, Jenny Rathbone, and thank you for speaking up for your constituents, the Armenian community and the massacre, and also your Jewish people and community and families in your constituency, and all our constituencies in Wales. Thank you for acknowledging some of the atrocities and shocking events leading to global changes, Indian independence. Interestingly, today, I...
