5. Will the First Minister outline how the Welsh Government can improve financial security for people in Wales? OAQ51579

Our financial inclusion delivery plan sets out our work with partner organisations. This is improving access to affordable credit, financial services and financial information, and improving financial capability in Wales.

Thank you. There's a broader market for credit unions in other developed nations. We look at Ireland, where there's been 77 per cent in the last year and 50 per cent in the United States, and the figures for Wales in terms of credit union membership: 69,000 members here, but 561,000 in Northern Ireland alone. So, I wonder whether the Welsh Government could do more to facilitate the development of credit unions in Wales, given that the larger banks are withdrawing from local communities. Is it possible to create a national network of credit unions that could be successful and could replace the high-street banks that are withdrawing from our communities, in order to ensure that those services remain in place for people in Wales?

I sympathise greatly with what the Member is saying. May I pay tribute to her for the work that she has done in order to ensure that people get the help that they need—

There's a first for everything.

—and aren't, of course, in a situation where they have to borrow money from people who would charge them a great deal for borrowing that money?

It is true to say that there is more potential in credit unions. It's true to say that in Ireland, where they've been for much longer than in Wales, the credit unions there can lend a great deal of money when compared with the credit unions in Wales. People can get mortgages from credit unions there, for example. As regards the network of credit unions, I think that is something that is well worth considering, and I will ensure that the Minister will communicate with her in order to see how we can strengthen the presence of credit unions in the communities of Wales, bearing in mind that the banks are withdrawing from so many communities, in order to give people the opportunity to control their financial lives in a way that benefits them.FootnoteLink

Information further to Plenary

Although children who gain experience of budgeting, spending and saving from an early age are more likely to be able to manage their finances as they take on financial responsibilities as they grow older, research from the Money Advice Service on the financial capability of children, young people and parents in Wales, launched during last November's Financial Capability Week, found that many young people about to turn 18 in Wales are ill-prepared for dealing with adult financial responsibilities. Just 35 per cent of children between seven and 17 had learned about money management in school and only 7 per cent had talked with their teachers about money.

Will you therefore encourage your Government to revisit the recommendations of the 2010 Communities and Culture Committee report on financial inclusion and the impact of financial education, which made clear recommendations in these areas? And can you also confirm what role, if any, the Welsh Government will be taking in UK Government proposals for a breathing space scheme, to provide individuals in debt with up to 6 weeks free from interest charges and enforcement to give them time to seek financial advice, hopefully—and I declare an interest—from independent third sector bodies, such as those two of my daughters work for, providing this impartial advice to people?

Firstly, I agree entirely with him about the need for young people to be financially educated. I think part of the problem is that money, despite what happened in 2008, still appears to be freely available in a way that it wasn't when I was younger, when loans were not as freely available as they are now. In the days when—well, my first car loan carried an interest rate of 29 per cent; I remember that very vividly, and painfully. For many people, they found it very difficult to manage—they'd not been shown how to manage; sometimes people learn through their families, sometimes people don't have that ability to learn, and don't have an example that they can follow. It is part, I understand, of the curriculum, of the new curriculum, so it will be there, to enable young people to be able to manage their—to help them them to manage their—finances in the future. Because the point is well made: how do you as a youngster cope with all the—? Quite often, money is being thrown at you—or debts thrown at you, for many, many people—without any kind of help available to you. That point is well made, and it's included in the curriculum.

In terms of the issue of breathing space, I know this is something that has been raised. It is something that we need to consider, as to how we—if we look to take it forward, how we take it forward, whether it's on a Wales basis or working with other countries in the UK. But, to my mind, anything that enables people to have a respite from debt, and particularly continuing debt, which people often find on their shoulders, must be a welcome thing.

Question 6—oh no, sorry. Rhianon Passmore.

Diolch. First Minister, following the Tory UK Government's hollowed budget at the end of last year, the Welsh Government's budget will be once again lower, in real terms, in 2019-20 than it was in 2010-11. The Welsh Labour Government has repeatedly asserted that, for the Welsh economy to grow, which will consequently improve the financial security for the Welsh people, it is critically important that the UK Government commit to important infrastructure projects in Wales. First Minister, what representations and actions have the Welsh Government made to ensure projects like the Swansea bay tidal lagoon, electrification of the London Paddington to Swansea railway line, and the much-needed further investment in our railway infrastructure, become a reality?

Well, we've made representations very strongly. We get 1.5 per cent of railway infrastructure investment—1.5 per cent. On a balanced share, it would be over 6 per cent, but that's not what we get. And still the UK Government refused to devolve railway infrastructure plus a Barnett share of that spending to us. We still have no decision on the tidal lagoon. We made the point last week. We have put our cards on the table as a Welsh Government. We have said that we are prepared to make a financial contribution, take a stake in the lagoon. We make no apologies for that. Silence as far as the UK Government is concerned, silence from the Conservative benches—silence from the Conservative benches. This is a major project—[Interruption.] This is a major project, which needs a decision. Twelve months have gone by since the review was put in place to assess whether this project should go ahead. It has said the project should go ahead; still we have no response at all. [Interruption.] Oh, I'm being told by Darren Millar my attitude doesn't help, as if I was a schoolboy. I'm the First Minister of Wales; I've got every opportunity and right to represent the people of Wales in regard to the UK Government, and the UK Government isn't actually making progress. [Interruption.] I'm sorry, we have had 12 months of reasonableness, and nothing has been delivered. It is about time that we saw the commitment from the UK Government that the Welsh Government has made, and a commitment that is made to creating up to 1,000 jobs in Wales and a sustainable green energy sector. We stand ready to work with the UK Government, but we need the UK Government, and the Welsh Conservative Party, to be vocal in support of the lagoon.

Now question 6—Leanne Wood.