There is, of course, evidence of a link between cashless payment systems and better take-up of free school meals, and that's why I've supported and campaigned for their introduction in every school in Wales. Powys has done that and I think that's absolutely fantastic, but we now have a situation whereby children whose parents pay for lunch and who haven't topped up their cards will no longer be able to get any food. I understand the council's position in this, but it can't be right, in my view, that a child will go hungry in school because someone, somewhere along the line, has forgotten or cannot afford to pay for the dinner money that particular week.

I'm particularly concerned that this is sorted out before the introduction of universal credit, which is going to happen in Powys in June. We all know about the delays in people getting their money and I'm really, really concerned that, in this system, that could cause an absolute failure for those people expecting that money to be in place and their children to be fed, which will not happen. I therefore respectfully ask you, First Minister, if you could have a word with your two Cabinet Secretaries to try and sort this out. There's an urgency that it's done before June.