Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you for the opportunity to bring this important debate about the latest analysis published last week on the impact of the UK Government's welfare reforms on households in Wales.

I would like to first turn to the amendments that have been tabled. I don't think that it will come as a surprise that we reject the amendment from the Conservatives, which at best seeks to play down the impact of welfare reform and, at worst, attempts to absolve themselves of any responsibility for the devastating effect that it's having on the lives of the most vulnerable and the least well-off in Wales.

In respect of the Plaid Cymru amendment, I want to be clear that this Government has already committed to exploring the case for devolving the administration of aspects of the benefits system. We will look further at the evidence of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee, which is currently being considered, assess the experience of Scotland to date, and then provide an evidence base to look at things that may be taken forward. We will, of course, need to look at how we can ensure that any transfer of functions is accompanied by the necessary funding.

This report brings together key statistics, analysis and evidence on the impact of both already implemented and proposed welfare reforms on households in Wales. The report highlights the substantial benefit cuts announced by the UK Government since 2010 up to the end of January 2019—a period where we have witnessed significant change to the system—and outlines the individual and cumulative impacts.

The UK Government has recently signalled some positive changes, such as an increase in some universal credit work allowances, but these are relatively small in scale. We know that the overall effect of these benefit changes is regressive, with the largest impacts felt by people on the lowest incomes, especially those with children. We also know that many benefit cuts are only partly implemented, with the spectre of further significant cuts looming large. Relative child poverty in Wales is estimated to increase substantially, with the reforms pushing an extra 50,000 children into poverty by the time they are fully enforced. The stark reality is that the double whammy of welfare reform and the agenda of austerity is hitting those least able to bear the burden the hardest. And, it does not stop there.

There is also a disproportionately negative impact on the incomes of several protected groups, including disabled people, Bangladeshi and Pakistani households at a GB-wide level and, of course, women. These negative impacts, for the most part, are the result of changes to the benefits system, in particular: the freeze in working-age benefit rates; the two-child limit in tax credits and universal credit; the abolition of the family element; and changes to disability benefits. Last week's spring statement provided a timely platform for action to end the benefits freeze. Sadly, neither announcement nor action were forthcoming, despite the freeze pushing many families deeper into poverty.

This report also makes clear a number of issues of concern with the roll-out of universal credit to date, focusing on three key areas: the impact on rent arrears, food banks and applying for universal credit online. The Trussell Trust, along with the parliamentary Work and Pensions Committee, are rightly calling for an end to the five-week wait for the first payment of universal credit. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions admitted on 11 February that the main issue that led to this increase in food bank usage could have been the fact that people have difficulty assessing their money for universal credit early enough.

In terms of personal independence payments, evidence summarised in this report suggests that huge and harmful problems exist and persist with the eligibility assessment process. Deputy Llywydd, all who are here in this Chamber will be familiar with some of the perverse problems that people have encountered when applying for personal independence payments. There are real concerns in relation to the ability of contractors to conduct accurate eligibility assessments, which is reflected by a significant and increasing proportion of appeals being found in favour of the claimant.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions wrote to me, setting out a number of changes to health and disability benefits that the UK Government is looking to ensure. A commitment to reviewing the assessment process is welcome but, as they say, the devil will be in the detail and delivery of this. We have repeatedly and robustly made clear this Government's concerns to the UK Government, calling for a halt in the roll-out of universal credit, and seeking urgent change to the most damaging policies, such as the two-child limit. The UK Government has made some changes, but these do not go far enough.

The Welsh Government does not have the resources to meet the entire shortfall resulting from these UK Government welfare reforms, estimated to be £2 billion by 2020 for Wales, but we will do all we can to support the most vulnerable people and do the right thing by them as they try to deal with the disproportionate and unfair impact of these reforms. Through our financial inclusion work, we provide grant funding of almost £6 million a year, which is used to fund projects such as Better Advice, Better Lives that deliver advice services within all 22 local authority areas. And when a share of the financial levy for the provision of debt advice services is devolved to the Welsh Government, I anticipate this will increase our current grant funding to approximately £8.5 million from April this year.

We know that our advice service funding is making a real difference to people’s lives. During the last year, the funding supported over 73,000 people, helping them to access almost £60 million of welfare benefit income. I recently visited Bargoed Citizens Advice, one of the pilot areas for the new help-to-claim service for universal credit, and saw for myself some of the digital difficulties being experienced and what a lifeline this support is in making a claim for universal credit.

Our discretionary assistance fund is playing a crucial role in supporting those most in need and has supported 214,300 people, with awards to the most vulnerable people in Wales, with over £44 million in grants since April 2013. The fund has seen a peak in people making contact for assistance. Deputy Llywydd, when I actually visited the centre that takes the calls from people trying to access claims for the DAF and the emergency assistance fund, the evidence suggests from there that, for a lot of these people, this is a consequence of the roll-out of universal credit. Therefore, we are increasing funding by £2 million this year, and for 2019 and 2020.

In order to meet the additional free school meal costs associated with the roll-out of universal credit, we will be providing additional funding of £5 million to local authorities in 2018-19 via a grant scheme. We are also making a further £7 million available to local authorities for free school meals in 2019-20.

Our childcare offer is supporting working families across Wales and is helping second earners into work and enabling parents who work part-time to increase their income by working more hours, which is critical to tackling in-work poverty.

We know that austerity is placing huge financial pressure on both our public services and our people, so we are providing £244 million annually to support the council tax reduction scheme. Almost 300,000 vulnerable and low-income households in Wales continue to be protected from any increases in their council tax bills, of which 220,000 continue to pay no council tax at all.

Dirprwy Lywydd, I know that the impact of the UK Government’s welfare reforms is something that many in this Chamber and in communities right across the country don't simply have acute concerns about, but are downright and rightly angry about. So, I look forward to the contributions to this debate on the analysis of the impact of the UK Government’s welfare reforms on households in Wales. Diolch yn fawr.