2. What actions is the Welsh Government taking to ensure that advice services are fully supported for the remainder of the fifth Assembly? OAQ53857

The Welsh Government will continue its long-standing commitment to fund advice services to ensure there is free, impartial and quality assured advice available for those who need it. This recognises the vital role advice services play in improving the health and well-being of people across our communities.

Can I thank the Deputy Minister for that answer? Because it's clear that they do play an important role. Last year, we heard the Prime Minister claim that austerity had ended; well, she got it wrong, as she gets everything else wrong. Austerity has not ended and there are many constituents and many people across Wales who continue to suffer under the austerity ideology of this current Tory Government. Now, it's important that the advice services remain in place to support them when they need that support, to stop them falling through the traps into a downward spiral. Therefore, will the Welsh Government commit to ensuring that the funding levels will be maintained at least to the level they're at now, if not improved, to ensure that the services that so many of our constituents do depend upon to ensure that they don't fall into those situations—and their well-being and health is affected by that—are there for helping them when they need that help?

I thank David Rees for that question because the value to advice providers of longer term grant funding is recognised, particularly in these uncertain and challenging times. And we are clearly maintaining our commitment to the funding of provision of advice services. In fact, funding of around £8.5 million a year, including £2.45 million for the financial levy, and also, in addition to that, we've launched an £8 million single advice fund on 24 April, and we've extended grant agreements, to maintain stability of advice services. But, clearly, we expect to follow this through when we have more certainty on future funding from the UK Government, because advice services have always been a major priority for the Welsh Government, and particularly at this time of austerity and challenging times for the people we represent. 

You referred to your 24 April written statement to Members during the Easter recess, when you announced the merging of three funding streams and the single advice fund. You said that providers are being encouraged to design and deliver services more collaboratively, and on a regional basis, you're establishing new regional advice networks in partnership with key stakeholders, with inaugural meetings anticipated this autumn. And you also referred to the Welsh Government now receiving a share of the UK financial levy.

How do you respond to concern expressed to me by some of the smaller providers, who tend to fill in the gaps when larger provider queues mean that people facing perhaps bailiffs or eviction need urgent intervention, that their experience is that they've been actively blocked when requesting to join collaborative funding bids locally because larger providers don't want to split their already reduced funding pots with competitors, and that, typically, a large provider can present a collaborative approach to a funder with partners less likely to pose a threat to their status as a lead provider in the area, and their calls to the Welsh Government, as you take this forward, for quotas within bids to compel larger providers to collaborate, not just on delivery, but on the sharing of funding resources, and for smaller ring-fenced pots of funding aimed solely at smaller delivery agents to encourage diversity, innovation, sustainability and specialisation?

I thank Mark Isherwood for that question because you have referred to my written statement on 24 April. This took forward the implementation plan from the information advice and action plan, which we published back in 2016, and there were 19 actions in that in order to make sure that we can make best use of advice services funding. And I think, as you say, in terms of better collaboration, this new single advice fund is going to enable that to happen. It will encourage better collaboration, improve the efficiency of service planning and delivery models, which is crucial to those smaller organisations that already do receive this funding. It's going to be available, and it is also, of course, ensuring that there will be longer term grant funding, as long as we get that firm commitment from the UK Government in terms of a future comprehensive spending review. But I do believe that this will meet the needs of the information advice action plan, which, of course, was brought together as a result of input from advice providers of all sizes across Wales.