Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 10:56 am on 24 March 2020.
That was very kind, Deputy Presiding Officer. First Minister, I think many of us wish to echo the thanks that have been extended across the Chamber this morning to all those people who work within the national health service and in other parts of the public sector, ensuring that we are all safe and our families are kept safe, and also to you and your team of Ministers and officials who have been working hard to ensure that those public service workers do have the resources that they need to do their job.
In terms of delivering this policy, we need a number of different things to be in place. We need the law to be in place and in the right place, and we'll be doing that later today. We need the resources to be available to people, and I know that Ministers are making great efforts to ensure that that happens. But we also need people to feel that they are able to both protect their family by ensuring they do follow the instructions and the advice from Government, but they're also able to afford to do that. I've received a number of correspondence over the last few days from constituents who have been told by their managers and bosses that they must go to work, that their work is essential, whatever it happens to be. There needs to be clarity for people to feel able to say to their employers that they don't feel that they're able to do so. And we need to ensure that employers who do behave towards their workforce are told very, very clearly that that is no longer acceptable. So, we do need, I think, a very clear analysis of what is essential and what isn't essential.
Members have already raised the issue of self-employed people. There are a number of self-employed people in my constituency in Blaenau Gwent who are terrified over the prospect of the next few weeks and losing all their income. We need to be able to ensure that self-employed people are protected in the same way as people who have employment.
I've also been contacted by many supply teachers who are concerned about the situation that they are facing with the closure of schools. In the same way, First Minister, many social enterprises, of course, are not covered by the support being given to business, and many social enterprises in my constituency, whether they're social enterprises that provide services to constituents or social enterprises such as working men's clubs and community centres, are facing very real difficulties, and I'd be grateful if you could outline how the Welsh Government can provide support for those people, those charities and third sector organisations at this time.
You have already this morning answered questions on support for local government, and I think there was a very warm welcome throughout the country for the £7 million that was given to ensure that there is sufficient funding for free school meals. And many of us will repeat the words that you used earlier that free school meals are an entitlement, and are something that all children who qualify should be able to access. But there are also issues about the resources that local government have. My own local authority has said that they do have difficulties getting access to sufficient personal protection equipment, and that is something that I think concerns all of us. But all local authorities, of course, could be helped out if the Government were to take certain measures, such as bringing forward the revenue support grant payments to ensure that there is less reliance on council tax income immediately, at a time when many people might be finding difficulties with that, and also to have a council tax reduction scheme, whereby people who have lost their incomes over the coming months will be able to feel protected in some way, so that there is a range of support available to local government, to enable them to respond to the challenges that they face.
And of course, some of the most vulnerable people will be reached by local government. And it is one of the things that terrifies me—that we have said to a lot of vulnerable groups, whether they be over 70s, or people with longstanding or underlying health conditions, that they should stay at home. That is difficult, of course, if they can't get access to food via supermarket deliveries, or whether the supermarkets—in the same way as Dawn Bowden has already outlined—are where there is the biggest congregation and gathering of people today. There needs to be action urgently taken to address the issue around supermarkets at the moment.
And, in terms of access to information—you responded to this earlier—I am seriously concerned about the ability of the BBC, and other broadcasters, to communicate effectively what is happening throughout the whole of the United Kingdom. I've listened to a number of different broadcasts, where the BBC, in particular, has broadcast information that is wholly and completely inaccurate, because it is simply focusing on England, and not on the United Kingdom as a whole. This is a matter that the current director general assured me, when I was a Minister with responsibility for broadcasting policy, would be addressed. He hasn't addressed it, and he's failed to address it. And that is something that, in this emergency, is becoming something of a crisis.
Finally—and to test your patience, Deputy Presiding Officer—I have received a question from Jenny Rathbone, who is unable to be here today, since she is self-isolating, about homeless people in the centre of Cardiff. There are a number of people who are homeless in the city centre, and she's very concerned that action is taken in order to protect them at this time as well. I'm grateful.