3. Statement by the First Minister: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:32 pm on 6 May 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:32, 6 May 2020

I thank Janet Finch-Saunders for the welcome she gave to the £500. I don't think it is right to say that local authorities knew nothing about it. The Welsh Local Government Association welcomed it in quotes that they put out on the day that we announced it. We're working with local government through the Welsh Local Government Association, which is the collective voice of local authorities in Wales, to make sure that the money can reach the people we want it to get to in the best and quickest way, and I hope that she will agree with me that the whole of that £500 should go to those individuals.

I wish I could say to her that we could pay all workers in social care in Wales at least the living real wage, and we will be working with trade unions, local authorities and the sector to see how that might be achieved the other side of coronavirus. But, in order for us to be able to do that, we'll have to have the funds from Whitehall in order to be able to pay people the rate that I've heard her just support and we certainly would want to work towards, but we're not funded to do that at the moment and it would be great, the other side of coronavirus, if across the UK we were in a position to do that.