I'm glad we're having this debate today and I would like to offer my own congratulations to the Chair, to the committee and clerking team for the work they did in undertaking this inquiry; it was before I was a member of the committee.

A civilised society should be judged by the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens. There shouldn't be a stigma around receiving benefits and no-one should be made to feel lacking for needing a helping hand. Compassion should be built into the system. Sadly, that is often so far from the truth. For a number of years, I worked for Citizens Advice Cymru and I'm grateful to them for the notes that they sent to a number of us in anticipation of today's debate, as well as the Bevan Foundation.

When I worked for Citizens Advice, I saw first-hand how badly needed a Welsh benefits system is. Universal credit is a system that is, well, at least it seems at times designed to push people into further debt. Delays in receiving the benefit mean too many people have to take out emergency expensive loans to get by that they're forever afterwards trying to pay back. The system we have is overly complicated, the eligibility for benefits isn't consistent, and people are expected to find out for themselves what they're eligible for, rather than getting those benefits automatically. 

There are gaps in provision and, as the Bevan Foundation has pointed out, discretionary schemes that were meant to be a last resort are often relied on in the longer term to keep families going. If we were talking about businesses, we wouldn't think that sounded sustainable, so why should families or individuals be expected to live in that perilous state?

As a minimum, we need the administration of welfare to be devolved, I think, to the Senedd so that we can create a system that works for Wales, that meets the challenges of our society and mitigates the worst effects of cuts when they come from Westminster. We could ensure that benefits reach the people who need them, that they use consistent criteria for eligibility, that they're easy to access and that they help to improve people's lives. Benefits shouldn't trap people in further debt or in poverty. They shouldn't just be enough to scrape by. I’ll say it again: there should be no stigma in claiming benefits. All of us should be guided by the ambition to improve the lives of the people we represent, of all those who call Wales their home.

And finally, Dirprwy Lywydd, I'd argue that devolving the benefit system would allow us to help close some loopholes that currently allow certain people to fall between stools, if I can mix my metaphors. Over lockdown I was contacted by a young constituent who had to foot the costs of a close family member's funeral. Because she was a student, she wasn't able to access the hardship funds that are meant to help people with these costs. Computer said 'no'. My constituent has mounted a campaign, she's launched a petition, she's had coverage in national newspapers, and I really commend her for that, all to try to ensure that no-one else has to face financial hardship as well as crippling grief in this deeply unfair situation. Her determination is to help other people and I hope we can learn a lesson from her experience and that we can use this as a further reason to demand the devolution of the benefits system. Only when we have a system that is controlled by our own Government, designed for the needs of our citizens, will we have the levers to ensure that no-one else has to go through what she went through.

I commend the report and I look forward to when the recommendations become a reality.