1. Will the Counsel General provide an update on correspondence between the Welsh Government and the UK Government regarding the case of the Women Against State Pension Injustice campaign for 1950s-born women denied their pensions? OQ55902

We have, as a Government, repeatedly expressed concerns to the UK Government about women who have had their state pension age raised without effective or sufficient notification. The Deputy Minister and Chief Whip recently wrote again to the UK Government to press for a just and fair solution for the women.

I'm grateful to the Counsel General for his reply. Does he agree with me that in the COVID context there are particular reasons why the UK Government should address this injustice as a matter of urgency? Official advice to the over-60s suggests that people should minimise their contact with others, and yet, many of the 1950s women are working in public-facing roles such as social care, NHS and retail. They tell me that they're frightened to go to work, but they can't afford not to do so. And there are potentially 1.5 million jobs that could be released if those women were allowed access to their pensions now and given some compensation for what they have lost. There are over 5,000 women affected in Llanelli in my region alone. The UK Government has found itself able to find resources when it's needed to, to respond to the COVID crisis, and I'm sure we all appreciate that. But does the Counsel General agree with me that they should look again in this context where women are being asked to work in situations where they may not be safe, and where we have young people, as we've heard in response to earlier questions, desperately looking for work—is it not time that the UK Government should act? And can the Counsel General consider further correspondence with the UK Government in this post-COVID context on the women's behalf?

I thank the Member for that important supplementary. I think it casts a very significant light on the situation. I think she's right to say, of course, that women are over-represented, if you like, in sectors that have been particularly badly hit during the COVID crisis, which I think illustrates very starkly the challenge that many of these women face. Many of them have been working in roles that may have not been well paid for many, many years before facing the financial pressure that they face anew as a consequence of the actions of the UK Government. I know that she will share with me the dismay that the litigation strategy that the campaign groups were pursuing hasn't been able to bear fruit. But that does now, I think, impose on the UK Government a particular and special responsibility to engage with the groups that have been advocating on behalf of women affected. I, and I imagine many other Members in the Chamber, have received correspondence with women affected putting forward very sensible and pragmatic proposals for how this challenge and injustice could be addressed. And it's in that light that my colleague Jane Hutt has written to the UK Government, to encourage them to engage with these groups and negotiate a solution.