8. Will the Minister make a statement on the role of local authorities in the COVID-19 response in Wales? OQ56050

I will do so with pleasure, Mark. Local authorities have played an absolutely pivotal, key role throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, in providing support to individuals, businesses and communities across Wales, particularly to the most vulnerable.

Thank you, Minister. We have quite a number of relatively small local authorities in Wales and two of the very smallest are in my region—Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent—and they coincide with some of the very highest levels of COVID infection currently. And I just wonder, is the Minister sure that they will be able to cope with the extent of that challenge, given the small size, and are there arrangements in place for mutual aid or support from other local authorities or from Welsh Government should that be required?

Yes, we work very closely with all local authority leaders, elected members and chief executives in Wales. Just this morning I had a meeting with all local authority leaders and chief executives to discuss aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm absolutely grateful to them on behalf of the Government. I cannot say enough about the efforts the front-line staff have made across every local authority in Wales, regardless of size, in their efforts to keep their populations fed, housed, safe and protected. We absolutely continue to work with them to protect the vulnerable and learn lessons.

We've supported their operation ability by reducing statutory requirements relating to meetings and proceedings, where necessary, and we've worked closely with our third sector and voluntary sector partners to provide local tailored support to communities in need. Mutual-aid provisions have been invoked by local authorities. Interestingly enough, not necessarily by the smallest local authorities, because each one has different problems, depending on how the pandemic hits them and at what stage and where. The figures change very quickly. So, in my own particular health board area, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, the figures there are hardly something to write home about, and they're some of the biggest authorities in Wales. So, it's not a question that size matters in this particular instance.

Nevertheless, we continue to keep a close eye, with them, on their resilience and their ability to cope, and we continue to manage the finances, through the hardship fund, with the co-operation of the Society of Welsh Treasurers. I'm really, really proud of the collaborative way that we've worked together, as local authorities and the Welsh Government in Wales, both at politician level, across party divides, and at all the official levels that you'd expect, right down to the front line, where the workers have been exemplary.

Thank you, Minister.