4. Will the Deputy Minister outline the contribution of the voluntary sector and volunteering during the pandemic? OQ56401

Thank you very much, Nick Ramsay. Of course, the voluntary sector in Wales has played, as I said, a significant and crucial role in our efforts to fight the pandemic. It's about delivering key services, co-ordinating local support and helping to support our dedicated and compassionate volunteers. I'm sure you would join me, and all of us today, in saying a huge 'thank you' to all our volunteers and voluntary sector organisations.

Diolch, Deputy Minister, I would agree with that. Throughout Wales we've seen acts of true heroism, with people getting involved in their local communities, supporting those who have been lonely and isolated. According to Age Cymru, loneliness and isolation are a daily reality for many older people: 75,000 older people in Wales have reported always or often feeling lonely. I've raised the issue of rural loneliness before, Deputy Minister. I wonder what discussions you might have had or could have with the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs to discuss how that particular aspect of loneliness in rural areas can be dealt with, and how the volunteering sector can assist in providing support.

Well, Nick Ramsay raises a very important issue in relation to the services that are provided by the voluntary sector, but the new needs, if you like, that have arisen. There have always been needs in terms of particular pressures and issues in rural areas, but you're also focusing on loneliness and isolation. I think that's where the third sector and voluntary sector have really risen to the occasion, because we do have our county voluntary councils across the whole of Wales in every county, and they are, particularly in the rural areas—the Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations, of course, covering Monmouthshire—looking at those particular needs. Many also have their older people's forums looking at these issues relating to isolation and loneliness. 

I would say this is a cross-Government issue, and so, yes, in terms of the rural issues, it is a matter to share and work on with the Minister for Environment and Rural Affairs, but it's also very much the responsibility of the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services, Julie Morgan, who obviously has taken a key role in working with the Older People's Commissioner for Wales, older people's organisations, particularly as a result of the pandemic, to look at ways in which we can reach out and relieve that loneliness and isolation. But it is about how we can ensure that the third sector has the resource and the support, particularly, in terms of volunteering, Age Cymru, Age Connect Wales, to make those befriending organisational links that are so important to older people. 

Let's try again: question 6, Janet Finch-Saunders.