What is clear, and has been expressed so powerfully in this debate, is that the £20 that so many people needed at the beginning of the pandemic is still needed now. Circumstances have not changed. Harms have become more entrenched. The numbers claiming universal credit, as we all know as Senedd Members, have doubled from 3 million to 6 million from the start of the pandemic. As so many people have said today, those who are affected by this cut are those who need us most, and those who have also played a key part in protecting our country from COVID-19—many key workers.

So, we have repeatedly called on the UK Government, together with Ministers in Scotland and Northern Ireland, to rethink this impending cut. They still can rethink and change to make the £20 a week increase permanent—that's what we have called for—and to extend the payment to people claiming a legacy benefit. Can I thank the members of the Equality and Social Justice Committee, chaired by Jenny Rathbone—all members backing that call, and all of the committees across the UK Government, including the Westminster select committee itself, which also backed this call to make the £20 a week increase permanent?

We asked the UK Government in our letter from the Ministers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to show us their assessment of what impact this cut would have on poverty levels. We have had no response. We reminded the UK Government that this is the single biggest overnight cut to a social security payment since the second world war. The UK Government Ministers know what the impact will be. They have seen the assessments. They have heard the warnings from copious experts, charities and, indeed, the dissent from their own benches.

Members have set out so clearly this afternoon the very real impacts of this entirely voluntary decision. Trussell Trust report that one in four people will very likely need to skip meals. Sarah Murphy expressed this so clearly, warning from that graphic description of the impact that this could have on her people in Bridgend. That is 64,000 people in Wales—one in four. One in five will very likely be unable to afford to heat their homes this winter—61,000 people across Wales.

It will increase poverty levels across Wales, and I am sure that I'm not the only one who has met with the Wales anti-poverty commission, which told me this summer what this would mean. This was their key priority—that I should work, as Minister for Social Justice, to stop this £20 cut. Those were child poverty charities, Citizens Advice, the 'Keep the Lifeline' campaign, registered social landlords—all calling on the UK Government to protect this lifeline.

It will impact on disabled people and those with caring responsibilities. They make up 76,000 people who are registered and respected as not required to work by the DWP—the no requirement group. Also, there is this huge negative economic impact, which has been expressed so clearly today. The Bevan Foundation found that approximately £286 million would be stripped from the Welsh economy.

So, Members have drawn attention to the perfect storm. If just the £20 cut wasn't draconian enough, it's coupled with the end of furlough, the rise in fuel costs, and all living costs rising—and, of course, the recent manifesto-breaking announcement to increase national insurance, a move that their own HMRC said could lead to a breakdown of families on the breadline.

Dirprwy Lywydd, 97,000 people in Wales who receive universal credit are working, as Carolyn Thomas said, in low-paid work, and a hike in national insurance hits those just getting by. So, the warnings and evidence are clear, and thank you to Jane Dodds for stating so clearly that we need that safety net. We must ensure that Government can support and intervene for those who will suffer.

It's a stark reality that even if the £20 payment is maintained—and that's what we call for this afternoon—it will not make up for the income that our poorest households lost because of the severe cuts to their benefit payments introduced by years of welfare cuts. And Joyce Watson actually did refer to Stephen Crabb. He admitted that today—. Under his watch, he admitted he was part of the Tory team that took the decision to freeze benefits that has now, he admits, pushed more workers into poverty.

So, Deputy Llywydd, we know the key levers for tackling poverty, such as powers over tax and welfare, sit with the UK Government, but we know too that people in Wales deserve a truly robust social security system that doesn't force people into further or continuing poverty, and that is why we will also continue to explore the case for the devolution of welfare. This is, obviously, a commitment, and it was discussed yesterday, but it was also a response to the equality, local government and justice committee in the last administration.

In the meantime, we must take action now. The ending of the £20 per week—if it happens, and we must still strive to stop it—means households are heading towards a financial cliff edge. It's vital that we help, using all the levers that we have in child poverty. I'll just mention two areas: the income maximation action plan—we're putting more money into people's pockets; we've had our national welfare benefit take-up campaign, and it helped people claim £650,000 of welfare benefit income—but also the discretionary assistance fund—the fact that we boosted this by £25.4 million during the pandemic—and providing emergency support for people who have off-grid fuel experiencing financial hardship for the coldest months of the year.

So, I can confirm today that I will continue to—that the support will be extended, from the discretionary assistance fund, in these circumstances, from October through to the end of March, ensuring support throughout the whole of the winter, and we'll continue the flexibilities that we've built into the discretionary assistance fund during the pandemic to provide financial support to people who will soon be facing even greater pressures as a result of the changes being made by the UK Conservative Government.

Dirprwy Lywydd, when there is so much opposition to the £20 cut—and there may be some on our benches here—from devolved Governments, from charities, from over 50 Tory MPs, including six former Department for Work and Pensions Secretaries of State, it is indefensible and frankly deplorable that the Conservatives are refusing to listen and to stand by those who need them the most. Austerity is clearly and firmly back for the poorest and lowest paid, but I thank colleagues again for this motion, for allowing us to jointly call on the UK Conservative Government to step back from this brink and do what is simply the right thing.