Diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams, and very powerful words, which are shared and echoed in terms of what you said on this side of the Senedd. I know, and you are right, this is a cruel decision, and the Chancellor's response, as you say, to end the increase is the focus must be on jobs, but over 97,000 people receiving universal credit in Wales are working, and 76,000 people on universal credit are in the no work-related requirement group. Those are people who are disabled and have caring responsibilities that the DWP have said cannot work; they're in the no work-related requirement group. How cruel is it that those people are also going to be losing that all-important £1,040 annual income, and around 275,000 low-income families who in total lose £286 million? And I have to say, yes, of course, that's taking it out of our economy as well.

The planned reduction means the biggest overnight reduction to a basic rate of social security since the modern welfare state began more than 70 years ago. And I do also thank all those, not just here in this Senedd, but across Stormont, Westminster and Holyrood, where all of the committees have met and condemned this; the children's commissioners from each nation; numerous charities and faith groups; not to say also all of those Conservatives who are against this, including former Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions.

Can I just respond to your specific questions by saying that the announcement last week of the £500 million household support fund was derisory? Twenty-five million pounds to Wales. No way will it make up for the money that's been lost by hundreds of thousands of families across Wales, so we are working out proposals to ensure that the money is spent in the most efficient way in terms of the impact of this brutal cut to their household incomes. So, I'm grateful that you have raised this point today. Because actually Trussell Trust said, as a result of this, one in four people now say they will very likely need to skip meals—64,000 people in Wales, that is. And one in five say they will very likely be unable to afford to heat their homes this winter—61,000 people in Wales—and that's before the latest fuel increase.

So, just also very quickly, you know, and I have already announced, that we are extending the discretionary assistance fund, which we have in Wales—an additional £25.4 million during the pandemic. We're extending that and we're also including the flexibilities that we built into DAF. That will continue till next spring, but we're also going to have a national—again—income maximisation benefit take-up, working with local authorities and Citizens Advice. We've got to make sure that everyone takes up their entitlements.

So again, on your final point, we must make sure that we have a social security system that is delivered with compassion and is fair in the way it treats people. You know that we're carefully assessing this in terms of our situation in Wales, and of course devolving certain powers relating to elements of social security could provide us with a wider range of tools to tackle poverty. We of course have responded to that, and to the recommendations of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee that John Griffiths formerly chaired. So, I hope that is helpful in showing how we are trying to respond to this cruel, unnecessary cut to the incomes and the lives of our poorest people in Wales, who are, as I said, contributing to our economy, to our communities, to our society.