Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:42 pm on 12 October 2021.
First Minister, one of the things that has been welcomed by my party is the social care financial payment—the bonus payment—which, of course, many people are receiving in their pay packets this month. But those bonus payments must get through to everybody who is part of that social care workforce, who's been working on the front line during the pandemic, and that includes advocacy workers who are not employed directly by local authorities. Unfortunately, I've been informed by Dewis—the Dewis Centre for Independent Living, which has offices in my constituency, in Colwyn Bay, provides advocacy services to people with mental health problems and disabilities across the whole of Conwy and Denbighshire—that its advocates are not eligible for the bonus payment, while people in neighbouring local authorities who are advocates but work for the local authority are receiving these payments. That, to me, doesn't seem like a very level playing field. Can I ask, First Minister, will you look into this in order that those people who have been doing valuable work, going into people's homes at very difficult times during the pandemic, do have the opportunity to benefit from these bonus payments in recognition of their work?