In her opening remarks, my colleague Sioned Williams illustrated how more and more people in Wales are being pushed into poverty and debt. That word 'pushed' is important, as far too often we hear some politicians discuss poverty as though it is a choice, or something that happens to people because of their own actions. And whilst debt is a personal problem that causes huge distress to the individual or family facing economic hardship, I think it is important that we recognise today that it is a societal problem that requires action from all of us. That quote read out by Sioned about the Victorian levels of poverty is not an over-exaggeration or over-dramatization of the reality for too many people living in our communities. And increasingly, we see a greater divide, with more and more people struggling to secure their fundamental basic human right to a safe and warm home and food.

People aren’t increasingly being pushed into debt because they are buying luxuries. The people who have come to me for support are people who have done everything possible to avoid going into debt, but have been victims of circumstance that any one of us could similarly face ourselves, and the pandemic has only made this worse.

Whilst we, of course, welcome the fact that the Welsh Government extended the flexibilities to the discretionary assistance fund until the end of March 2022 following representations, this isn’t enough to solve the debt crisis in Wales. That’s why, as part of our motion, we have proposed exploring the possibility of legislation that would place a duty on all public bodies, including schools and colleges, to prevent debt.

Adopting a progressive policy approach to debt management would be able to prohibit public bodies from adopting practices that increase debt. For example, this approach would be well applied to local authorities and the collection of council tax debt. After all, across the UK currently, there is a rapid increase in the accumulation of council tax debts, and it is the No.1 debt issue that the citizens advice bureau are contacted about. In the first half of this year, nearly 1 in 20 Welsh households were in arrears on their council tax, and in March 2019, households in Wales owed £94 million in council tax debts, a figure that has likely only risen over the course of the pandemic.

Council tax is also viewed as a priority debt, as councils may take individuals to court if they fail to pay, with local authorities often using bailiffs to enforce court orders that can cause significant stress and anxiety for those in arrears. On top of this, missing even a single council tax payment can make an individual liable to pay their full annual bill. This, alongside possible legal and bailiff fees, often results in people who were initially unable to pay their council tax bill being in greater debt, as Mike Hedges mentioned in his previous intervention as part of this debate. Our public bodies should not be driving people into more debt. Instead, we should be helping to prevent debt from occurring in the first place, or from becoming unmanageable. What we are therefore asking in this motion is for the Welsh Government to work alongside local authorities to clear some of the significant council tax arrears that have been built up in the pandemic and examine how to introduce legislation that would place a duty on Welsh public bodies to reduce debt.

Earlier this week I met with Samaritans Cymru, and amongst the issues we discussed was how financial concerns can drive some people to suicide, as is reflected in the number of people that call the Samaritans to talk specifically about debt. And if anyone out there is struggling with debt today, let us send a clear message that they are not alone and there is support available, and that we in Wales don't accept that poverty is inevitable or acceptable. Let's unite to make sure that there is more done to tackle the household debt crisis and support this motion today that would make a difference to people's lives in the communities that we represent.