Questions now from the party spokespeople. The Conservative spokesperson, Mark Isherwood. 

Diolch, Llywydd. I was re-elected as chair of the cross-party group on disability at its first meeting this Senedd term on 17 December. The online meeting included a presentation by the chief executive of Disability Wales on the 'Locked out: liberating disabled people’s lives and rights in Wales beyond COVID-19' report, which originated from discussions at the Welsh Government's disability equality forum, chaired by you. This found that 68 per cent of deaths from COVID-19 in Wales were among disabled people and stated that there is nothing inevitable about this statistic, and this report illustrates how social factors, including discrimination, poor housing, poverty, employment status, institutionalisation, lack of personal protective equipment, poor and patchy services, inaccessible and confusing public information, and personal circumstances, significantly contributed to this figure during the pandemic.

The report also found that disabled people did not get all the medical help they needed, had less access to public services and social support, had less access to public spaces and public life, struggled to live independently and did not always have their human rights fully respected. It also reaffirmed the fundamental right of disabled people to be fully involved in decisions about their own lives and the need for reasonable adjustments to be made to make sure that everyone is able to use places and services. What specific action are you taking, as the Welsh Government Minister responsible for equality and human rights, accordingly?

Thank you very much, Mark Isherwood, for that question. I was in attendance at the cross-party group most recently—I have attended more than one—which you chair, and it was very good to see you back in that position. Can I just confirm that over the time of the pandemic it has been vital for me to engage, as I chair the disability equality forum? In fact, I chaired eight disability equality forums, where we had those discussions about the impact of the pandemic, concerns and developments relating to disabled people in Wales, and also making sure that all those views were shared and the experiences shared across the Welsh Government—the chief medical officer attending those meetings, and other Ministers as well.

I think, in light of the testimonies that came from the disability equality forum and data that was emerging, we commissioned forum members to examine the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic was having on disabled people, and that resulted in the report you've just mentioned, 'Locked out: liberating disabled people’s lives and rights in Wales beyond COVID-19', and that was co-produced by Professor Debbie Foster of the Cardiff Business School and the steering group, who have worked together to ensure that we have a disability taskforce that's been established—I attended and co-chaired the first inaugural meeting in November—and, indeed, taking this forward, in terms of ensuring that the findings of the 'Locked out' report can be delivered. Now, I just want to finally, quickly, say that this is all in the context of developing actions within the principles of the social model of disability, which this Senedd has also endorsed, alongside the Welsh Government. 

Well, as Professor Debbie Foster told the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee this morning, which I was chairing, to drive the change required will need change to the way we work across the public sector in Wales, with embracement of true co-production not political soundbites—I'm not referring to you here, but soundbites that often misunderstand and misuse the term.

And in this context, and, again, noting your responsibility for equality and human rights, what specific actions are you taking following the findings of the scoping study for the alignment and development of autism and neurodevelopmental services in September 2019, commissioned by the Welsh Government, which has recently been brought to my attention and which highlights the gap between demand and capacity for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder services in Wales? The report recommends that further work to inform the development services for ADHD should be undertaken, and that the Welsh Government should review the funding for services. Estimates suggest that untreated ADHD could cost the UK, including Wales, billions each year, with the symptoms affecting individuals throughout their lives. And ADHD has links to school exclusion, unemployment, substance misuse and criminality, with an estimated 25 per cent of prisoners having ADHD. Such data highlights the importance of ensuring appropriate services are in place for people with ADHD to ensure optimal outcomes for both the individual and wider society, and therefore social justice. I look forward to hearing your response accordingly.

Thank you very much for that follow-up question, and just to say that I want to ensure that the delivery of this report through our disability rights taskforce is actually co-produced. We commissioned it, it's co-chaired, and we need to deliver that in terms of the social model of disability, and also undertaking this—. And you've mentioned the human rights issues. This is, of course, part of the human rights framework in terms of what we're seeking to do to incorporate the UN convention on the rights of disabled people into Welsh law. Now, you have raised another key point in terms of moving forward, which is very much a cross-Government response. I will also seek an update on the progress, particularly in relation to ADHD, from my colleagues in the Welsh Government.

Okay, thank you. Moving to your overarching responsibility for fuel poverty finally, last month, on Fuel Poverty Awareness Day, the Welsh Government published its cold weather resilience plan for people at risk of living in a cold home, something I've been calling for as chair of the cross-party group on fuel poverty and energy efficiency, as you know. Although fuel poverty coalition members welcomed the plan, and most of them fed into its development, how do you respond to their concern and feedback that they would like to see strengthened detail on how the Welsh Government will work with the health sector to achieve the plan's aims and agree with what the health sector can do to support it, and that the plan would benefit from the inclusion of an additional objective for specific actions to help support critical moments in healthcare, like discharge from hospital, or enhancing the hospital to a healthier home service, help train healthcare professionals to identify fuel poverty and those at risk of cold weather and raise awareness of available support and help establish referral networks between health actors and advice partners, and that, beyond emergency assistance payments under the discretionary assistance fund for oil and liquid petroleum gas, there's little or no detail in the plan on support for rural communities? Again, I look forward to your response accordingly.

Thank you for that follow-up question. You will know that I did publish the cold weather resilience plan on 3 December and it does include 12 actions designed to improve the cold weather resilience of lower income households: financial help, for example, to repair boilers for lower income households and to buy domestic fuel for off-grid and rural homes—you mentioned rural communities—through the discretionary assistance fund—they're included in the plan—and also supporting joint working with energy suppliers to ensure that we are targeting support on households that are struggling to pay their energy bills; improved referrals into schemes such as the Warm Homes programme; the energy company obligation scheme; but also, clearly, as you have identified, in terms of health and well-being services as well.

Questions now from Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Sioned Williams.

Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, the leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price, yesterday asked the First Minister about what actions the Welsh Government are taking in the light of the current and mounting cost-of-living crisis, described as nothing less than catastrophic by the Resolution Foundation, which is hitting too many of Wales's families, with devastating consequences. As well as the measures already in place, which are unfortunately and frustratingly limited by the control of the callous and uncaring Conservatives in power in Westminster over welfare and other means of tackling poverty, Plaid Cymru would like to see a new focus on what can be done to prevent even more people being plunged into even deeper poverty, with all the negative and damaging outcomes that has on our society.

Later today, we will debate the Equality and Social Justice Committee's report on debt, and energy costs are shown in the report to be contributing massively to an ever increasing and unsustainable level of debt for too many Welsh households. Although welcome, you have said yourself, and the committee agrees, that the extra one-off payments you were able to make through the winter fuel support scheme are no way near enough and cannot make up for the loss of the £20 universal credit uplift, for example, so cruelly taken away from Welsh families in need by the UK Government. I'd like to ask for an update on the uptake of the support scheme payments and ask how the Welsh Government is monitoring the effectiveness of awareness-raising initiatives to ensure that those who really need this support are accessing it. 

Diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams. I'm really pleased that you've raised this issue. It came up very strongly yesterday, as you said, with questions from Adam Price to the First Minister, but also questions from across the—certainly from Labour Members as well as Plaid Cymru Members in terms of the catastrophic cost-of-living crisis that people are facing. What is very clear is that we need to call on the UK Government to play their part in tackling this. Now, I would like to say that we have had a good take-up of our winter support fuel payment scheme. By the end of December, we had data from 20 of 22 local authorities showing over 100,000 applications have been received by local authorities. Now, what's very clear is that this needs to be promoted, and we're using all the local authorities and all our winter fuel support scheme partners to make sure that the take-up is reached. 

Thank you. The same report, the report of the social justice and equalities committee, recommends that the Welsh Government sets out how it will accelerate its Warm Homes programme as a way of tackling fuel poverty, because accelerate it must given the current and future cost-of-living storm, which has been deepened by the skyrocketing fuel prices, which we know will rise even further come the spring and will be with us for many years ahead, as the head of Centrica has warned today. Four of Wales's counties are already in the top 10 areas across the United Kingdom hardest hit by rising fuel prices. Can the Minister tell us if the Government will act on those recommendations with new urgency, given the circumstances? How is the Welsh Government currently identifying and targeting fuel-poor households? The report of the Auditor General for Wales raised concerns that, while the Nest scheme's initial purpose was to tackle fuel poverty, the evolution of the scheme meant that some funds were being prioritised to people who may not have been experiencing fuel poverty. National Energy Action has also raised the issue about energy suppliers needing to better identify financially vulnerable customers in order to provide support. So, how is the Welsh Government assisting and ensuring energy suppliers are identifying and supporting financially vulnerable customers and those living in fuel poverty? Diolch.

Diolch, Sioned Williams, for that really important follow-up question, and, of course, it does apply to the importance of our Warm Homes programme, and since its inception in 2009-10 to the end of March of this year, more than £394 million has been invested to improve home energy efficiency through the programme in Wales, and that's benefited more than 67,100 homes, and, within this, more than 160,000 households receiving free and impartial advice, which has been a crucial part of it, to improve domestic energy efficiency and reduce fuel bills.

But we now, as you know, are consulting on the next phase of the Warm Homes programme. That was published on 22 December, and, importantly, of course, the draft budget, published in December, with a statement by the finance Minister yesterday, does include that increase of capital funding of £30 million, from £27 million in the last financial year, for energy efficiency measures for lower income households. It is important that we look to what has been achieved as well as ensuring that, as a result of experience and lessons learnt, we move forward and we get the full results of the consultation from the next phase of the programme.

I think that very much is linked to the fuel poverty plan, of course, with our advisory group, and I've already been mentioning the cold weather resilience plan, but I would also like to just say that it is important that we tackle this, recognising that the UK Government has got its part to play in this in terms of the cost-of-living catastrophe that we have in terms of fuel poverty. I and the Minister for Climate Change have written to Kwasi Kwarteng this week, expressing our deep concerns about the increasing domestic energy prices, the impact they're having on households in Wales, particularly concerned about lower income households, and the fact that we know those increases have come into effect and the fact that more households in Wales are going to be faced with poverty because of their policies. I'm sure that you will be discussing this later on in response to the report, and indeed other questions.