As a member of the Equality and Social Justice Committee, I am delighted to contribute to today's debate on our report, 'Debt and the pandemic'. The pandemic has taken its toll in different ways. For many people it hit financially—they faced job insecurity, less income, higher bills. It has compounded the financial problems that families have been grappling with.

I believe this inquiry and our report is a testament to the enthusiasm of all Members who wanted to understand more about the complexities of the debt experienced by people in Wales and the impact of the pandemic on individual and household finances. I want at the outset to thank our Chair, Jenny Rathbone, who has skillfully led the committee through this inquiry, and the Minister for accepting in full or in principle the recommendations that we settled on.

It is the response of the Government that I want to focus on this afternoon, because as the Minister rightly said in her letter to the committee, there is an urgent need to tackle the growing debt burden that is being faced by some of our most vulnerable households in Wales. I also want us to remember that, for many people, the challenge of managing debt and attempting to resolve their problems can be a lonely affair. There is a significant risk that those in society with less to start with will witness a disproportionate impact on their financial health because of the pandemic, and this has been well documented in other studies beyond this inquiry—[Inaudible.]—and increasing worries, strain, depression and longer lasting mental ill health.

According to the mental ill health charity Platfform, these anxieties and distresses have not, however, been experienced uniformly, and there is good evidence that the pandemic and our responses to it have widened these health inequalities. They also observe that mental health is known to be linked to wider inequalities that are prevalent in our society. There's a link between financial health and mental health, and the effect of the pandemic on the financial health of those who were already struggling is going to provide the basis for a range of ongoing challenges that this Government needs to meet.

The evidence to the committee was comprehensive. The recommendations are based on that evidence and the discussions that followed. There appears to be little disagreement between the committee and the Government about the seriousness of the challenges that many people face in Wales, although I do want to see some speed put into the work the Government is committed to.

I want to raise three points in support of the committee report this afternoon. Firstly, the importance of data. Without information we will have little ability to affect the life chances of those in debt. Planning will be pointless without understanding the complete picture, which is why I welcome the Government's acceptance of the committee's view that their equalities data unit should work with organisations in the sector to collate and publish annual data on debt in Wales, broken down by protected characteristics. My concerns about health inequalities, especially mental ill health, should feature in the work undertaken, so that we fully understand the consequences of the debt position beyond the financial.

Secondly is the disproportionate impact of debt and the pandemic on different groups. In our report we outline how much of the evidence pointed to the differing impact on different groups. Organisations such as StepChange, Citizens Advice and the Bevan Foundation provided evidence that some groups are more likely to experience debt than others, such as people who are unemployed or in insecure work, people whose work has been affected by the pandemic, single parents, parents with young children, renters, people from some ethnic minority communities, and people with disabilities. In addition, the Bevan Foundation highlighted that households with an annual income below £40,000 a year were significantly more likely to be in arrears than higher income households. Furthermore, they found that people living in social rented accommodation are more likely to be in arrears on every major bill than any other group. This evidence demonstrates how complex the picture is and how it will not be resolved quickly.

Thirdly is the importance of us holding the Welsh Government to account and returning to this subject as soon as we can. I appreciate that there are matters beyond our control, but people expect Welsh Ministers to act. In doing so, I expect that other departments within Government should be engaged in this agenda as we also seek to provide a stronger economy from which people should be able to benefit.