The next item is the Plaid Cymru debate: the cost of living. And I call on Sioned Williams to move the motion. 

Yes, I can see her. 

Motion NDM7890 Siân Gwenllian

To propose that the Senedd:

Calls on the Welsh Government to publish an emergency cost-of-living action plan to tackle the pressures caused by the twin problems of surging costs and stagnating wages.

Motion moved.

Thank you very much, Deputy Llywydd. Our motion this afternoon calls on the Welsh Government to publish an emergency action plan to tackle the cost-of-living crisis that is hitting families in Wales. It's a crisis affecting households across the UK, but Wales will be and is being hit hardest by the economic storm and the huge social damage that will emerge from it in light of the fact that Wales has the highest level of relative poverty and the highest level of child poverty compared to all other regions of the UK. One in four people in Wales is living in poverty. The people of Wales, Deputy Llywydd, are in the eye of this storm. 

Plaid Cymru has rehearsed and re-rehearsed the frightening and disgraceful statistics on the levels of poverty and its impact on Welsh families time and time again in this Chamber. When we had a debate on the cost of living and debt before Christmas, I noted how the number of households who were having difficulty in paying for everyday goods corresponded to the number of households in the whole of Swansea, and that figure is only increasing, with the Bevan Foundation reporting that almost 40 per cent of Welsh households can't pay for anything beyond the essentials of life. It now appears that it won't be possible for too many people, even, to afford that, having to choose between heating or eating, in Wales in the twenty-first century. 

The facts are well known to us all and, now, there's a large body of evidence and research from all sorts of organisations that confirms the predictions and the warnings. The new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on poverty confirms that it's families in Wales who will suffer the greatest hardship in light of the cost-of-living crisis. And the picture is still deteriorating as fuel prices shoot up to an entirely unaffordable level for too many people, and are likely to remain at that high level for a long period of time; as the level of inflation increases to the highest level for a decade, and the expectation that it'll go even higher; as the cost of living is at its highest for a period of 30 years; as wages on average are stagnating, but are falling for those on the lowest income levels; as household debts increase; as national insurance increases; and we have discussed many times how the disgraceful decision of the Conservative Government in Westminster to cut that £20 increase to universal credit has been a disaster for Welsh households. I'm sure that many of you will have heard heartbreaking stories from families in your own communities who have had difficulty in making ends meet. The message I hear very often is, 'I would want to see them trying to live as we have to live.'

Yes, many of the powers needed to safeguard the people of Wales from this looming crisis sit with the UK Government. I know that Welsh Government Ministers have been urging them to take action, but that the situation of the people of Wales is ignored by Westminster. What Plaid Cymru is calling for today is a new approach by the Welsh Government, and a clear recognition that the critical situation we're facing is one that we haven't experienced for decades, and that its impacts will scar Welsh communities not just today and tomorrow, but way into the future too, and that therefore we need urgent action. 

Some measures have already been included in the co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, such as extending free school meals to all primary school pupils, and extending free childcare to all children from two years old, but there is still more that could be done, more that the Welsh Government could provide. Having a summit to analyse the evidence and to propose possible policy solutions to the cost-of-living crisis would be a first step that could generate a cross-governmental strategy that could tackle the crisis in the short term and the medium term.

The Llywydd took the Chair.

We must listen to and act with urgency upon the evidence and suggestions being proposed for ways that we in Wales can do more to address this crisis. An emergency summit, as I said, would be a first step that could help inform an emergency cost-of-living action plan. We need initiatives to support renters, for example, who have been amongst the hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis. The Welsh Government has put a cap on social rent for the coming year, equal to the level of inflation for September, which is 3.1 per cent. This is a welcome move as compared with the above-inflation hikes permitted this year for England. But will the Government commit to making this a permanent policy, and not slip back to the above-inflation rises that it normally permits? Will they also consider the calls of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and others to institute a model of living rent, given that we know rent and rental arrears are one of the biggest costs facing households? 

The tenancy hardship grant could be extended, so that more social housing tenants not eligible for universal credit or housing benefit could be helped permanently. The building and retrofitting of social housing could be further accelerated. Other suggestions that could be explored include more investment in the discretionary assistance fund, which could be extended and made more flexible permanently. The education maintenance allowance could be increased and extended. The idea of debt bonfires, recommended by the Equality and Social Justice Committee's report, could be progressed at pace.

How many more ideas could an emergency summit produce? How much urgency and strategic co-ordinated action could an emergency plan ensure, giving us clear priorities and joined-up effective implementation? It's those who are already suffering socioeconomic disadvantage in our society that are bearing the brunt of this crisis: renters, those on low incomes or in insecure work, disabled people, children, lone parents, older people, care leavers and black, Asian and minority ethnic households. These groups already face greater costs than most, so any increases in the cost of living only exacerbate the inequality and its economic, social and health impacts.    

In discussing tackling the pandemic, the Government has often talked about the importance of early action. That is exactly the approach that we need with this crisis. We need to provide protection, yes, but we also need to try and prevent the storm from reaching its destructive height. This is not a short-term economic shock. Like the pandemic, its impact will remain for years. We must show leadership, determination and innovation if we want to safeguard and protect our people from serious harm and suffering. Thank you. 

Diolch, Lywydd. Surely no-one can be unaware of the cost-of-living crisis that now threatens to engulf many of our constituents, except perhaps the occupants of No. 10. Inflation has leaped to 5.4 per cent, its highest level in almost 30 years. It's driven by higher costs of clothes, of food and footwear, furniture and household goods, and hold-ups in supply chains at British ports. The Bank of England expects it to rise further, especially if the UK Government continues in its state of paralysis, faced by the concurrent energy crisis, which could lead to an annual increase of £500 or more per household. While wages are rising for some, the cost-of-living increases, combined with measures such as cuts to universal credit, are outstripping this by far and leaving the average worker worse off.

The UK Chancellor says that he's listening. I think that the message from the public would be to start acting decisively before people freeze in their homes or go hungry or lose their tenancies or, indeed, the homes that they own. Many of the levers are in the hands of the UK Government. So, it is a matter of deep regret that the UK Government, and especially the Prime Minister himself, are so focused on intently clinging on to the keys of No. 10 at all costs that they cannot focus at all on the cost-of-living crisis. I can do no better than refer Conservative Members of the Senedd to the words of one of the Prime Minister's own backbenchers—and a former Minister and leadership contender, indeed—today at Prime Minister's questions, when he said to the PM, quoting Cromwell's address to the long Parliament:

'In the name of God, go.'

As the UK Government retreats into a bunker, outside the cold winds are biting. They are biting hard in places like Bury South. As we welcome Christian Wakeford, the new Labour MP for Bury South, today, we note the pertinence of his words on leaving the Conservative Party for this debate that we have today. He said:

'I care passionately about the people of Bury South and I have concluded that the policies of the Conservative Government led by Boris Johnson are doing nothing to help the people of the constituency and indeed are only making the struggles they face on a daily basis worse.'

His words are going to echo in many less affluent areas of the UK, including some that are currently represented by Conservative Members in this Senedd and their Welsh MP colleagues. In Wales, we know that this Johnson effect is telling too. Despite the best efforts of the Welsh Labour Government, it's like swimming upstream against a tide of Johnsonian indifference and ineptitude.

Citizens Advice in Wales tell us that there has already been a 17 per cent increase in people seeking help for debt. The biggest increase in enquiries has been on energy debts, now 150 per cent higher last November than in the same period in 2019. In UK-wide research, they report one in five people cutting back on their food shopping and heating to save money. They anticipate a massive surge in debt and hardship needs when the energy cap is lifted, leading to bills increasing by £500, £600, £700 or more annually. Minister, we know that Citizens Advice and others have specific asks of the UK Government, including a one-off energy support grant targeted at low-income households and a larger uplift in the value of benefits this spring. Well, let's see if the Chancellor is truly listening. But, meanwhile, I ask the Minister to write to the UK Government to bring forward these and other UK emergency measures.

But they also have asks of the Welsh Government, including additional support to help local authorities write off irrecoverable council tax arrears, which rose by 42 per cent last year, and an expansion of the council tax arrears scheme. We can make a difference here in Wales—differences like that made by the household support fund, helping families hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis, targeting support towards lower income households, with immediate help for people facing rising living costs this winter. More than £1.1 million has been provided to support and to bolster foodbanks and community food partnerships and community hubs, to help address food poverty and food insecurity and provide a wide range of services to help people and families to maximise their income. And locally in my area, Labour-led Bridgend borough council are proposing to freeze the level of council tax for the year ahead, to help residents who are suffering from the cost-of-living crisis, and it's thanks to a record increase in funding from Welsh Government. And they're also going to provide an extra £2.5 million to ensure that every local care worker receives a pay rise to at least the living wage. And there's more.

Minister, some of the most powerful levers do not lie here in Wales, but we have got to use every tool at our disposal to help those most affected by this cost-of-living crisis, and to tackle the inertia and indifference of the Johnsonian UK Government. We need to show the different priorities and values and the actions of the Welsh Government and partners locally. So, the motion we debate today calls on Welsh Government to publish an emergency plan to reduce the pressures caused by the twin problems of surging costs of living and stagnating wages. Regardless of the paralysis of UK Government in the face of this gathering storm, let's do all we can in Wales. I urge support for this motion.

A crisis is usually immediate. It's a time of intense difficulty, sometimes danger. But when we think of crises, we tend to associate them with suddenness, of something unforeseen, unplanned for, inescapable. This crisis, though, this coalescence of attacks on people's cost of living, is completely foreseen. In some respects like the cut to universal credit, it has been actively brought on by Government. Even the energy bills increase that's on the horizon has been coming for months, arguably far longer. And that incongruity, that clash between usual crises and what's happening now, isn't just jarring on a conceptual level; it has real-world effects. Psychologically, people who are already struggling to get by with bills, with food prices, will have been reading headlines for months that warned them that things are going to get worse, will have that looming sense of dread weigh on them, and will see not enough being done to stop it—that sense of anticipated crisis and expected trauma. That is going to be enveloping families in panic and quiet despair, and I'm not sure enough is being done to address that simmering mental health pressure that's being felt by people the length and breadth of Wales. People are already in crisis.

One woman told Newsnight this week that she ate Weetabix three times a day, because cutting her food bill drastically was the only way she could afford to heat her home. Another told Newyddion that she couldn't sleep because of worry. Money she put in her meter disappeared in no time, with her house's heat escaping through draughty windows. She said her son was ill all the time. These are not isolated experiences, as we've heard. In spring 2021, 16 per cent of Welsh households had to cut back on heating, electricity, or water, and 15 per cent cut back on food. We're told—again, we are warned in advance—that these figures will only get bigger as costs continue to rise. So, the gap between how people should be able to live their lives and the reality will grow greater. That shameful gap will gape open between living properly and only surviving. On 1 April, the energy price cap will increase. The Resolution Foundation estimates that this will add £600 to people's annual energy bills. The same week, national insurance increases come into effect, making the average household £600 a year worse off. Combined, the annual effect will be £1,200, or £100 every month.

In terms of energy bills, there are interventions that could be made, and indeed are being made by other states. France is forcing EDF to sell energy at low prices. The Spanish Government has introduced a windfall tax on electricity generators and gas producers. Germany has slashed a surcharge on bills used to support renewable energy schemes, which will instead receive extra state subsidies drawn from higher carbon taxes. These may or may not be suitable, or indeed possible, in a UK context, but the Welsh and UK Governments could and must look at interventions like suspending VAT on energy bills temporarily, retrofitting social housing more quickly and finding better ways to protect those with top-up meters. Could they be issued with a Welsh Government card, for example, to be used in emergency situations, with the option of paying off debt over the long term on zero interest? Yes, that would be expensive, but the alternative seems to be people suffering and even dying due to illness brought about by the cold; a situation where families are under financial pressure that can provoke stress and acute anxiety that can wear people down and exhaust them, and again all the while, a crisis that is not like a short, sharp shock, but a slow, burning bind, that is locking people into that anguish and misery that traps people in anticipated trauma.

I said at the start of my contribution that a crisis is usually sudden and characterised by intensity, but the meaning of the word 'crisis' actually comes from the Greek for 'decision', and that is surely what is needed here at this decisive point, this moment of anticipation before the crisis gets worse. We need fundamental reform, and we need to rethink the way we model our society so that it doesn't depend on people putting up with just about surviving.

We're pleased to support this motion. As figures today show, soaring food costs and the energy bill crisis are driving consumer prices up at their fastest rate in 30 years, with UK consumer price inflation at 5.4 per cent last year. Of course, this is not restricted to the UK, and inflation has risen in economies across the world; for example, I think 6.2 per cent in the US last October. As the Bank of England's chief economist stated three months ago, inflation has been increasing rapidly for much of 2021 because of the strong economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis, surging energy prices and global supply chain disruption. Those of us who remember inflation and its consequences in the 1970s and 1980s know that it is an economy and jobs killer, with devastating impacts on household budgets, and understand that this must be tackled, that massive liquidity injections to power us through choppy waters will therefore no longer be available, and that tighter fiscal policy normally follows, including further central bank interest hikes, although this will also need global responses to supply pressures.

Although UK inflation is expected to fall back later this year, it is not expected to drop to the Bank of England's 2 per cent target until 2023. I know that the UK Chancellor has stated today that he understands the pressures people are facing and will continue to listen to people's concerns, as he has done throughout the pandemic, adding that the UK Government was already providing support worth £12 billion this financial year and the next to help families cope. He's already delivered over £407 billion of economic support since the pandemic began, now backed by a further £1 billion package for key sectors to mitigate the impacts of omicron, and is also delivering £4.2 billion of support to help with the cost of living; keeping the energy price cap in place to protect consumers from the global spike in gas prices, or help that; delivering £1,000 tax cut for working families; by cutting the universal credit taper rate, costing £2.2 billion; increasing the national living wage to £9.50 an hour; freezing duty rates on fuel and alcohol to help with the cost of living; and enabling the Welsh Government to launch its household support fund by contributing £25 million towards this from its £0.5 billion fund to help households in need to buy essential items.

But regrettably, people in Wales were already particularly exposed. In four months' time, Labour will have been running Wales for a quarter of a century. The December 2018 Joseph Rowntree report on UK poverty stated: of the four countries of the UK, Wales has consistently had the highest poverty rate for the past 20 years. Last November's Joseph Rowntree Foundation poverty in Wales report stated that Wales has the lowest pay for people in every sector from the rest of the UK, and that even before coronavirus, almost a quarter of people in Wales were in poverty. Research carried out for the UK End Child Poverty coalition published last May found that Wales had the worst child poverty rates of all UK nations, and official statistics show that successive Labour Welsh Governments have failed to close the gap between the richest and poorest parts of Wales, and between Wales and the rest of the UK, despite having spent billions entrusted to them to tackle this on top-down programmes that did not do so. Had they done so, of course, they would have disqualified themselves from further funding. Even yesterday, they were talking as if this funding was not only ever intended to be temporary. Despite criticising other bodies that invest temporary funding in ongoing revenue costs, they've done the same. As the UK Chancellor has also said:

'The best way to help people to get on in life, and raise living standards across the UK, is to help people into work and to progress once in work.'

But the Welsh Government's ongoing reactionary and regressive rhetoric conceals the fact that the equality and social aspects of cost-of-living pressures are inextricably linked to the economy.

The Welsh Government's action plan should not only include steps to help vulnerable households facing higher costs, especially when the energy price cap is lifted, but also detail how it will at last work hand in hand with business to create the conditions for a higher wage, high-skilled economy, and how it will at last develop a systemic, community-led strategy for tackling deprivation and promoting social justice. We've waited too long.

I'd like to focus my contribution to this debate on two essential things that we all need in order to be able to live: food and water—not luxuries, not nice-to-haves, but essentials. Mark Isherwood mentioned in terms of helping people into work, but the reality is that, here in Wales today, people who are working cannot afford these essentials.

During the Plaid Cymru debate on 8 December on food poverty, many of us shared horrifying statistics from our constituencies and regions in terms of foodbank usage and why it is not acceptable that food insecurity and hunger are a day-to-day reality for so many people that we represent. Unfortunately, rather than improving, the situation continues to worsen, hence why I'm supporting today's motion so that an emergency cost-of-living action plan is developed and implemented as soon as possible.

According to the United Nations, average food prices increased about 28 per cent in 2021 to a 10-year high. This has been partly caused by rising energy prices that have affected the cost of certain fertilisers, and increasing transport costs, which have both had a negative impact on food supply chains. More than half of households in Wales have faced increased food costs and, as we've heard, six in 10 have seen the cost of their utilities increase, such as their water and energy bills. 

Last year, nearly 10 per cent of households in Wales were already experiencing low food security, and a fifth of people in Wales were worried about running out of food before they could afford to buy more. This figure was even higher for families with children. A third of people earning less than the living wage were having to skip meals, as Delyth Jewell illustrated, and nearly 60 per cent of people living in households with the lowest income in Wales reported changing their eating habits for financial reasons. As energy prices are expected to further increase, we're likely to see greater increases in food prices, as well as people having to choose between basic necessities, such as heating, food and hygiene products, including menstrual products—again, not luxuries. These are things that we are fortunate enough to be able to take for granted, though this may not have been the case for some of us in the past.

Not only are people in Wales living in food poverty, struggling with buying food and facing greater financial pressures to support a balanced diet, but water poverty is becoming an increasing issue in Wales, with water bills being a significant contributor to people in problem debt. After council tax arrears, water bill arrears were the second most common kind of debt that clients who approached StepChange were struggling with. It is estimated that 175,000 households in Wales live in water poverty, but only 35 per cent of those households receive the help they need under current arrangements. Research from the Consumer Council for Water has shown that households in Wales are living in water poverty, with households having to cut back on other essentials in order to pay their water bill. And support for water poverty is patchy, with households facing financial difficulties receiving significantly different levels of support or no help at all. Providing greater assistance for food and water costs within an action plan would help those in Wales who face financial pressures from other areas, such as rising energy costs and stagnating wages.

On Monday, as I'm sure many of you have seen, Oxfam released a press release detailing that the world's 10 richest men more than doubled their fortunes from £700 billion to £1.5 trillion during the first two years of the pandemic. At the same time, 99 per cent of humanity have seen their incomes fall and over 160 million more people across the world have been forced into poverty. This should anger us all and concern each of us and spur us into action, as it is not acceptable that this is the reality for people living in our communities. Something is broken in the way that our economy is working, because it is letting down too many people. It is not right and it is not morally justifiable and it requires urgent action from all Governments. I urge all Senedd Members to support our motion today.

The Tory UK Government's cost-of-living crisis is hitting the people of Wales hard. It is a crisis and, yes, it is one that's been seen approaching. But we do have to acknowledge that the Tory Government is in charge of the parafiscal levers that will radically make a difference. And yet, the want-to-be heir of the Tory crown, the apprentice-apparent, Rishi Sunak, has been missing. He was missing last Wednesday when the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was fighting for his political life in the House of Commons—he was busy and didn't tweet his support for the PM until late into the night.

And this cost-of-living crisis, as has been stated earlier, it's not about beer or nights out, it is about anaemia, it's about rickets and it's about respiratory disease. So, I welcome strongly the fact that the Welsh Labour Government has been co-ordinating its representations to the UK Tory Government, alongside our colleagues in Edinburgh and Belfast. The Minister for Finance and Local Government, Rebecca Evans, was bang-on when she stated emphatically that Welsh households

'need to see urgent action from the Treasury to help people with rising bills and living costs.'

There will be, no doubt, widespread consensus around the Chamber that rising energy bills are causing huge anxiety and real mental and physical distress, with too many families living in fuel poverty and inflation rising to 5.1 per cent and predicted to rise more. And the Welsh Government has already invested more than £50 million trying to mitigate this issue. This is a cost-of-living crisis on top of the COVID crisis. And the power, if not the political will, lies mostly in the hands of the embattled and feeble Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and his Ministers, with energy, welfare and levelling up as starters. I would be interested to hear from our Minister what Simon Clarke, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was able to offer her and her colleagues. And hopefully, the Conservative grandees now sitting in Whitehall towers do recognise R.T. Davies.

Today in this debate I want to say this strongly, and to the Tories of this Senedd: I implore you to step up to the plate and finally stand up for Wales instead of Boris. Age UK has already warned that the predicted 50 per cent rise in energy bills from April could trigger a national UK emergency for millions of older people. The UK Government's price cap on what suppliers can charge is currently £1,277, but analysts are already speculating that this could go up to almost £2,000 on 1 April. We must mitigate the consequences of the major spikes in global prices, and as we enter, finally, the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot allow more unnecessary misery to be inflicted on the Welsh nation. Citizens, especially the elderly and the medically vulnerable, should not have to ration, in the twenty-first century, their energy use because of financial pressure. And to take £20 a week away from the very, very poorest in our society at this time is utterly and totally unforgivable. Choosing between heating and eating is something that I hope none of us here in this Senedd should accept for anybody that we represent. I challenge the Conservatives in this place to please get some courage. Stand up to your political masters, stand up for Wales in the Treasury, and stand up for your constituents. Diolch.

We face a perfect storm: inequality and poverty, which were at unprecedented levels before coronavirus, have been amplified in the last two years. Life is already a struggle for so many, yet things are set to get worse—much worse. The energy price cap is expected to surge in April. If that was not bad enough, utility prices are set to rise once again six months later. Predictions are that the average energy bill will climb to around 75 per cent above current prices. It is not possible to overstate the hardship and devastation this will cause to so many families in our communities.

Many people are in a precarious financial position as things stand; they can ill afford what is set to hit us this year. Oh, I see, Llywydd, Rhun, I think, wanted to come in.

Thank you for doing my job for me, Peredur. Are you okay for Rhun to make an intervention? Okay. Rhun ap Iorwerth.

Thank you. Just a very brief intervention. Many constituents of mine have raised particular concerns about increasing energy prices. We talk about people having to make a choice between heating and eating. Does the Member agree that one problem we're likely to face more and more of is people being unable to cook or heat food because they can't afford the energy prices? And we know how damaging it will be for people to be unable to have a regular hot meal.

I agree entirely with Rhun there. Forcing people to choose between heating and eating a hot meal is dreadful, and the damage to people who can't access food regularly is unforgivable and frightening.

To compound matters, we have a Tory Government in Westminster that is beyond parody. While millions of people worry about how they will be able to afford their utility bills over the next 12 months, the lack of a cohesive answer from the UK Government over the looming cost-of-living crisis is unacceptable. If they devoted as much time and effort into tackling the cost-of-living crisis as they do organising lockdown-busting parties, we would be in a better position. Perhaps the indifference to the crisis is because Johnson and Sunak will not be subject to rising prices, due to the cap on the contributions they make for their Downing Street flats. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor are granted grace and favour accommodation, rent free, with utility bills and council tax costs met by the Government. I wonder whether they would act with a little more urgency if they were taken out of their cosseted lifestyle and forced to live on the breadline for some time. Perhaps Johnson has forgotten that he promised to end VAT on fuel bills, in an article he co-wrote for The Sun newspaper a month before the 2016 European Union referendum. Given that we are yet to see this policy delivered several years into his premiership, it can probably be chalked off as yet another Brexit broken promise.

The rising cost of energy has resulted in more than 20 suppliers collapsing. It has meant that their customer base has returned to the hands of the big six. There is now a compelling case to direct funding towards nationalised secure energy, particularly in renewables. The chances of seeing something positive and effective like this from a UK Government ideologically opposed to such measures are slim to nothing.

This cost-of-living crisis will hit older people particularly hard. The Older People's Commissioner for Wales has stated that older people on low incomes need more money to help with rising fuel bills. With an increase in the winter fuel support scheme, pensioners may face a choice between food or fuel, as highlighted by Rhun in his comment earlier. Older people were more likely to be affected in their jobs by coronavirus. A quarter of workers aged 60 to 64 were furloughed, lost hours or pay, or lost their jobs completely during the pandemic. Those who lost their jobs at this age during the pandemic may never find another job before reaching state pension age. We also know that credit use falls with age for those over 50, due to many lenders refusing to lend to people over a certain age.

Plaid Cymru wants this Government to invest in a targeted campaign to increase the take-up of pension credit. In 2018-19 alone, unclaimed pension credit totalled as much as £214 million. Pension credit not only provides financial assistance, but claiming the credit unlocks a range of other entitlements, such as council tax discounts, free dental care and help with housing costs. This is why this debate is so important. We cannot wait for action from a Government in London that is so out of touch with people from working-class communities. If anybody thinks there is a political will within No. 10 Downing Street to deliver for ordinary people living in Wales, then they haven't been paying much attention to history. People in Wales need help and reassurances, and they need them soon. I urge Government to act swiftly. Diolch yn fawr.

The frustrating thing for so many of us is that this is a crisis that we've seen coming. We've known energy prices are rocketing, we've known inflation is rising, yet what did this Conservative UK Government do? They cut universal credit, taking away a vital lifeline for the most vulnerable in society, they chose to raise national insurance, which will hit so many, and then, this morning, we've heard today that they've stood by to let inflation hit a 30-year high. As I speak, the Conservatives in Westminster are too distracted by the latest Downing Street disaster to get a grip on this crisis. This is why I really welcome this debate today, and I'm pleased to support the motion.

While most of the levers to counter the cost of living remain within the Westminster Government, it is imperative that the Welsh Government still must do whatever it can to alleviate the worst impacts of this crisis. The Welsh Government must be commended on the £51 million package that the Welsh Government drew from its reserves in November to help tackle the soaring cost of living through the winter. At a time when the UK Government Conservatives refuse to take meaningful action on the cost-of-living crisis, Welsh Government stepped in, and I and many residents are grateful for that. Through this funding, the Welsh Government have introduced good schemes: the council tax reduction scheme, the winter fuel support fund and a tenancy hardship fund. These will all make a difference, but, as we head through the coming months, we must explore whether there's scope to push further.

Firstly, with regard to the tenancy hardship fund, with rent arrears often come other debts too. The citizens advice bureaux have seen a dramatic rise in the demand for their debt advice services. Traditionally, the majority of the concerns are centred around council tax arrears, people who are struggling with escalating debts, additional fees and threats of bailiffs. However, sadly, and almost inevitably, the biggest increase has been in the number of people who have energy debts, which was 150 per cent higher in November than the same period in 2019, with bills set to rise later again this year, making even more people worried about how this will affect them.

And this is where debt advice can help. In Newport, with a Labour-led council, we're very fortunate to have financial inclusion officers in the housing support team, alongside our local citizens advice bureau office. While both groups have a heavy workload, they provide an excellent service and are a good example of good practice that can be rolled out across Wales—

Jayne, Mabon ap Gwynfor is indicating that he wants to intervene. I don't know whether you're willing to accept that.

Yes.

Yes. Okay. Mabon ap Gwynfor, felly.

Thank you very much, Llywydd, and thank you to the Member. She paints a very depressing picture and talks about the tenancy hardship fund. Isn't one way of discussing the cost-of-living crisis to refer to it as an unearned income boon, because private renters are more likely to spend more than a third of their income on rent? So, as a Member, would you agree with me that we need to see the Government intervening in the housing market and ensuring affordable rents for people on the ground?

Diolch yn fawr, Mabon, and I'm just going to come on to a point where I think that perhaps the Welsh Government can do a bit more on this sort of area.

Being in debt often feels like a gut-wrenching, endless cycle, and supporting residents out of that cycle, instead of just putting a temporary stop-gap on their worries, must be a priority. Within what the Welsh Government can do, if a system could be put in place for those applying for the tenancy hardship grant to be referred for debt advice, we may go some way to achieve that and could make a real, tangible difference.

Another area where the Welsh Government could do further work is the winter fuel support fund, a scheme announced just as the Conservative UK Chancellor was taking the twin action of cutting support and announcing tax rises. Currently, only people who are on certain means-tested benefits are eligible to apply. This excludes many people who are on low incomes and in fuel poverty. For example, those on the new-style contribution-based employment and support allowance receive the same amount as people on income-based ESA, but they're not eligible to claim from this fund. So, I'd like to ask the Minister if she would look at this and work with other Ministers to see if there are ways to expand the eligibility criteria along the lines of broader groups for the Warm Homes discount, or if there's any way that local authorities could use discretion in making awards from the fund. Now, I do appreciate that this will be placing additional work on the administration of local authority staff, who are working extremely hard to support residents. Their work is invaluable and hugely appreciated, and supporting them also is vital.

The Westminster Government are ignoring the looming crisis by expending all their energy protecting their failing leader. Stalling wages, steep inflation and soaring energy prices can be a toxic combination, which will hit the poorest hardest. Ultimately, at times like this, it's up to our Welsh Labour Government to take action the Conservatives won't. We must use every possible avenue to stop debts building up and support people who are being forced into debt through the very real pressures on the cost of living. Diolch yn fawr.

I've heard the Conservatives say in the Senedd that they believe the way out of poverty is by working their way out, but many people in poverty are in work or struggling to find decent work that fits in with childcare. Expected long hours of work and shift patterns are often horrendous, and there has been a race to the bottom in employment standards, increasing productivity and the efficiency at the cost of the worker. In Wales, one of the biggest employers is public services, with care workers, teaching assistants and hospital porters, but public services funding was cut from 2010 for 10 years, year upon year, causing an impact on that, on public services funding.

With predictions putting energy price rises at 50 per cent once the cap is lifted in April, few households across Wales will avoid feeling the pinch this year. The universal credit cut could not come at a worse time, with household books already balanced by the margins. It's thanks to the Welsh Government's intervention with the roll-out of the winter fuel support scheme that many of the most vulnerable households are receiving a lifeline to deal with immediate pressures, but longer term solutions are needed.

Last week, I met Citizens Advice in Denbighshire to hear about the work that they do to support families to increase income, deal with debt and reduce household bills, and I would like to share today some of the challenges that were highlighted to me by Citizens Advice that could be addressed as part of an emergency cost-of-living plan going forward. Firstly, we need to address the inequality in access to affordable energy. At present, the energy efficiency rating of local authority housing stock varies greatly. I've been contacted by one of the residents whose outdated storage heaters are costing him £8 a day just to keep warm. Those living in private rented accommodation also often face paying over the odds to heat poorly insulated homes with inefficient heating systems. Issues like this need to be urgently addressed, and I hope the roll-out of the retrofitting programme will be continuing at pace.

On top of this, many tenants are forced to use prepayment meters, which in effect adds a poverty premium to the cost of energy, stigmatising those in rented accommodation. Given the advances in metering technology, it seems totally unjustifiable that someone on a prepayment meter should pay more for what they use.

We also need to ensure that the most vulnerable in our society are receiving the benefits that they are entitled to. At present, the Welsh Government-funded Advicelink service provides free advice on a range of subjects, including welfare, but I'd like to see increased funding for proactive campaigns to ensure that people are aware of the support they're entitled to.

In October 2019, the older people's commissioner worked closely with Transport for Wales to include an information leaflet about pension credit with all renewed concessionary bus passes that were being sent to everyone in Wales over the age of 60. Following that campaign, the number of new claimants was 26 per cent higher than the average per quarter over the last two years. I would welcome an expansion of a campaign such as this, for example advertising on pharmacy bags, which could increase awareness about the support that people in Wales are entitled to.

Many of the levers of powers that impact the cost of living remain in Westminster, and we need the UK Government to act now to avoid catastrophic energy-price hikes, but it is important to remember the difference our Welsh Government does and can make to households right across Wales during this difficult time.

And, Llywydd, please can I apologise for my dog's growling and moaning in the background?

Okay, I'm not sure whether your dog growling was responsible for me losing audio for some part of that contribution. I trust it was all in order. I didn't see any panicky faces in front of me. We'll call the Minister now to contribute to the debate. Jane Hutt.

Diolch, Llywydd. I'd like to thank Plaid Cymru for bringing this important debate today. It's absolutely topical currently and a really important debate as we take action as a Government to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, which is so seriously adversely affecting the people we all represent and serve in Wales, which has come over so strongly in the debate.

We are, as a Government, drawing together our plans and using our powers to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, as called for in this debate, but I do want to endorse the points that have been made by Members today that the powers and fiscal resources needed to help people with the spiralling costs of energy bills and increasing living costs do lie, mainly, with the UK Government. So, this debate does provide us with the opportunity to unite today to back the representations that we are making as Welsh Government Ministers to the UK Government, because of those powers and fiscal levers they have, but also as well the taking forward of our plans and priorities that have been called for today in this motion and by Members.

As has been highlighted, the Minister for finance met with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury last week, with colleagues from Scotland and Northern Ireland, to call for urgent action to lessen the burden on hard-pressed households as a result of the cost-of-living crisis. Julie James, Minister for Climate Change, and I have written to the UK Government to express our deep concern about the increase in domestic energy prices, pressing the case for urgent action to safeguard vulnerable households. You will have seen the letter that we wrote.

I also wrote this week to the Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions, calling on the UK Government to uprate welfare benefit payments this April, in line with the consumer price index increase, because the Institute for Fiscal Studies, you will have seen, reported last week that they expect this to reach 6 per cent. With that uprating, this would save our lowest income households from facing a £290 real-term, year-on-year fall in benefit income, helping just to marginally ease the cost-of-living crisis that they're facing.

When the UK Government took the shameful decision to end the £20 uplift in October last year of universal credit, despite warnings of the impact it would have in plunging more households into poverty, we urged and continue to urge the UK Government to reverse its decision. It resulted in the biggest overnight cut to social security payment rates since the modern welfare state began. And the fact is, the UK Government's autumn spending review doesn't meet the scale of the challenge we're facing to tackle this cost-of-living crisis—this perfect storm, as has been said—and invest in our public services, businesses, communities and families in Wales.

But where Westminster has failed to support families, the Welsh Government has stepped in to back our communities through this challenging period, and to move forward, with our powers and policies, and with the contributions that have been made this afternoon, and working very much on a cross-Government basis to take this forward. We have introduced emergency measures—they've been acknowledged today—to offset the impact of the £20 universal credit uplift: our £51 million household support fund; £2 million allocated for homelessness prevention; and the £38 million winter fuel support fund, providing that one-off £100 cash payment to help eligible households with their fuel bills. Again, yesterday, the First Minister announced that up to 100,000 applications for that are already in place. There's £1.1 million for tackling food poverty, including £0.5 million to support foodbanks, meeting increased demand, and £657,000 to help establish a further 25 Big Bocs Bwyd projects in schools in the Valleys taskforce area.

I thank Members for identifying the role local authorities can and do play. They are crucial to help us in these action plans that we can take here in Wales, not just the Welsh Government, but working with local government and the third sector as well. Further announcements are coming forward from the Welsh Government on our household support grant.

It's crucial that we look to our discretionary assistance fund with the extra £14.7 million for the current financial year and, as has been called for, and we're implementing, in continuing those flexibilities, allowing for a greater number and greater frequency of payments for people impacted by the cost-of-living crisis and the withdrawal of the universal credit £20 uplift. But we've also reinstituted our winter fuel assistance from the discretionary assistance fund for off-grid homes, boiler repair grants until the end of March 2022, and, as has been called for, we're running a national benefits take-up campaign, ensuring people receive the financial support that they're entitled to. Again, as has been mentioned, pension credit, it's crucial that we have that campaign, working with the older people's commissioner. Actually, our campaign in March last year did result in a huge uptake of £651,000-plus claimed by those entitled to benefits. I strongly urge the UK Government to run a similar campaign, as have the Scottish Ministers as well, to relieve those financial pressures that they're experiencing.

I'd like to just very quickly say 'thank you' to the Equality and Social Justice Committee. Your review on indebtedness—and we responded to that positively last week—was crucial, and you've got a forthcoming inquiry into fuel poverty. The integrity of your work has helped to inform and shape our response to these vital issues, and I think that's part of what the Plaid motion is calling for, that we all work together in this way to make that difference we can make in Wales. Because we do have a more generous social wage in Wales, through initiatives such as our council tax reduction scheme, free prescriptions, the effect of leaving money in the pockets of Welsh citizens. And the tenancy support fund has been mentioned—the £10 million tenancy support fund—which is now not just supporting the private sector, but social housing tenants struggling to repay significant rent arrears. Again, listening to all the points that have been made in this debate this afternoon, our single advice fund, integrated services during the first six months of this year, helping people again to make additional claims of income. And we mustn't forget our self-isolation support scheme, which has actually helped people who are unable to work because they're legally required to self-isolate, and nearly £29 million has been claimed to date.

I just want to finally acknowledge that our co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru has enabled us to commit to extending free school meals. It's been mentioned in this debate, but seeing an additional 196,000 primary school-aged children benefit from the offer of a free, healthy school meal, that's crucially important in how Wales is responding to the cost-of-living crisis. We're also moving forward in terms of the funding for childcare for more families, when parents are in education, and also looking to an extension of support through Welsh-medium education as well.

We have got other measures. We've got the young people's guarantee, we've got the real living wage, the commitment to extend that with the First Minister and Deputy Minister for Social Partnership writing to all public bodies to encourage them to lead by example, and our Warm Homes programme benefiting since 2010-11 67,100 households and many more.

So, my final point is that these initiatives are making a real difference to the lives of low-income households, but we are aware, as energy prices rise and inflation increases, we need to do more. So, I am organising a round-table conference with key stakeholders, bringing together all the stakeholders and ministerial colleagues on 17 February, very much responding to calls today in this motion to determine what more we can do with the policy levers available to us, and develop that plan of action that will support households across Wales who are at a very real risk of financial harm.

But we have to continue to make the strongest representations alongside Scotland and Northern Ireland to the UK Government, which has proven itself callously indifferent to the challenges that people are facing. So, will the Welsh Conservatives, if they're backing this motion, join us in backing our representations that we're making to the UK Government? It is your responsibility now, if you back our motion, to do that, to join us and to back our representations to the UK Government. Back them to make sure they give additional support to schemes such as the warm home discount—

Minister, if you were in the Chamber, the clock would have long turned red by now, so if you can bring your comments to a close, please.

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. As National Energy Action has clearly stated, the UK Government has the powers and fiscal resources to address these issues, but we will do what we can with our powers and policies here in Wales to support this motion and take this forward. Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. 

Luke Fletcher to reply to the debate. 

Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you to all Members who have contributed to this afternoon's debate and to the Minister for responding.

As we close this debate, I think it's worth noting and reiterating a point Jayne Bryant made, that the daily struggles due to the cost of living are not something new, this is something that has been in the works for a decade or more. But, what we are seeing now is an amplification of those struggles, a struggle that should never exist in the first place. That amplification will lead to Victorian levels of poverty, and that's worth pausing to think about for a moment—Victorian levels of poverty in present-day Wales.

We've heard from Huw Irranca-Davies, Rhianon Passmore and Peredur Owen Griffiths about the effect that the rising costs of fuel are having. Families who were just about managing before now are being pushed over the edge through no fault of their own. We've seen the story on BBC Wales news of Judith, a grandmother, who only puts the heating on when her grandkids come for a visit, and even then she can only afford to have it on for an hour. If that doesn't wake you up to the reality of the situation, then I don't know what will—a situation that reinforces exactly what Peredur outlined on the effect of the cost of fuel on elderly people. 

We've heard from Heledd Fychan about how the cost of food and water has risen, plunging more people into food poverty. And, as Heledd pointed out, last year, nearly 10 per cent of households in Wales were experiencing low food security, and a fifth of people in Wales were worried about running out of food before they could afford to buy more. This figure was even higher for families with children. And all of us will have seen the rise in foodbank usage with our own eyes. Food and water aren't luxuries, they're fundamental to human life. We can't live or survive without them. 

We've also heard from Sioned Williams and Carolyn Thomas how wages are not keeping pace. Before this crisis, people were already working more than one job to make ends meet. And all this, of course, as Sioned Williams, Rhun ap Iorwerth and Delyth Jewell alluded to, means even more families are now making that choice between heating and eating. And for those who have already needed to make that choice, they are no doubt sick with fright about where all this will leave them. Meanwhile—and I know that there are Members who would like to sing of the virtues of this particular group—whilst 163 million people were driven below the poverty line during the pandemic, a surge in share and property prices led to the 10 richest in the world seeing their global wealth increase to $1.5 trillion. Oxfam projects that, by 2030, 3.3 billion people will be living on less than $5.50 a day. Let me put this in different terms: during the pandemic, the world's 10 richest men have seen their wealth double, as their income has grown nearly $1 billion a day, whereas the rest of the world has taken a pay cut. So, I'll ask the question again, as I've done in the Siambr before: at what point do we decide that hoarding that amount of wealth is immoral, because I think that we have long passed that stage now?

And one final point, Llywydd. There's nothing more showing of a person's humanity or lack of humanity when they say, 'Well, that's the way things are', or 'We don't live in an ideal world.' The reason why things are the way they are, the reason why we don't live in an ideal world is because of the lack of political will to get to grips with poverty. It's as simple as that. This isn't inevitable. Yet again, we find ourselves in a crisis where we have a UK Government that is unfit to govern, a Government that is more concerned with operation 'save big dog' than actually getting to grips with a crisis that will devastate families not just in Wales, but across the UK. Martin Lewis, the money saving expert, highlighted the stark difference between this place and Westminster. The biggest challenge facing families with a hike of 50 per cent in energy prices, making energy unaffordable for millions, brushed aside in one question during Prime Minister's questions. Now, I will say it does fill me with some hope that a lot of time today, not just in this debate but in spokespersons' questions in this Senedd, has seen questions raised around the cost of living. And actually, the response from the Minister was very positive, but we now need to act. Like all Members here, I deal with so many issues on behalf of constituents, but the crisis before us is the one that keeps me up at night. We're talking about my friends, my family, and it's the people I grew up with, the people who live in my community, and who live in all of our communities, who will be affected by this the most.  

Plaid Cymru's motion 

'Calls on the Welsh Government to publish an emergency cost-of-living action plan'. 

If this passes, it will require all of us, not just Plaid Cymru Members, but it will also require Labour Members and Conservative Members and Lib Dem Members from across the Chamber, to ensure that whatever plan is produced is worth the paper it's written on, and that it does work for people. And I challenge as well the Welsh Conservatives to go to Westminster and bang the drum about the fact that people in Wales right now are really struggling. They need to step up to the plate here. Too many motions and debates pass in this Senedd and are followed with delayed action or poor implementation. Well, this can't be one of them. So, I urge all Members to support our motion.  

The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object?  I don't see any objection, and therefore the motion is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36. 

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

That now brings us to voting time. We will take a short break to prepare for those votes. 

Plenary was suspended at 18:02.

The Senedd reconvened at 18:05, with the Llywydd in the Chair.