6. What discussions has the Minister had with the UK Treasury to ensure that the Welsh Government has the finance it needs to support those facing a cost-of-living crisis? OQ57738

I have raised the cost-of-living crisis with the UK Treasury on a number of occasions. Despite the difficult position we have been presented with, due to the UK Government support not going far enough, the Welsh Government will continue to assist people across Wales throughout the crisis.

I'm going to—to the disappointment of many, I know—strip out the politics entirely for this. In a mature democracy across the UK, when we are faced with several crises at once—we have the climate change crisis; we have the crisis we see involving now international issues within Ukraine and the humanitarian disaster there; and we have the cost-of-living crisis, which is going to get worse, not better—it would seem to me that there is a real need for Parliaments and Governments across the UK to engage constructively, collaboratively and meaningfully, so that ideas can flow back and forth, and that there is a genuinely interactive process.

I'm just seeking from the Minister an understanding of the quality of engagement, knowing that, I have to say, even in Whitehall itself, there were difficulties as UK Ministers in speaking to the Treasury—they're quite a cold and calculated bunch—is there that quality of engagement that can give my constituents assurance that, actually, Governments are working together to resolve this cost-of-living crisis?

I do think it is imperative for all Governments in the UK to be working together to solve these issues, and we have excellent meetings with colleagues in Northern Ireland and in Scotland who share many of our concerns about the way in which the UK Government is responding to the cost-of-living crisis in particular, and we've come up with ideas of simple things the UK Government could be doing to use the levers at its disposal while we do everything that we can in our power.

Things the UK Government could be doing at this point might include introducing a social tariff, for example, in respect of energy bills, to ensure that people on the lowest incomes don't pay the most. I was talking to someone just this morning about how, when you pay for your electricity on a meter, you go to the shop and you do it then, and you end up paying so much more than other people, and that just is absolutely the wrong way round for these things. So, a social tracked tariff could be something that it could do quickly.

Removing the—or reinstating the—uplift to universal credit of £20 a week would make a huge difference to people who are going to be facing an increasingly difficult position in the coming period ahead. So, we'll continue to engage constructively, providing the UK Government with things that it can do. And in these meetings, I always make a point of saying, 'This is what we're asking UK Government to do, but please be assured we're doing our part', and I let UK Government know of the interventions that we are making here as well.

I welcome the comments made by the Member for Ogmore and the Minister on that. If we're to weather the cost-of-living crisis, we need Government working together at all levels. And we have to remember that the crisis was started by Putin trying to strong-arm Europe over gas and oil supplies by turning off the taps. The fact that the whole world could be held to ransom by billionaire despots is shocking and depressing. The impact of this war in Ukraine will force up energy prices and food prices even further. Forecasters are predicting that UK households will see the biggest drop in incomes for half a century. Minister, while the focus is quite rightly on helping the immediate victims of Putin's war, the Ukrainian people, what discussions have you had with the UK Treasury about ways of mitigating the impact the conflict will have on Welsh families?

So, in my response to Huw Irranca-Davies, I set out some of the ways in which we've been pressing UK Government to use the levers at its disposal to help families and households here in Wales. But the UK Government does have a real opportunity now on 23 March, when it will be bringing forward its next fiscal statement, and that's a chance, I think, for the UK Government to set out some really strong interventions to be supporting people through this crisis. For example, they could be looking to increase benefits in line with inflation. I think that that would be a start. And it could be reconsidering some of the tax choices that it's making for the near future, because, clearly, again, the choice it made in respect of national insurance contributions wasn't the one that we would have chosen, for example. So, there are choices that the UK Government can make and can continue to explore different ways to support people.