Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:13 pm on 9 March 2022.
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.