I will now call the party spokespeople. The Conservative spokesperson first of all. Mark Isherwood. 

Diolch. As you know from correspondence, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in north Wales have expressed serious concern that local authority Gypsy/Traveller accommodation assessments have not engaged with them, and, therefore, fail to identify their accommodation needs. An advocate for them wrote to your department, stating that they're continuing to campaign for new sites, even if politicians of all parties and professional officers resolutely ignore them, and that the present law and guidance in Wales—Welsh Government law and guidance—does not ensure local authorities build new sites, residential or transit, or enable planning permission for private sites. In terms of your own responsibilities in Wales, your communities division's response only states, 'We strongly recommend local authorities to closely follow the guidance, along with any studies currently under way.' How do you, therefore, respond to the Gypsies in north Wales themselves who stated, 'Having meetings about sites without a Gypsy there is racism. Very shortly, we will have no transit sites in north Wales and south Wales. I feel we've been completely let down by people who I wanted to trust, and please tell them not to complain when the families who need transit and permanent sites, not included in council plans, pull up on fields et cetera'?

Thank you, Mark Isherwood, for very important questions in relation to the delivery of our commitments to Gypsy, Roma and Travellers to ensure that local authorities do fulfil their statutory duties to provide adequate and appropriate sites where there is need. And we recreated this duty—the Welsh Government and the Senedd here—to identify and meet the need for appropriate accommodation. That's within—and you were here—the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, and, in fact, we have seen well over 200 new pitches created or refurbished, mainly on smaller sites, and that is compared with what happened before that, which was just a handful, and we're also funding local authorities to build new pitches and refurbish many more.

It's crucial that Gypsy/Roma/Travellers are engaged in the process with their local authorities. It is a local authority responsibility and we're working with local authorities to identify and remove barriers to meeting needs. We fund Travelling Ahead, as you will be aware, of course, through TGP Cymru to deliver advice and advocacy to support Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, and that funding is continuing as well. But it is true—I think, Mark, you're right—the fact that we now have a chance again to review, as a result of the accommodation assessments—the deadline's passed—for Gypsy and Travellers, and we need to look at this in terms of compliance, guidance, quality of engagement and calculation of needs.

You and I attended in 2005 the launch of the report on accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers in Llandrindod Wells, if I remember correctly, and the legislation followed. But the point here is that the members of the community themselves are saying that their voice has not been heard in the assessment that's been submitted to you, and therefore it doesn't reflect real need and sets up a time-bomb of issues for the future. 

But, moving on, your equality and human rights responsibilities also include domestic abuse. Hourglass Cymru, the only charity in Wales solely focused on ending the harm and abuse of older people, has seen a 47 per cent increase in calls answered during the pandemic, with over 25 per cent coming outside normal business hours. A 2020 poll by Hourglass showed that there were over 443,000 older victims of abuse in Wales, and their freephone national helpline provides support and advice to these victims and anyone with concerns about the abuse and neglect of older people. And today, Hourglass Cymru have launched a 24/7 service supporting older people and their families, the first service of its kind in Wales with a specialism around elder abuse. The UK Home Office—

You need to ask the question now, please.

Okay. The UK Home Office have supported this service in England, and in Wales Hourglass is using its own reserves to fund the service. What consideration have you therefore given to ensuring the same level of specialist support for older people at risk, and will you meet with Hourglass Cymru to discuss this vital service and consider providing specialist support?

Thank you, Mark Isherwood. Well, I'm very happy to meet with Hourglass. But also, I've met with the Older People's Commissioner for Wales on this issue, who has herself, and with her team, done research and engaged with older people in terms of identifying elder abuse. This is crucial to the next phase of our VAWDASV strategy. We've consulted on it, we're developing the next five-year national strategy, we have key partner organisations, and I will shortly be responding to that. But, it is true that we have to look at this particularly in relation to the pandemic and the impact that lockdown and the pandemic had on older people as well. So, I'm grateful to you for bringing this to our attention this afternoon.

They'll be glad to hear your offer to meet because, as they say, elder abuse remains an under-supported and under-reported area.

My final question. Your equality and human rights responsibilities also include the issue of period poverty. Working with their active ambassadors, Grŵp Llandrillo Menai developed the 'It Won't Stop Us' campaign. In February 2019, prior to COVID lockdown and Government restrictions, they filmed and interviewed a range of athletes from across north Wales to share their experience of managing their menstruation whilst continuing to train, and as part of that the college want to promote the importance of maintaining physical activity to highlight the benefits of reducing the symptoms of menstruation and that periods should not act as a barrier to engaging in either learning or active well-being. They've also developed free complementary exercise resources that learners can do at home and tips on period hygiene and self-care. Well, as the Minister for Social Justice, therefore, what discussion are you having with the education Minister regarding Welsh Government plans to continue to support further education and work-based learning learners who have periods, including trans learners, over the longer term?

I made a statement, actually, a couple of weeks ago, as you'll recall, on period dignity, again highlighting the fact that we've prioritised this in our programme for government. We've got our strategic action plan on period dignity as a result of consultation, and I do chair a round-table with external stakeholders, including those from the education, school and colleges sector. And indeed, we have provided an additional £110,000 to local authorities this year, but that's over and above the £3.3 million to local authorities and colleges every year. What's crucial is the fact that learners are engaged in that round-table. We have ambassadors, and you will have met them, and the next meeting is considering the consultation response on 22 April.

On behalf of Plaid Cymru, Sioned Williams. 

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Minister, 3 million refugees have now left Ukraine. The UK is requiring those refugees to apply for visas, and the UK Government has been resistant to the elimination of visa rules, although this contradicts our international obligations under the 1951 UN refugee convention, which stipulates that no-one fleeing war, no matter where they are from, should have to apply for a visa before seeking protection.

A group of refugees from Swansea, the second ever city of sanctuary in the UK, have written an open letter to the Government, calling out for more support for all people in extreme circumstances across the globe to have a safe way to get to the UK. Given the view on visas set out by the First Minister this week, contrary to the position of your Labour colleagues in Westminster, including senior Welsh Labour MPs, will you put on record today that the Welsh Government will keep pushing for the complete waiving of visa requirements for all refugees, in line with our aim of Wales becoming a supersponsor for those fleeing Ukraine and being a true nation of sanctuary?

Thank you very much. Diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams. And of course I endorse the First Minister's commitment to this. We need to ensure that there are no barriers to supporting people fleeing the war in Ukraine. We want to provide that sanctuary and safety in Wales. We want them to come here. Any checks that need to be done can be done when they get here, so I completely endorse what the First Minister said. And he said it as the First Minister of Wales, responsible for the Welsh Government's policy as far as this is concerned, but this is not devolved in terms of these powers, so what is important is that the First Minister confirmed our intention to become a supersponsor for the UK Government's Homes for Ukraine scheme.

I've just issued an update today, following the First Minister's statement on Monday, and we are working with the UK Government to finalise those details to make sure that the first matches can be made under this scheme. We're working very closely with all our local authorities. They all met yesterday with our officials. Through third sector organisations, we're now developing links with Ukrainian networks and groups across the whole of Wales, and I'm grateful for the contacts that have been shared with me from across the Chamber. And, of course, this is where we have to, ourselves, be ready with the welcome centres, the wraparound services that people arriving from a war zone may need. 

Thank you for that answer, Minister, and it's good to hear that progress is being made on our response to the UK sponsorship scheme, because that scheme for Ukrainian refugees is wholly inadequate. The system is too slow, it's inconsistent, and has kept Welsh local authorities in the dark. The leader of Gwynedd Council wrote yesterday to the Prime Minister, expressing deep concern as to what they have called the inadequate and inept response of the UK Government, and highlighting how they have expressed willingness to provide sanctuary for refugees and have accommodation available now, but have had no information as to the intentions of the UK Government.

The Welsh Government's announcement about becoming a supersponsor for Ukrainian refugees is very welcome, so can you provide more information about this proposal and how you intend to work with local authorities to create a holistic and robust structure of support? I understand the UK Government have agreed to provide £10,000 for local authorities for an individual, however there is no support for charity organisations. So, what resources do you think will be available from Welsh Government for local authorities, and will any funding be available to third sector organisations to provide crucial specialist support to arrivals?

Well thank you very much again for that follow-up question. We actually have worked with the Scottish Government, as you will be aware, so that the First Minister of Scotland and that of Wales, Mark Drakeford, raised this proposal for us to become supersponsors, actually based on our experience, our commitment as a nation of sanctuary, our experience as a result of the Afghan evacuation, but also for years before that, decades of our welcome to Wales, because we work as a team. Indeed, we met with all Welsh local government leaders, myself and the Minister for Finance and Local Government, as soon as we could. I will also say that, as well as the leader of Gwynedd Council raising his concerns, Councillor Andrew Morgan, the leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, also wrote immediately as things started to move, concerned about the barriers with visas. So, he wrote on behalf of the whole of the Welsh Local Government Association as well. All of the chief executives met with our officials yesterday, and we will take this forward.

We did have, as I think the First Minister reported yesterday, a letter back from Michael Gove to him and Nicola Sturgeon recognising that we would play the supersponsor role, and also giving us some more details. I'm going to be updating you probably on a daily basis, and also with those authorities. For example, they've agreed to a tariff similar to that allocated for the Afghan resettlement scheme—£10,500 per beneficiary person. For individual sponsors, we've heard, obviously, of the £350 per month, thank you, and also a tariff for education costs as well, varying depending on the age group, and primary/secondary as well. So, there's quite a lot of detail coming through. We are working, as I said, with our colleagues in the Scottish Government to ensure that, through the supersponsor route, we can provide a clear and supportive route for people to join us. 

On the third sector, we're also going to be developing a 'welcome to Wales' fund that we can contribute to as a Government, but also we have got an infrastructure of third sector organisations. We've met with the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, but every authority also works very closely with their councils for voluntary service as well. But, there are many charitable trusts in Wales that want to contribute, so we will be able to then provide a fund for—. This is all being developed, so I'm speaking as we are working on this, but it will be for the voluntary groups, the community groups, the links that are being provided. So, at every level, the team Wales approach, the supersponsor route for refugees from Ukraine will be there, and I hope all colleagues will see today my latest statement giving you an update, and we will continue to do so over the coming days.