5. Will the Minister make a statement on the role of third sector organisations in achieving social justice in Wales? OQ57968

The third sector plays a crucial and unique role in delivering a fair and just Wales, and as we work to avoid the deepening of inequalities in our communities due to the pandemic, we've co-produced with the sector a COVID recovery plan focused on support, relationships and volunteering.

Thank you, Minister. We're incredibly lucky in Wales to have such a diverse range of services and support provided by the third sector. In Rhondda alone we have Rhondda veterans, Valleys Kids, Men's Sheds, the Arts Factory and RCT Women's Aid, amongst hundreds of others. Since becoming the Senedd Member, I've had the opportunity to visit Barnardo's Better Futures, Wales Air Ambulance and Voices from Care. Each and every one of these charities and community groups provide bespoke support to families and individuals, and each have their own unique relationship with Welsh Government—some needing financial support, others needing advice and guidance, and some will benefit greatly from partnership working with other third sector organisations.

The Wales Council for Voluntary Action have reported an increase in demand for third sector support across Wales, and there is research that suggests that 20 per cent of people approaching GPs will benefit from social prescribing rather than medical support. Knowing this, how will the Minister engage with third sector organisations, groups and charities going forward? And will we see a more comprehensive plan on how we can better support the sector in the future, encompassing financial support, advice and guidance and support to make meaningful partnerships?

Thank you to Buffy Williams. As Rhondda Senedd Member, you're so engaged with your community, and that's come through clearly in your question about your links and your visits and your engagement with local organisations—organisations that, actually, are reflected in constituencies across Wales, in terms of their huge contribution in the community. I think the pandemic has shown even more clearly the contribution and role of the third sector and volunteers, and, indeed, that has made a difference, in terms of the way forward with our funding, because we have a third sector support Wales grant that does provide that core funding, not just to the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, but also our county voluntary councils. Every Member of this Senedd will have a county voluntary council that they will be aware of—in your area, of course, it's the Interlink RCT—helping to support the local organisations.

But I think the key point you make, in terms of the way forward for the third sector—the third sector recovery plan is crucial to that. But we work very closely with the funding and compliance committee, with the third sector, to ensure that we can have greater awareness of funding opportunities, priorities for the third sector. And I would say, just finally, that the priority now has been very much focused on how they can help, as they do, as support to communities and vulnerable people with the cost-of-living crisis. We've got to remember that, actually, in your constituency and across Wales, you have Citizens Advice, you have Trussell Trust foodbanks and third sector organisations, as well as credit unions, helping to support families and households and communities with the cost-of-living crisis.

I've sat here for 19 years listening to Welsh Government Ministers telling me how they work in partnership and co-production with third sector organisations to achieve social justice in Wales. However, I'm a patron of a charity that supports disabled people across north Wales, but which, despite most of the over 100 new referrals they receive weekly coming from public bodies in north Wales, receives no public funding from any of them. I'm contacted weekly by third sector organisations battling to support people denied by public bodies the voice over their care and support that is their right under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. When I questioned Age Cymru in committee last week about engagement with regional partnership boards, regarding integrated health and social care support, they replied:

'What we're hearing back from some of the regional organisations is that the level of involvement of older people representation isn't as good as they would like it to be, and through the development of regional partnership boards we'd like to see more meaningful engagement of more older people, and their representatives being involved in those developments'.

Of course, they've been saying that since regional partnership boards first began. So, how and when will you, therefore, turn words into deeds by designing the system backwards, with people and third sector organisations?

Well, of course, for many years we've discussed these issues, Mark Isherwood, and I'm very proud of the fact that the Welsh Government has got a partnership with the third sector, and that I chair a third sector partnership council. I can assure you that that council is made up of representatives, as you are well aware, of all sectors, who raise issues with us not just in terms of policy, but also funding. That's why we have a funding and compliance committee, and that's why we responded—. It is a response as a result of co-production that we've now moved to giving a three-year grant commitment. I know that you would welcome the three-year grant commitments that we're giving to the third sector. It enables them to undertake long-term planning, retaining staff and skills, but also it helps them to develop those crucial long-term partnerships, in terms of the regional boards and consortia, with local authorities and health boards.

I can assure you that the funding is available, and you know that, in terms of funding not just the CVCs, the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, and support for safeguarding, the third sector change fund, support for volunteering, the partnership capacity fund—these are all substantial sums of money coming through our third sector grant scheme. Also I think the community facilities programme is very important to the third sector and, I'm sure, to many of those that you represent, because that's £4.8 million in 2020-21, and it remained open throughout the pandemic, and indeed is open now.