6. What assessment has the Minister made of the effect of inflation on people living on low incomes? OQ57954

The surge in inflation combined with higher taxes will result in real living standards decreasing and it will put significant further pressure on household budgets. Welsh Government is doing all it can, with the powers it has, to deliver support for our most vulnerable households in Wales. 

Quoting Jack Monroe:

'I did a £10 food shop in 2012...and re-did the exact same shop' in 2022,

'and it came to £17.11.'

That's over a 70 per cent increase. Neither the minimum wage nor benefits have gone up anywhere near that level. Even with the change by the Office for National Statistics in its collection of inflation data, the huge increase in food costs is not being fully reflected in the inflation rates. More and more poor people are having to use foodbanks. Seven of the eight wards in my constituency now have a foodbank. What support is the Welsh Government giving to foodbanks?

Can I say I really respect the role and contribution of food justice activist Jack Monroe for pointing that out, and just to recognise the impact of Brexit on rising food costs as well, which we certainly responded to and covered yesterday in terms of the First Minister's questions—the impact, and the ways in which this UK Tory Government has had such an adverse impact on people's lives, leading to this cost-of-living crisis? But the answer to your question is that the figures the Trussell Trust published last week showed a network of foodbanks, and 1,341,000 emergency food parcels distributed to people facing financial hardship between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022. It's back to eat or stay warm, it's the loss of the £2 million EU transition funding, supporting community food organisations, and 40 grant awards that are now going from Welsh Government to local authorities, third sector groups, schools and churches. 

Thank you also to the Member for submitting this important question today. Last week, Minister, I attended a Cardiff University webinar, and other Members of the Senedd were there as well, where they shared their evaluation of the policy response to the cost-of-living challenge. They highlighted that one of the disproportionate challenges facing those on lower incomes is of course the inflationary pressures of energy costs, and as we know in Wales we do have an older and less energy-efficient housing stock compared to other parts of the UK. That's backed up by data from the Wales fiscal analysis, which found that 45 per cent of properties in Wales are graded A to C in terms of energy efficiency, compared to 52 per cent of properties elsewhere—having that highest level of energy efficiency. So, in light of this, Minister, what discussions are you having with the Minister for Climate Change to make houses more efficient in Wales, to help with the inflationary pressures of energy costs on those with the lowest incomes?

Thank you for that very constructive question, Sam Rowlands. You will be aware that we held a cost-of-living crisis summit in February. I chaired it, along with the Minister for Climate Change, who spoke about the challenges in terms of housing and energy efficiency and the investment that's gone into the budget for this year in terms of supporting energy efficiency and boosting renewables, but also in terms of energy sources. And also there was my colleague Rebecca Evans, who is Minister for Finance and Local Government. So, we discuss these issues. It is a cross-Government responsibility in terms of tackling fuel poverty, our Warm Homes programme, which of course we are now concluding in terms of the consultation that we've undertaken. These are all crucial to tackling the cost-of-living crisis, but what we need is the funding to support us to do that, and that's where I hope you will be calling on the UK Government particularly to get that funding from a windfall tax to ensure that we can invest more in terms of energy efficiency and also reduce the fuel bills of those who are going to be at the sharp end of the cost-of-living crisis.