Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 2:06 pm on 8 June 2022.
Diolch, Delyth Jewell. Your role and your experience of working in Citizens Advice are very valuable, and it's useful to have that particular focus on how we can move through the pandemic to recovery and back to the face-to-face, which we know is very valuable for older people, but also for people who can often have complex needs and problems. This year I've made available over £13 million for single advice fund services so that people can get that help. I think evidence that it's making a difference—I'll just quote that, since January last year, single advice fund services have helped 116,000 people to deal with over 532,000 social welfare problems, and that's actually helped them claim additional income of over £67 million and have debts totalling £20 million written off. So, support for the sector, and Citizens Advice as a key partner, is crucial, and we will be looking particularly at key priority groups in their work and delivery, including older people, disabled people and people from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.