Around 75 per cent of households are expected to be supported in some way by the Welsh Government's cost-of-living interventions, with increased support targeted at households in the bottom half of the income distribution. We know the winter fuel support payment is valued by people who received it and one recipient in my region of North Wales said, 'the £100 alleviated my poverty for this month and will also keep me warm for at least a month and a bit. Another £100'—which was given—'will mean I can keep warm in March, April and up to mid May. It made such a difference.'

We do face very serious challenges. UK household incomes fell for a fourth consecutive quarter at the start of this year, making the longest run of decline since 1955, and it's now estimated that up to 45 per cent of all households in Wales could be in fuel poverty, and more than 100,000 of those in severe fuel poverty. Citizens Advice expressed to me how fuel voucher schemes provided a crucial lifeline to those in crisis situations. The Welsh Government has ensured vital funding is available in the form of the fuel voucher scheme and the discretionary assistance fund to support these families in these situations, and it's gratefully received.

The Welsh Government is doing what it can to support those in need, but, fundamentally, the people of Wales have been let down by the Tory UK Government, which has failed to act to stop astronomical energy prices. To make matters worse, the welfare system, as it stands, is entirely unfit for purpose, and universal credit fails to protect families. Years of fiscal restraint has stretched our public services and eroded public and private sector workers' pay in the name of productivity. But that productivity has not increased wages and living standards.

Grants are a sticking plaster, can be bureaucratic, not reach everyone in need, and don't address the fundamental problems people are facing. I noticed that Flintshire County Council were advertising for 10 new benefits officers, but those are on £19,200 each. They could be going to foodbanks before long as well. It's just increasing all the time. Action needs to be taken now to put money in people's pockets, at the fuel pumps, and in their pay packets.

One concern I would like to raise with the Minister, however, is that many tenants are forced to use private prepayment meters, which are excluded from Ofgem's maximum-price regulations. Energy is resold by the landlord to tenants, with the landlord able to pass on a daily standing charge to the tenant. This further entrenches a poverty premium that is applied to those using prepayment meters, many of whom have no choice in the matter. As it is within the competency of the Welsh Government to end this practice, I wonder if the Minister could comment on the practice, please, in her response to the debate, and outline if the Welsh Government has any plans to address this, if at all possible. Thank you.