Questions now from the party spokespeople. The Conservative spokesperson, Joel James.

Thank you, Llywydd. As the Minister will be well aware, the Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, has strongly backed Russia in the present Russian-Ukraine conflict, stating that, in the context of the ongoing war, Russia should be viewed as the centre of gravity in eastern Europe. For those who are unfamiliar with this military phrasing, what the President is saying is that Russia is the source of power that provides moral and physical strength in that region, and, as such, has the freedom of action to enforce that moral and physical strength. President Museveni's son, Lieutenant General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the commander of the land forces of the Uganda People's Defence Force, and the person expected to succeed the President, has strongly asserted that most Africans support Russia and has remarked that, and I quote:

'The majority of mankind that are non-white support Russia's stand in Ukraine, and Putin is absolutely right in his attempted conquest.'

Given Uganda's public support of Russia, who has with this conflict caused immense human suffering, a high number of civilian deaths and a refugee crisis in Europe not seen since the end of the second world war, do you, Minister, believe that it is morally wrong and hypocritical for Wales to be both a supersponsor of refugees and to continue to support and send aid to Uganda, no matter how small, who believe that Russia is right in carrying out this conflict? And if the Minister does believe it is right to continue to provide aid in Uganda, what justification can she give for this to those refugees who are fleeing for their lives? Thank you. 

Of course, the money that does go through the Wales and Africa programme goes to communities in Uganda. It goes to communities that we're working closely with and have done for many years. And, also, of course, in the whole of Wales there are partnerships in communities, and, as you know, in your region as well—partnerships between local people in our towns and cities and villages. Indeed, PONT is one that you will know very well, and indeed across Wales, with communities, with non-governmental organisations in Uganda, to work as part of our Wales and Africa programme.

Clearly, it is abhorrent when we hear these views—any views—and when those views are expressed, we condemn them in terms of the leaders of governments, and that is happening across the world. But let's look at what we do and what the outcomes are for our Wales and Africa programme in terms of our commitment to those communities that we've worked with, and which citizens across Wales are working with day-in, day-out in order to support them.

Thank you, Minister. Oh, I nearly swore then—two secs, Llywydd—[Inaudible.]—came apart then. [Laughter.]

Thank you, Minister, for your condemnation of those remarks, and I support that condemnation. I would urge, going forward, that we look carefully at where that aid's going and how it's being used. As you know, the Welsh Government's flagship Wales and Africa grant scheme was created to enable community groups and organisations in Wales to access funding for small-scale projects that contribute to Wales's delivery of the UN sustainable development goals, and to deliver benefits for people living in both Wales and Africa. You will be aware that the total funding of this scheme is in the region of £150,000 per year, and the NHS contribution to ensure that some projects are dedicated to health activities is £50,000 per year, and these figures have remained at that level for the past 15 years. When you consider the size of the NHS budget in Wales, this amount is relatively small, and, given the long-term effects of COVID in sub-Saharan Africa, I'm keen to know why you are funding your flagship initiative with such meagre sums. Firstly, Minister, can you comment on whether the lack of an uplift in the NHS contribution over the past 15 years is an oversight on this Government's part, or is this stagnation of funding part of the Welsh Government's vision for delivery of the Wales and Africa programme's long-term goals? And, secondly, with such small sums involved, how do you measure whether there has been any long-term benefit of this programme, both in Wales and in Africa?

Well, the Wales and Africa small grants scheme, which actually was contracted to the Wales Council for Voluntary Action to deliver, did end on 31 March. But, a procurement exercise put the contract back out to tender earlier this year, and the WCVA will continue to implement and to manage that small grants scheme. It's now open, round 1 of the 2022-25 Wales and Africa small grants scheme, and the application deadline is 24 July. 

The importance of those small grants is that, although they may sound a small amount of money, in terms of our priorities in the Welsh Government and the pressures on our budget, we still believe it is important to invest in Wales and Africa. And these small sums of money can make a huge difference, working with partners on projects relating to health, climate change, environment, lifelong learning and sustainable livelihoods. And these are projects that are led, as I said, by African partners, by those NGOs, working with many groups across Wales. And I think what's important is that we have worked to support many communities during the pandemic. We've devoted millions of pounds-worth of PPE to Namibia via the Phoenix Project. I seem to remember there were some adverse comments from your party about the fact that we were doing that. We believe very strongly that we should do that. Also, we support projects in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Lesotho, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda, and these are all projects where the outcomes are clearly having a huge impact on those communities. 

Thank you, Minister, for that response, and I'd like to reiterate, unless we have that actual assessment of the impact of this money going to Africa, we wonder what sort of benefit it's bringing to the Welsh taxpayer.

If I move on to the next question, one of the touted benefits of the Wales and Africa programme is that diaspora communities can bring to Wales knowledge and experience that is otherwise difficult to obtain here. Setting up the health partnership under the Wales and Africa umbrella also allows Welsh NHS workers to experience for themselves some of the challenges faced by sub-Saharan communities and establish mutual knowledge transfer that enables African communities to improve health education and to upskill health professionals and other workers in partner nations. Sub-Saharan countries bear 24 per cent of the world's disease burden, but employ only 3 per cent of the world's health workers. I can see that there is an unprecedented need to develop health partnerships and provide training. I am aware that relatively few Welsh health professionals are involved in health partnership schemes, and it's likely that they know very little about what the health partnerships can achieve for sub-Saharan nations and to what extent they or the Welsh NHS can benefit. With this in mind, Minister, what impact assessment has this Government made of the benefits that health partnerships have made here in Wales and in Africa, particularly to the Welsh NHS, and how is this Government examining the role that health partnerships can play in supporting the careers of Welsh health professionals going forward? Thank you.

I presume and I hope that you've met with the Wales and Africa Health Links Network, which is a very dynamic organisation led principally by people in the Welsh NHS. It's one of the most important networks that has been developed within the NHS, so that you have partnerships between health boards, between hospitals, between communities in Wales and Africa. I hope, if you haven't met them, that you will be meeting them, because they come under the umbrella of Hub Cymru Africa.

It is important that we are relaunching our international learning opportunities programme. That was relaunched in April after two years of not being able to send people on placements due to COVID. It's a really important way in which people in Wales can actually contribute to UN sustainable development goals, by having a placement of up to eight weeks in either Lesotho, Namibia or Uganda. That's funded by the Wales and Africa programme. These exchanges are also taking place with NHS workers. Actually, we've enabled people in the NHS to have time off in order to undertake this kind of experience. 

In terms of outcomes, the money that we made available, £3.1 million since March 2020, looking at response and adaptations to the pandemic, is helping children get back to school, providing clean water and soap stations and essential PPE, raising awareness about the impact of COVID-19, dispelling fake information, stressing the importance of receiving vaccinations, helping people get digital access and assistance in areas that could not previously provide it. That is the outcome of our investment in Africa.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Sioned Williams.

Diolch, Llywydd. Prynhawn da, Weinidog. We know that families with children are among the poorest households in our nation. Following the success of the baby box scheme in Scotland, a scheme was piloted in the Swansea Bay University Health Board area to provide baby bundles to 200 families to reduce the need for expenditure on newborn essentials. The pilot appeared to be successful, according to the evaluation published by the Welsh Government. So, could I ask what developments have followed the conclusion of this pilot? Given the success of the pilot, why has the Welsh Government not yet implemented a baby bundle scheme? Of course, if we had more powers over welfare, we could develop a cash support scheme, which is called for by anti-poverty campaigners as the best way to support families with children, similar to that of the Best Start scheme in Scotland. We could help parents during the cost-of-living crisis and assist in pulling families out of poverty. So, could the Minister update us on the commitment made in the co-operation agreement to progress the devolution of the administration of welfare?

Thank you very much. Diolch yn fawr, Sioned. I will start with the baby bundles, because, as you say, we've piloted them for families across Wales. It's going to really help in terms of the cost-of-living crisis for parents in Wales. It's those key items that are essential to their new baby's development and well-being. I want to recognise Julie Morgan, the Deputy Minister for Social Services, who actually took this idea forward and helped get this pilot launched, very much learning from the Scottish Government and further from our pilot as well. I know the Deputy Minister for Social Services is going to be making announcements later this year, but we're very much seeing this as a key part of our package of support for tackling the cost-of-living crisis.

Yes, it is important that we move forward in terms of our commitment in the co-operation agreement in relation to the devolution of the administration of welfare benefits. I was extremely disappointed to hear today that the UK Government has rejected fairly sensible and decent recommendations from the Welsh Affairs Committee, which did an inquiry into the interaction in Wales of welfare benefits, social security and relations with the Welsh Government. They actually recommended that there should be work done and a committee formed between the UK Government and the Welsh Government to look at the interaction, because there's a great deal that could be done now, before we move further, in terms of much stronger take-up campaigns, the UK Government Department for Work and Pensions failing to engage with us on our 'Claim what's yours' campaign, pension credit—after all, a UK Government responsibility—and so many of the benefits that people need during this cost-of-living crisis.

Again, we move forward in terms of looking at the way forward with the devolution of the administration of benefits, but I fear, from that UK Government response, that we're going to have a difficult time to move it forward. But let's get the evidence and let's get the backing, as we have with our co-operation agreement. Also, I'm meeting my colleague in the Scottish Government to learn from them how they have been able to progress this and what that has meant in terms of beneficial impacts.

Diolch, Weinidog. It's good to hear that there will be an announcement on the baby bundles. As we brace for a serious worsening of the cost-of-living crisis as the autumn and winter months begin to loom over an already grim horizon, I was wondering whether the Minister could update the Senedd on how effectively the current financial support being provided by the Welsh Government is being delivered and consider the steps needed to improve this to enhance current schemes, and to think about what we can improve before introducing any new schemes in order to ensure that what has been committed to is actually being accessed by those who most need support, and whether the measures are having the desired impact.

In theory, much of what we have in place should provide a good foundation to help some of the most vulnerable households in Wales this winter, or at least what we can put in place within our devolved competencies. Do we need to improve take-up, delivery and awareness of the current support? Would the Minister consider merging schemes as a kind of one-stop shop, for example, to improve access? 

I thank you for that really useful question as well. In fact, the Minister for Finance and Local Government and I were at the partnership council this morning with all of the new leaders of local government in Wales, and we had an item on the cost-of-living crisis. Indeed, I thanked local government for the role that they've played, because they are delivering not only the cost-of-living payments that have been made available as part of the £385 million package, but they were able to manage and deliver on the winter fuel support scheme. We got clear feedback there in terms of take-up.

I will be, on Monday, chairing another follow-up cost-of-living crisis summit, again with the Minister for Finance and Local Government and the Minister for Climate Change. A hundred and twenty stakeholders have signed up for that. We will have a presentation as part of it from a leader from local government as well, because we need to work with them to ensure that not only is there 'Claim what's yours' to claim what we're putting out in terms of our benefits like the winter fuel support scheme, but that there is adequate engagement with our single advice fund-givers, because Citizens Advice are, obviously, mainly delivering on single advice, and they're the ones who are working on the Advicelink to 'Claim what's yours'.

But, on streamlining—I raised this this morning—there are opportunities to passport and streamline all of our benefits. I feel that the responsibilities we've got at the moment are to make what we have in terms of our responsibilities for social security, which is what I believe it should be seen as, as robust, as streamlined and as passported as possible to reach people in these dire times. But, I hope, also, that we can recognise that every time someone goes to a foodbank they get signposted, now, that they're going to actually be able to access—people on prepayment meters—the fuel vouchers. There are so many opportunities when people do come forward who are vulnerable and in need for all of our agencies to work together, and I'm sure we'll be discussing that on Monday.