3. Statement by the First Minister: Update on the Cost of Living

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:15 pm on 20 September 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 3:15, 20 September 2022

Llywydd, I find myself in much the same position as I was earlier in the afternoon. There is a strong case to be made, I'm quite sure, for almost everything that the leader of Plaid Cymru would like us to spend more money on: more money on insulation, more money on EMAs, more money on rail fares, more money on businesses. Every one of those will have a case to be made for it.

The Scottish Government, of course, faces the same dilemma as we do. In order to fund the additional measures that they have taken, they have had to reduce other budgets by £700 million, and alongside the additional things they are doing, they have already outlined £560 million of cuts that they will make to things that otherwise they would have been able to do. That's the point I make to the Member, really: that for every one of the things that we could do more of, you can only do it by doing less of something you've already planned to do. Our budget is 100 per cent committed and more. Our capital budget in this year is overprogrammed to the tune of £100 million. There is no reserve. There is no sum of money waiting to be drawn on for these new purposes.

As he will know, we had long negotiations over the sums of money needed to support the 47 items in the co-operation agreement to make sure that they can be properly implemented, including the £260 million on universal free school meals in primary schools. So, there is no difference between us on the idea that there is more that we could do, or would want to do, but we face the same dilemma that the Scottish Government face, that if we want to do anything new, it can only be done by stopping doing something that we are already doing. That's the more difficult conversation that has to be had, alongside listing all the good things that could be added to that list.

We have a rent freeze in the public sector here in Wales until the end of March, because we've already announced any increases in those rents. We will continue to work, as we are committed to doing, on proposals that we will bring forward in a White Paper on rent controls here in Wales. Because I agree there as well with the leader of Plaid Cymru that there are particular costs that drive inflation and the impact on families here in Wales, including, as we often say here, the impact of standing charges in the energy field—standing charges that I've long regarded as being ought to be part of the past, not the current way in which we charge for energy, and that fall particularly heavily on consumers in Wales.