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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:21 pm on 20 September 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 3:21, 20 September 2022

I absolutely agree with Alun Davies that, in this crisis, we have to do absolutely everything we can and that that is not a job just for the Welsh Government. We fund a single advice service here in Wales. It's one of the things that Lord Thomas, in his report on the devolution of justice, pointed out—that increasingly Welsh Governments have had to take on responsibilities for plugging the gap in services that are not devolved. We're glad to do it, because those advice services really matter to people. But if we think that those advice services are going by themselves to shoulder the burden of all the need for advice that there will be in Wales this autumn and winter, then I'm afraid that is unlikely to be something that they will be able to sustain.

I am very clear in my mind that in every single encounter that a public service worker has with a family in need this winter, there will be a responsibility on that public service to make sure that that person or that family is getting every piece of help that they can. When a social worker is out there meeting a family, making sure that every scheme that the Welsh Government can offer, every bit of help that can be drawn down from the UK Government—. That should be a responsibility that they are prepared to shoulder. As I said in health visitor terms, when a health visitor is there with a family, the financial health of that family will be having a direct impact on the physical health of that family as well. And this winter, of all winters, all public service contact should have that income maximisation, drawing down whatever help is available, at the forefront of their mind. We will want to do that as a Welsh Government, but we need to rely on that wider army of people that we have in Wales, whether they are in the third sector, in voluntary organisations and in our public services. When they are in contact with a family who needs help, as well as all the other things that I know they have to do, this winter, that cost-of-living lens must be one that I think they apply. In that way, I think we will be able to make the inroads we want to make so that nobody misses out on help that is available to them, because that help is going to be so urgently needed.