8. How is the Welsh Government supporting people in Cynon Valley affected by the cost-of-living crisis? OQ58427

Thank you. As with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Welsh Government is prioritising activities that support vulnerable households in the here and now, to help them through this very difficult period. Citizens in Cynon Valley are benefiting from initiatives such as our cost-of-living payment, our fuel support scheme and our discretionary assistance fund.

Diolch, Trefnydd. Child poverty is an issue of great concern to me, and today I sponsored an event held by the National Education Union and the Child Poverty Action Group, who've been working together to highlight the impact of poverty on education. The Welsh Government's roll-out of free school meals to all primary pupils is welcomed by families across the Cynon valley and across Wales, as is the provision of free school meals during school holidays until February of next year, and the additional resource provided by the pupil development access grant. But with three in 10 pupils in Wales living in poverty, and these figures only set to rise with the cost-of-living crisis, and with the key levers to tackle poverty being non devolved, what would be your message to the UK Tory Government about the impact of their policy-making decisions on the next generation?

Well, we can see the turmoil of what the mini budget last Friday did. It's incredible the chaos that has been caused by Liz Truss, just a few days after moving into No. 10. I'm really pleased that you had the event, because clearly it's something that we need to raise awareness about, and tackling the impacts of child poverty is a priority for this Government and we will continue to support learners who are disadvantaged by poverty throughout their educational journey. You mentioned some of the initiatives that the Minister for education has brought forward; we're also clear no child should ever be hungry in school, and we've commenced the roll-out of universal primary free school meals. One of the figures—I was reading some figures while preparing for First Minister's questions today, and it was stating that absolute poverty is on track to rise by 3 million over the next two years and relative child poverty is projected to reach its highest level—33 per cent—in 2026-27, which I think is just so stark and shows where the UK Government could have given confidence in their mini budget last week but they declined to do so.