9. What support is the Welsh Government providing to local authorities in Mid and West Wales as the cost-of-living crisis intensifies? OQ58456

I prioritised funding for local government in the Welsh budget so that every authority in Wales received an increase in funding of more than 8.2 per cent. Our cost-of-living measures, over £1.5 billion this year alone, support people in every part of Wales directly and through local authorities and other partners.

Thank you very much. I've already called publicly on councils in my region to open warm banks to help people to cope with the worst effects of the high cost of paying for energy over the winter. So, of course, I welcome the fact that the Welsh Government has already provided £1 million to support local authorities to establish warm banks, while being amazed that we need this kind of provision in the twenty-first century. But could the Minister say more about how these funds will be distributed? And does the Minister share my concern that the £1 million across 22 local authorities might not go far enough to tackle the scale of the challenge that the people of Wales will face over the winter? And as councils across my region consider support measures in order to help people to keep warm, for example, extending the opening hours of libraries and youth clubs and providing warm packages to people who can't travel to public areas, what further financial support can the Welsh Government provide to local government to ensure that they can help people on the ground?

I’m grateful for that question. I do think that the £1 million that has been announced is really important in terms of helping to support some of these warm banks, with things that local authorities will seek to do, but also other organisations—churches, third sector organisations, other faith venues and so on. Obviously, we will monitor the application of that fund to understand take-up, but I think that it won’t just be that fund, however, that is supporting warm banks; it will be things that local charities, that community councils and others will be doing from their own resources as well. But I share the Member’s disbelief, really, that we’re talking about creating places for people to just go and stay warm this winter because it’ll be too expensive for them to say warm at home. Obviously, we’ll monitor the uptake of that and I’ll perhaps ask my colleague the Minister for Social Justice to provide an update to colleagues about the fund and how it can be accessed.

Finally, question 10, Joyce Watson.