1. What discussions has the Minister had with newly appointed UK Ministers regarding the Welsh Government’s ability to deliver on its social justice priorities? OQ58494

Thank you for that question. I've written to the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for levelling-up, with the Scottish Minister Neil Gray MSP, about Ukraine, and also to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions about uprating welfare benefits, and I was pleased to receive a letter from Chloe Smith MP yesterday.

Well, I'm pleased to hear that—that you've had a response, particularly in writing, on increasing the £350 support payment for UK host families for Ukrainian refugees. I know from my involvement with local groups in Ogmore and covering the Bridgend area how important this has been and how they’re looking forward to continuing to host families, but that they are pushing quite hard to make sure that that support continues and also can be extended. But could you also make contact with the Secretary of State about removing the benefit cap and the two-child benefit payment, bearing in mind the cost-of-living crisis that we’re currently faced with, and also, I have to say, upgrading benefits with inflation in line with the promise that the previous Conservative Prime Minister gave?

Thank you very much, Huw Irranca-Davies, for those two really important points in my portfolio for different Ministers in the UK Government. I met with the Scottish Government Minister Neil Gray earlier on today, and we now understand that there’s a new Minister for refugees in the department for levelling-up, so we’re writing to him today to again call for an increase in the £350 payment, which actually was called for by the previous Conservative refugee Minister, Richard Harrington. He said it should be doubled; we said at least £500, because so many of the host families want to continue, and also we have new host families coming forward. But also we’re writing to them about many other issues to do with the fact that there’s no guarantee of money for the next two years. We still have no money from the Government for English-for-speakers-of-other-languages provision or for health services.

Now, very important is the point that you make, and not just in terms of uprating benefits in line with inflation. Let’s wait and see if this Government actually does stand by that commitment made by Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak that they would uprate welfare benefits in line with inflation. I hope we have a strong message from this Chamber today, on which we expect and we hope that our Conservative colleagues will back us. Hearing Iain Duncan Smith saying, ‘Well, obviously, it makes sense, doesn’t it, because they actually spend money in their communities’, was quite interesting yesterday.

But I have to say, we have also written—I’ve written, with the Scottish Minister for social justice and the Northern Ireland Executive Minister for social justice—about this important issue of abolishing the benefit cap, which undermines so many in their living costs, and also the two-child limit, saying that we should uplift the UK universal credit to £25 per week, not the £20 that we lost before. So, there is a lot for us to do in taking this forward with the UK Government.

As social justice Minister, you're responsible for community safety. I'm sure you will agree with me that organisations working in our communities with the police as part of our community safety partnerships are absolutely vital if we are to tackle those concerns that matter the most to people. What discussions have you had with the police and crime commissioners about the effectiveness of those partnerships and the importance of focusing on those concerns where they can have the biggest impact? Thank you.

Thank you very much to Altaf Hussain. I’m obviously working very closely with the police and crime commissioners and chief constables in the Policing Partnership Board for Wales. Of course, policing is reserved; it’s not devolved yet—that’s what we want to see. And we’re working very closely on issues around community cohesion. I hope you will join me in looking at the issues that will arise tomorrow, as we hear about hate crime statistics, and we need to move forward with our Hate hurts Wales campaign. This is a question about engagement with the UK Government Ministers and, I have to say, I have been very concerned about the Home Secretary's open letter to leaders of the police for England and Wales, saying that,

'there is a perception that the police have had to spend too much time on symbolic gestures, than actually fighting criminals. This must change. Initiatives on diversity and inclusion should not take precedence over common sense policing.'

I absolutely abhor that sentiment, because, actually, our Wales anti-racist action plan and our work with disabled people and tackling hate crime is all about community cohesion.