Questions now from the party spokespeople. The Conservative spokesperson, Mark Isherwood. 

Responsibilities as Minister for Social Justice include the living wage in Wales. Welsh Conservatives have been calling for the Welsh Government to align social care staff pay with NHS pay scales, an investment of just £9 million. How, therefore, do you respond to the care home director in north Wales who has asked me to raise a question in the Senedd regarding the Welsh Government's commitment to ensuring all the social care workers in Wales are paid the real living wage, when the Living Wage Foundation expects that the increase announced on 22 September should be paid to employees as soon as possible after the announcement? He added, 

'The Welsh Government has not made funds available to providers via the local authorities to enable them to pay this increase, and many of our dedicated workers simply don't have enough money to put on their freezers, to pay their increasing energy bills. We're already seeing a mass exodus of care workers out of the sector. I fear we'll see many more unless providers can increase their wages in line with the Living Wage Foundation's expectations. We simply cannot afford to lose any more.'

So, I'd be grateful for your response to his question, which is specific to social care staff. 

Of course it was a Welsh Labour Government that, in its manifesto, and then delivered through the programme for government and delivered it within its first year, delivered the real living wage for our social care workforce. A real living wage. Also, I have to say, in addition to the living wage, funding has been made available to our social care workforce, as you know, and, indeed, not just in the last year but during the period of the pandemic, because we recognise the devotion, the commitment of the social care workforce at the sharp end. So, we as a Government have done everything we can to support the social care workforce. But, also, clearly we are supporters of the real living wage, and it is actually my Deputy Minister Hannah Blythyn who is particularly taking this forward in her responsibilities for the real living wage. 

But it is also clearly a matter for the Government. The Deputy Minister for Social Services is working closely with the social care foundation, and working with all the employers and, indeed, the local authorities in terms of the employment of social care workers. So, we are doing our bit. But what is the UK Government doing, I have to say, Mark Isherwood? Because, actually, we're £600 million down on our budget this year and we're going to be £1.4 billion down next year. Where is that money going to come from, because this is what we want to do in terms of social justice, but we need help from your Government?

You haven't answered my question, which was when the Welsh Government will make funding available—

I'm sorry I'm going to have to intervene, Mark Isherwood. It's not your problem; it's a problem that we seem to have some kind of continuous debate between the Labour backbenchers and the Tory benches at the moment. I could be more specific and name individuals, but I'll keep it general for the moment. But if you carry on, I'm going to start naming you; you know who you are. Mark Isherwood. 

Thank you. In my absence, I can't hear that, but thanks for the interruption. The question is: when is the Welsh Government going to make funds available to the local authorities to enable them to pay this increase? The question was for the Welsh Government. 

But, moving on, you earlier used the word 'shamefully'. So, shamefully, child poverty in Wales has been rising since 2004, when I first raised this with the Welsh Government. It had already reached the highest level in the UK before the credit crunch in 2008, the year it rose to 32 per cent in Wales. Latest figures now show that 34 per cent of children in Wales are living in poverty, whilst the UK figure fell to 27 per cent. The primary reason for this remains that Wales has had the lowest growth in prosperity per head out of the UK nations since 1999, that, with 5 per cent of the UK population, Wales only produces 3 per cent of the UK's wealth, that Wales has the lowest employment rates in Great Britain, and that pay packets in Wales are the lowest in the UK, and all this despite having received billions in supposedly temporary funding designed to support economic development and reduce inequality between nations and regions.

As I said here in 2009, it is a national tragedy that more children are falling into poverty in Wales and that the Welsh Government's policies to tackle it appear to have failed. After a further 13 years, what action, if any, will you take with your Cabinet colleagues to learn from this experience, change tack and deliver a growth plan with the business and third sectors and our communities to finally build a more prosperous Welsh economy?

I don't know whether you heard my responses to earlier questions, Mark Isherwood. I did say, and I'll just repeat, that child poverty fell year after year under the Labour Government and it has risen year after year during the last 12 years of coalition and Tory Governments, as a result of direct and deliberate policies. Did you hear Gordon Brown this morning when he said it's been proven economically that you cannot have a growth plan—which is what you're trying to say—based on tax cuts and actually making the poor pay for the benefit of the wealthy? Because this is what is happening as a result of this mini budget. Please, will you have an influence on your Government to make sure that their key levers for tackling child poverty, which sit with them, are actually acted upon?

I don't think you were listening earlier to my figures, which were accurate and which I actually put to you 18 years ago. Child poverty in Wales did fall for a few years after the Blair-Brown Government came in, but then it started rising again and had reached the highest level in the UK, not last year but in 2008. And it has risen again, whilst going backwards in the rest of the UK. That is the reality, and the outcome I referred to was consequent upon Welsh Government policies. So, what are you going to do about it? You've had 23 years, the scorebook is atrocious and the impact on people's lives is terrible.

But, moving on, the Local Trust 'Left behind?' report in England evidences that poorer areas with greater community capacity and social infrastructure have better health and well-being outcomes, higher rates of employment and lower levels of child poverty compared to poorer areas without. January's Wales Co-operative Centre discussion paper by Communities Creating Homes states Wales is trailing other nations in the UK when it comes to community ownership rights, adding that policies in Wales do not offer quite the same empowerment as enjoyed by communities in England or, particularly, Scotland. 

February's Institute of Welsh Affairs 'Our Land: Communities and Land Use' report found that Welsh communities are the least empowered in Britain. Community groups in Wales told them about an arbitrary, demoralising scenario with little real process for communities to take ownership of public or private assets. 

Further research by the Building Communities Trust with community groups across Wales shows they often feel overlooked and under-resourced by local and national government. How, therefore, do you respond to their statements that they believe there's a big opportunity for Welsh Government to develop better support for community-led, long-term, local approaches in Wales?

Thank you very much, Mark Isherwood. Before I answer that question, I do want to say, in terms of the programmes that tackle child poverty, that the roll-out of our free school meals for primary school pupils—as part of our co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, working with local government—means that the commitment for every primary school pupil to receive a free school meal by 2024 has already, since the start of this term, meant an additional 45,000 pupils becoming immediately eligible for a free meal, and also for free school breakfasts, which you didn't agree to. We're feeding our pupils as a result of our initiatives here in Wales. 

But I will answer that third point, because actually I had a really useful meeting last week with Mabon ap Gwynfor and the Building Communities Trust. He asked for a meeting following a very useful debate, which you all contributed to across the Chamber, to talk about community policy, to talk about our community assets' reach. You will be able to engage in that as you do support co-production, Mark Isherwood.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Sioned Williams.

Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, yesterday, when asked by the leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price, about instituting measures such as those introduced this week by the SNP Scottish Government to protect their people from homelessness this winter, such as temporary rent freezes in the private sector and a ban on evictions, the First Minister said that he didn't think that instituting those measures here in Wales would stand up to examination. So, what will work, Minister? Shelter in Scotland have welcomed the measures, saying that it is great news for tenants and will stop people from losing their homes. But, they quite rightly want protections to go even further, so that those most at risk of becoming homeless are fully protected from rent rises and evictions, and so the housing emergency is brought to a permanent end beyond this cost-of-living crisis.

Emergency solutions to combat the cost-of-living crisis and to combat poverty, such as freezing private rents, have also been called for by Labour mayors. The Labour shadow levelling up and housing Secretary, Lisa Nandy, said she's interested in them, saying that doing nothing is not an option. These must be explored, and, indeed, instituted now. Can you therefore commit today to commissioning urgent research and an evaluation within the next weeks of what would be the best way to prevent the growing threat of homelessness, which is hanging over too many Welsh families this winter because of the cost-of-living crisis? Do you agree with me, Minister, that doing nothing isn't an option, and that it is possible and, in fact, imperative to act swiftly in a crisis? This is a lesson we've learnt from the pandemic. It's what the Scottish Government have done. Minister, what will the Welsh Government do? 

Thank you very much, Sioned Williams. Of course, the First Minister did answer this question yesterday from your leader, and he did comment on the Scottish Government's Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Bill that is before the Scottish Parliament. Also, he recognised in his response to that that, in respect particularly of protecting social tenants in Wales, for example, over the winter from rent increases, social rents are set annually, with the next change in social rents not due until April 2023. I think the key thing is that the Minister for Climate Change, of course, responsible for housing, will be considering evidence and options for future social rents over the coming weeks to inform us in terms of future decisions. 

I went to a cost-of-living event this morning organised by Hafod in my constituency. They were offering financial support and advice to all of their tenants who are struggling in Wales now with the cost-of-living crisis. What they were doing was making sure that they knew about our winter fuel support scheme, the £200 that they can get into people's bank accounts and support them now, making sure that they knew about announcements that we've made as a Welsh Government about not just the income maximisation but the warm hubs, and also my announcement yesterday. I think you will have seen my written statement on more funding for food poverty and making sure that children and parents are aware of the Healthy Start vouchers. So, there's a lot of support, and it's to all generations, in terms of also making sure that older people are aware of pension credit and their entitlements. 

Can I just say that we are committed to supporting tenants at this difficult time, supporting them to remain in their homes? We've invested an additional £6 million via our homelessness prevention grant, but we are reviewing with interest the Scottish Government's approach. But clearly, also, as we discuss often with our Scottish Government colleagues, there are different ways to achieve the same objective.  

Thank you. I look forward to seeing the result of that evaluation. We also heard the First Minister rightly condemn the Prime Minister's wish not to increase benefits in line with inflation, the benefits of people who already have almost nothing to live on. They're facing a terrifying winter. And as you know, Minister, Scotland are better able to protect their most vulnerable citizens from the callous and shameful attitude of the Westminster Government, because they have more powers over the administration of welfare payments. The further funding you announced this week you just referred to to help organisations such as foodbanks is, of course, welcome, despicable as it is in twenty-first century Wales that people are struggling to afford food.

You have announced other schemes that you've just referenced, such as the fuel support scheme, to try and lessen the impact of these record levels of need amongst Welsh families. But, we've heard many times from anti-poverty campaigners and support organisations that there is a need for a single streamlined and automatic system to ensure this support gets to those who need it. So, could you please let us know, Minister, whether work on this is happening, and also update us on the commitment in the co-operation agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government to support the devolution of the administration of welfare?    

Thank you very much, Sioned Williams. These are crucial issues in terms of getting the money into people's pockets and into their accounts. You know that we're developing and working with organisations like the Bevan Foundation on a benefits charter for Wales, and also working with local government to get that passporting of benefits—that streamlining of benefits.

Tomorrow, I'm meeting with all the leaders of local government. We've got an agenda item on the cost of living. They're sharing not only with me, but with each other, the ways they're getting the money out. Speaking to the leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf last week, he told me about the thousands that had already gone out as a result of the fact that they've got a close grip on who needs the money and how they can get to that. So, all that work is crucially important for the here and now.

But, yes, we are progressing with looking at the devolution of the administration of benefits. I've met with the Scottish Government Minister to learn from Social Security Scotland about ways, hopefully, we can share. Also, they're very interested in what we're doing with our single advice fund. So, it was a two-way discussion. But, also, we're learning from them in terms of taking the next steps, because, obviously, we are now developing a whole range of benefits and social wage and support services—basic services—for people, which form part of our welfare and social security response. But let's just recognise that, as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said this week, if this goes ahead—if we don’t have and uprating in line with inflation, if it's with earnings—this would be the biggest real-terms cut to benefits on record.