Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 1:48 pm on 9 November 2022.
I thank the Member for his question and his interest in this area. Clearly, there are some challenges involved because of where the boundaries lie between what is devolved and what isn't, but clearly we are committed—myself and my colleague Jane Hutt, and colleagues right across Government—to using all the levers we have at our devolved disposal to make a difference. The Member is right to raise the particular impact of the cost-of-living crisis, which is hitting too many in communities right across the country, but the particular impact it has on perhaps pensioners who will have a fixed income. Through our 'Claim what's yours' campaign, we recognise what you're saying about online access; we want to ensure that we look at ways in which people can access that information and that it's readily available in the places that they may go to get support, and make sure they are accessing what they are entitled to and that the additional support is there. I'm not familiar with the written question you raised about access to the discretionary assistance fund, but my colleague Jane Hutt is sitting here nodding as I answer, and I'm sure that's something we'd be happy to take away and look at to see if there's anything else we can do to ensure that age group are aware that support is there, should they need it, in these very difficult circumstances.