Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 1:31 pm on 7 December 2022.
Thank you very much for those questions. What is clear from the auditor general, and indeed from the research we commissioned from the Wales Centre for Public Policy, is that there are deep-seated issues and needs, and all partners need to play their part, particularly local authorities. For our Wales Centre for Public Policy, they said that we should look at key issues that actually affect poverty. Income maximisation was one area, and partnership and also making sure that we address issues like the environment and infrastructure. Of course, local government comes into that very clearly. We've got to take a long-term approach to tackling poverty and the root causes of poverty. But I do think that local government is very engaged in this. I'm meeting with them fortnightly with the Minister for Finance and Local Government to talk about the cost-of-living crisis. They're engaging proactively with us and, indeed, they're helping us to deliver what has now been a very successful fuel support scheme. You know that we launched that at the end of September. Already, 266,000 payments have been made, and I'm pleased to say that 5,633 Monmouthshire households have already received this vital support.