The Cost-of-living Crisis

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:32 pm on 10 January 2023.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:32, 10 January 2023

Llywydd, I recognise the dilemma that Peter Fox points to. I want to, as he did, pay tribute to the fantastic work that voluntary organisations and the third sector carry out here in Wales. And it's not a surprise to hear that many of those organisations, where there has been some extra funding available, want to put that into expanding the services that they provide, given the significance of those actions in local communities.

And working in the third sector should be properly rewarded; it shouldn't be that people feel because they're working in that sector that they themselves should not receive adequate remuneration. I'll make sure that we raise the point that the Member has made in the different forums that we have. I'm pleased to say, Llywydd, that the Cabinet committee on the cost of living that met every week in the autumn term had representation from the third sector on that committee—the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, the Child Poverty Action Group, Citizens Advice. We heard from them all over that period. So, the third sector has a voice right in the heart of the Welsh Government. But the pressures on the sector are absolutely real. Yesterday's announcement by the UK Government of the reduction in support for the third sector in energy costs will mean that there will be even further dilemmas for the sector to bear, and the Welsh Government cannot be the answer to every dilemma that every part of Welsh society faces.