Dirprwy Lywydd, as we enter the new year, we recognise that the cost-of-living pressures continue to be relentless. Too many people are desperately worried about staying warm and having enough food to eat, and for many people, the challenges are more stark.

The cost-of-living crisis has shone a harsh light on different groups' ability to deal with fast-rising prices. The Resolution Foundation recently reported that the underlying disposable income gap between the disabled and non-disabled population in the UK is 44 per cent. They also report that rates of food insecurity are much higher among families with three or more children, single-parent families, and among certain non-white ethnic groups. I want to provide reassurance to people across Wales that the cost of living remains our priority. We offer support through our fuel support scheme, through our Warm Homes programme and Nest scheme, through the Fuel Bank Foundation fuel vouchers and the heat fund, and, of course, through the network of more than 300 warm hubs, which have been established in communities across Wales with support from the Welsh Government.

Warm hubs offer a range of support depending on their location and their facilities. This includes a simple warm space with refreshments, to more substantive food, activities, free access to computers and Wi-Fi and charging points for phones and tablets. A number also offer the opportunity to meet with financial and welfare advisers. Before Christmas, I visited a number of warm hubs to see first-hand the valuable work that these hubs are doing in our communities and to support people through this cost-of-living crisis.

Our fuel support scheme has already ensured that nearly 290,000 households have received the £200 payment this year, and I would urge those eligible households to ensure that they do apply for this vital support this winter. We continue to provide the support needed to help people maximise their income and access the benefits that they are entitled to through our single advice fund and our 'Here to help' and 'Claim what's yours' campaigns. We are working with local government to streamline and simplify access to our Welsh benefits.

I'm pleased that the Welsh Government's draft budget contains an additional £18.8 million to continue the support for the discretionary assistance fund into 2023-24, as well as additional funding to pay the real living wage to social care workers and additional support for our care leavers' basic income pilot. This is despite our budget being worth up to £1 billion less next year. 

We will continue to provide support for households through our support for a more generous social wage. This includes initiatives such as our childcare offer, our council tax reduction scheme, free school meals and PDG access, the school essentials grant and help with health costs. All of these programmes leave money in people’s pockets. This financial year, we will be spending £1.6 billion on schemes that directly support people with the cost of living and put money back in people’s pockets.

Last week, Welsh Government Ministers visited credit unions across Wales to promote the vital support that they offer to those struggling with their finances. And we're continuing to invest in credit unions to ensure that they are able to provide access to fair and affordable credit. The Cabinet cost-of-living sub-committee is providing strategic direction to our response, ensuring a joined-up approach across portfolios and bringing together people with lived experiences, experts, service providers and organisations supporting people struggling with rising costs.

We will continue to do all that we can to support households affected by this relentless crisis, but the key levers for tackling poverty, powers over the tax and welfare systems, sit with the UK Government. We've called on the UK Government to put in place a number of practical actions that will have an immediate and positive impact for those most affected by the crisis. In April, the UK Government will reduce the level of support available via its domestic energy price guarantee. Meanwhile, businesses, charities and public sector organisations learned yesterday that the support available to them will be significantly reduced, further squeezing their budgets and impacting on services on which we all rely. We have called on UK Ministers to uplift the discretionary housing payment and local housing allowances. And their arbitrary five-week wait for universal credit payments is the root cause of severe financial hardship and distress for many people. People waiting are forced to turn to support from the discretionary assistance fund to see them through this hardship. We call on the UK Government to look again at this, particularly at this time of the cost-of-living crisis.

On 21 and 29 November and 7 December, I met with representatives from a number of energy suppliers to discuss the issues surrounding pre-payment meters and the cost-of-living crisis. I'm deeply concerned that, as more households fall behind with the payment of their electricity and gas bills, they may be unfairly driven onto pre-payment meters. Moving householders onto pre-payments meters should be seen as a last resort. Energy companies should absorb the cost of standing charges for pre-payment customers who are particularly at risk of disconnection as a result of the rising cost of fuel. This should not be a cost for the Government to take on; Welsh Government has consistently called on the UK Government and Ofgem to introduce a social tariff to protect the most vulnerable households and to remove standing charges for customers on pre-payment meters. I remain concerned that a worryingly large number of householders on a traditional pre-payment meter have not used their vouchers as these have a 90-day expiry date. It is important that these households access and use their UK Government vouchers.

Deputy Llywydd, we have been clear that we will do everything that we can to support people through this cost-of-living crisis. The Welsh Government alone can't solve this problem, it is only through co-ordinated effort and ambition that we can address this cost-of-living crisis and the wider determinants of poverty. But, I want to thank our partners and stakeholders across Wales for their continued support in addressing this cost-of-living crisis. And finally, as we start this new year, I urge people to make sure that they access the help and support that is available to them and that they are entitled to.