5. How is the Welsh Government working with HMRC, the Department for Work and Pensions and local authorities to ensure that financial support designed to assist with the increased cost of living reaches as many people as possible? OQ59006

Thank you, Luke Fletcher. Our financial support schemes have been designed to complement schemes delivered by the UK Government. Early engagement with the DWP and HMRC has enabled a proactive approach from local authorities, allowing them to utilise DWP data to reach as many people as possible.

Thank you for that response, Minister.

 I know that a lot of people are grateful for those gaps being plugged, but a concerning case was recently brought to my attention by a constituent in Wildmill who was precluded from claiming the UK Government's last round of cost-of-living support payments. When the cost of living skyrocketed, my constituent sought help but because he receives industrial injury disablement benefit, which means that, although he receives income-related disability support allowance as well as contributions-based employment and support allowance, he was unable to access the UK Government's cost-of-living payment scheme whatsoever. Is there any scope for the Welsh Government to consider stepping in and plugging gaps like this? This is just one of many cases that have come across my desk during a time of great hardship for many. 

Thank you very much for drawing that to our attention, Luke. I would like to take this up and follow this up with you, following your question today. This is where we have to work with the DWP and HMRC and there is good working, but actually, we have to ensure that the arrangements don't reduce access to means-tested benefits, and you've described that. We've got to identify opportunities to maximise reach. We actually have a pro forma that is being co-designed by Welsh Government, DWP and HMRC, but I will take this back on this particular issue. Can I just say that one of the disappointing outcomes I think recently of the work of the Welsh Affairs Committee was that they did suggest, they had a recommendation—it was chaired by Stephen Crabb—to bring together an inter-ministerial advisory board on social security between UK and Welsh Governments to look at the merits of devolving administration of welfare benefits to Wales? That was rejected by the UK Government, but I want to revisit that, because this is how we can address some of these issues. 

Can I thank Luke Fletcher for raising this question? I absolutely agree with the sentiments that all bodies should do everything they can to make sure that people get the support that they're entitled to. Towards the end of the previous Senedd, the then Welsh Government published its income maximisation plan specifically related to child poverty. This included objectives around helping families to be more financially resilient. I understand, Minister, that the Welsh Government supports the single advice fund that provides financial advice to families, which we would all welcome. But I would like to ask, Minister, what assessment have you made of the outcomes of the original income maximisation plan? How have you taken the lessons learnt to inform the actions that have been taken by the Government throughout the cost-of-living challenges that we're now facing? And what consideration have you given to updating this strategy in light of the current difficult economic climate? 

Thank you very much, Peter Fox. Income maximisation is one of the key tools to tackling poverty. When we commissioned the Wales Centre for Public Policy to advise us on our route to tackling poverty, income maximisation—getting money into the poorest people's pockets—came up as a key priority. Our 'Claim what's yours' campaign and then, following through, we've just recently launched our 'Here to help' campaign, which is a benefit take-up campaign, is critical to get that take-up. Of course, it is a take-up that can be enhanced by the work of Citizens Advice. We fund them through the single advice fund. 

Just to give you an answer on the point about the third—. This is our third benefits take-up campaign, 'Here to help'. The previous two campaigns supported over 8,000 people to respond to the call to contact Advicelink Cymru and help them to claim an additional £2.7 million in support. 

6. What action is the Welsh Government taking to financially support fire and rescue authorities? OQ58992

The fire and rescue authorities determine almost all of their funding themselves through levying contributions on their constituent local authorities. The fire and rescue authorities in Wales do not receive core funding from the Welsh Government.

I'm grateful to you for your answer. I've been made aware by members of the mid and west Wales fire authority that you informed the service there that the FireLink Airwave grant, used to support their essential radio platform, is set to end completely in April this year. By comparison, the Home Office is slowly reducing its FireLink grant funding by 20 per cent each year for five years for English fire and rescue authorities. Although this has been reduced gradually, this still gives fire and rescue authorities there the ability to plan for the removal of the grant and spread the financial impact, rather than just being given four months to find £0.5 million in their budgets. Given that the Airwave is an essential lifeline for blue-light services, including the coastguard, would you reconsider your decision and instead gradually reduce this grant?

Can I thank the Member for his question? And this is something that's been raised with me previously as well. I would say, I understand the position of the fire and rescue authorities, but like them and constituent local authorities, we all face many funding challenges in the current climate. We do not normally provide funding for operational equipment or systems, such as FireLink, so they have to raise the funding from their own core resources.

As the Member will be aware from the Chancellor's autumn statement on 17 November, it represented a significant real-terms cut to the Welsh Government budget over the next two years, which has been compounded by external forces, such as the cost-of-living crisis and increased energy bills. It's very difficult, in setting a very challenging budget, for the Welsh Government to continue to fund operational communication equipment. As you say, it's meant that funding for FireLink, the service's operational communications system, had to cease from 2023-24. This represents less that 1 per cent of the overall funding that the service has received from their constituent authorities. Like I said, I recognise the challenges. Whilst previous budget settlements allowed us to provide the funding for these fees since 2010, it's been hard to justify that in the current financial climate. And, if the Member would like to support us in our efforts, he is more than welcome to have a word in the ear of his counterparts at UK Government and the Home Office, to help with further funding for us in Wales.

Good afternoon, Deputy Minister. Just to follow up on the situation in mid and west Wales, where I represent, along with others, the chief fire officer there highlighted the unsustainability of our fire services in rural areas if things carry on as they are. And I'm sure that we'd all be concerned about that. The service in mid and west Wales is staffed by majority-retained firefighters and is supported by wholetime staff. However, the service is finding it more and more difficult to recruit and retain those firefighters. It's clear that the offer, in terms of pay, isn't commensurate with the number of hours that they work—some of them around 120 hours. So, I wondered if there would be a review of the Welsh Government grant, so that our fire services can make the necessary increases to our retained firefighter service. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Can I thank Jane Dodds for your question and your interest in this area? Because, like you, I recognise that, for many communities across Wales, it is retained fire services that provide that much-needed and valued cover, and it's the same for myself in the north Wales area as well. I do want to point out, at the outset, though, that we don't directly fund fire and rescue authorities in Wales, so we wouldn't fund them directly for core services.

I do share the concerns around the future of the retained duty system, and we've seen changes in the way people work and live, which has presented many challenges. And I regularly meet with the chiefs and the chairs of the fire and rescue authorities, including the last time I spoke to the chief from the mid and west—we share concerns around the challenges for RDS and sustainability into the future. And I've committed to working with them and the other authorities to see, actually, how we can address those challenges. But we know that it's one that's going to take significant effort, and a need to be innovative about how we do that in the future, and work to support the sustainability of services, particularly in the more rural communities across Wales. And I'm actually due to meet the fire and rescue authorities and other representatives, as part of our new fire and rescue social partnership forum tomorrow, and I understand that this issue will be on the agenda for that as well.