Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:18 pm on 28 February 2023.
Families across Wales are facing an extremely uncertain near-term future as a result of the deadlock over whether Westminster will continue to help households with their energy bills, and the situation is going from bad to worse. Yesterday, I had a conversation with someone who runs a foodbank in my region, and he said that the number of people attending that foodbank had increased by 20 per cent over the past winter. The people who go there talk about the fear that they have about that April deadline. While the demand for food has increased, the donations sometimes decline because of the pressures faced by people in the area. Will the Government make a statement, please, setting out what emergency discussions it will have with Westminster to demand that the support with energy bills continues after April? If Westminster does not accede to this demand, will the statement confirm what the Welsh Government will do to fill that gap? Thank you.