Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:51 pm on 7 March 2023.
I agree with what Jane Dodds was saying about the importance of the discretionary assistance fund and also the amount of money to be paid to care leavers. We've been able to get through this winter, just about. We have to remind ourselves that about one third of all households have been juggling with heating or eating. So, we've managed to get through this winter, but next winter is likely to become much more challenging, partly because we have less money to play with. The idea that this isn't a real-terms cut in the amount of money that the Welsh Government has available is for the birds—£1.4 billion is a really significant sum of money.
But looking at how we are going to support people going forward, we have to look at the efficiency with which we can ensure that support gets to those who most need it. To them that have shall always be given. Everybody has had £400 in their energy account if they have a traditional pay-as-you-go meter. Only less than three quarters of households on pre-payment meters have received that £400, and that is because some pre-payment suppliers to households chose to deliver that money in vouchers, by text, by post, or e-mail, which may or may not have arrived, or they can automatically ensure that the households get it when they sign up at their usual top-up point. I think it would be really useful to ensure that we get the UK Government to analyse which is the most effective way of doing things, because we've all heard stories of people who simply haven't received their vouchers. But it's really, really important that everybody does get the money who is entitled to get it.
I think that one of the reasons that the uptake in Wales is higher than in the rest of the UK is because of the work done by the Minister for Social Justice in ensuring that people know about the Welsh fuel payment. But that, once again, has not reached all the households that need it, and we need to ensure that everybody is working to ensure that those most in need get their money. So, I think that it is very significant that some local authorities have made serious efforts to ensure take-up of the Wales fuel support scheme, with 88 per cent in Flintshire—top of the league table. The lowest is in Ynys Môn: 61 per cent. It's disappointing that Rhun ap Iorwerth is not here to hear that and ensure that he gets them to raise their game. People on top-up meters are mainly social housing tenants, where local authorities hold the information, they can see who is eligible and who is not, and therefore they should be ensuring that people get that money, because that is money that's going to be circulating in the economy when it happens. I find it inexplicable that local authorities aren't on this case because it's going to enrich their local economy, their local shops, their local businesses, and make their lives just a lot easier.
Free school meals. Yes, it's great that we're putting £70 million into free school meals in the next year, I absolutely agree with Llyr Gruffydd, but we should not underestimate the challenge that that is going to be for schools, for local authorities, for suppliers and caterers, because the free school meals initiative cannot be about serving up adulterated, processed food. We have to ensure that we're delivering fresh, nourishing food—