30 November 2021 , Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Social Justice: International Day of Disabled People
Thank you very much, Altaf Hussain, and thank you for your questions this afternoon. It is an important question: what has changed? In my statement, I have laid out a number of examples of how we have sought to make change, particularly as a result of the…
30 November 2021 , Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Social Justice: International Day of Disabled People
Diolch yn fawr, Deputy Llywydd. This Friday is the United Nations International Day of Disabled People. In 1992, the United Nations designated 3 December as a day for promoting the rights and well-being of disabled people and to celebrate their achievements…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee and Equality and Social Justice Committee Debate: Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015: Scrutiny of implementation
I do recognise what the Chair, Mark Isherwood, has said in terms of the five ways—that we need that cultural shift. When people grasp the five ways of working, it actually helps them with their planning and decision making. We are, rightly, today debating the…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee and Equality and Social Justice Committee Debate: Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015: Scrutiny of implementation
Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I'd like to start by thanking the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee and the Equality and Social Justice Committee for their joint work in bringing forward this debate. The essential role that this Senedd…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Thank you very much, Buffy Williams, and you know what it's like, don't you, from your constituency and your community and what you've been doing to support people at the sharp end of poverty. We know the key levers for tackling poverty. Powers over tax and…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Thank you very much, Buffy Williams. Last week, we announced, as I said, a £51 million support package for low-income households; £38 million will be made available through a winter fuel scheme; £1.1 million to tackle food poverty, including extending the…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
This is also, as you say, the shocking result of the £20 cut to universal credit, the end of furlough, rising prices, food, fuel, and, indeed, the Minister for Climate Change and I met with the National Energy Agency this morning, where we were discussing…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Thank you very much for your question.
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Thank you very much. The region will benefit from the household support package worth £51 million that was announced last week. Last financial year, in Mid and West Wales, the single advice fund supported over 8,000 people to claim £6.4 million of extra…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Well, of course, it is a—[Interruption.] I thank the Member for the question. It's a serious question. It's a non-devolved matter, and I'm sure that you are bringing these concerns affecting your constituents to the attention of the UK Government to ensure…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Within south-east Wales, our single advice fund helped over 27,400 people to deal with social welfare issues in the last financial year, resulting in over £9.7 million of additional welfare benefit income. Also, our credit union-funded projects across the…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Diolch yn fawr, Jane Dodds. Can I just respond to your point about the Nationality and Borders Bill? I have to say that this will cause unforeseen and unequal impacts on people arriving in Wales, recognised as having fled fear of persecution, and the Bill is…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Thank you very much, Mark Isherwood. I think your support and your engagement has been strong through the years in terms of promoting and delivering on the 'Nation of Sanctuary', and I just want to mention that on Saturday night, I attended an event with your…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
I thank Vikki Howells for that question, and you have identified a commitment in the 'Nation of Sanctuary' plan. That commitment hasn't changed. We have had challenging circumstances with the pandemic, which has delayed moving forward on that, but we are…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
We continue to make progress towards our vision of Wales as a nation of sanctuary. And despite the pandemic, we've continued to implement actions in our 'Nation of Sanctuary' plan and support sanctuary seekers to integrate with Welsh communities from day 1 of…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Thank you for that question as well, because we did have a very powerful debate here on spiking, and I think what I did report at that debate is the role of the police in response to spiking—they have a key role—and all police forces in Wales, as well as the…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
This is also crucially important, recognising that, very much, tackling violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence is a cross-government responsibility. I'm working very closely with my colleague Jeremy Miles in terms of safeguarding young…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams. This is a really important follow-on from the earlier questions and discussion this afternoon in my oral Senedd questions. It's clearly shocking that we are still in this position, where we know there's an increase in violence…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Diolch yn fawr, Huw Irranca-Davies. Can I say that the vigil that we held on Monday night, which, of course, Joyce Watson organised, and she's been organising year after year, with the National Federation of Women's Institutes, was really important? The…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
A really important question. Indeed, the Counsel General and I were only speaking this morning about the importance of the female offending blueprint strategy. This is an area where, I have to say, we have worked very closely with the Ministry of Justice…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Thank you very much for the very important question.
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Thank you, Russell George, for that question. This is something that, I'm sure, many Senedd Members across the Chamber are involved in, in local road safety campaigns—I certainly am in my constituency. This is very much involving not just the local authority…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
The Welsh Government is committed to keeping our communities safe. Through our Live Fear Free campaigns, we'll continue to raise awareness of stalking, harassment, abuse and violence against women in all aspects of life, including the street and other public…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Diolch. Thank you, Laura Anne Jones. Going back again to the evidence that we've got—the evidence review for the first 1,000 days—the evidence review does show that individual socioeconomic status actually has a greater impact on individual outcomes than…
24 November 2021 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Social Justice
Diolch yn fawr, Jenny Rathbone, and thank you also for starting by recognising the real prospects ahead in terms of tackling these issues with extending free school meals and expanding childcare, which, of course, are crucial to delivering on your…
