1. What assessment has the Government made of the impact of the rising cost of living on households in Dwyfor Meirionnydd? OQ57826

Well, Llywydd, thank you very much to the Member for the question. The impact of the cost-of-living crisis will be profound for households in Dwyfor Meirionnydd, especially the poorest households. Incomes suppressed by a decade of austerity will be further eroded by cuts to the value of benefits, rises in national insurance contributions and rapidly rising inflation.

I thank the First Minister for that grave assessment. Research by Sukhdev Johal and Karel Williams from Manchester university says something similar, warning us that we will see the cost of fuel for homes increasing by £1,500 per year; fuel costs rising by £500 a year; food increasing by 20 per cent. This suggests that the cost of essentials of life will increase by £3,000 per annum, and this doesn't take into account inflation on other goods. For people on low incomes or universal benefit, this additional £300 a month will be impossible to pay. The economist Richard Murphy paints an even grimmer picture, suggesting that 70 per cent of households could go into debt.

Following the summit organised by the Government on this crisis last month, will you as a Government, and you as First Minister, consider organising something similar, drawing together the health boards, the universities, the third sector, and other bodies who can advise and support, in order to ensure that civil society in Wales does everything within its power to mitigate this crisis?

Well, thank you very much to Mabon ap Gwynfor. The research that he refers to by Manchester university comes on top of everything else that we've seen, from the Resolution Foundation, the Institute for Public Policy Research and so on, which shows the same thing, namely the major impact the increase in costs of living is going to have on people in Wales. 

My colleague Jane Hutt led a summit back in February, which drew over 150 people around the table together, to make sure that we had the best possible information from those organisations that provide services for people at the front line, and to make sure that public services were also preparing to play whatever part they could in responding to the emergency—and it will be an emergency—that faces so many families in Wales. 

Of course, if there will be an opportunity to get people around the table once again, to share information, to make plans together, then the Government will be open to doing that.