: Thank you, First
Minister. Digital poverty is an issue that I deeply care about. I
think the true implications were very much brought into the
mainstream during the pandemic, when we relied on all things
digital to connect with one another during lockdowns, or used
digital appliances to work from home or school. That said, we
continue to see its impact now during the cost-of-living crisis,
because so much of the support and resources that people need to
access are online, and people are being excluded due to the costs
because we know that as budgets become tight, broadband is likely
to be the thing that gets turned off in homes. At one point,
there was this assumption that broadband and digital tech was a
luxury, but the reality is that it's a necessity, and for some
people they are missing out due to a lack of means.
I know that tackling digital exclusion is a priority for this
Government, and I'm pleased to see within the digital strategy
for Wales that the Welsh Government is working collaboratively
with the Digital Poverty
Alliance to end digital poverty by 2030, and in
partnership with the Good Things Foundation on the national
databank initiative that provides free mobile data, texts and
calls to people in need.
I've also been liaising with the Bridgend Association of
Voluntary Organisations, and a Welsh broadband company, Ogi, who
are delivering high-speed broadband across
Porthcawl—[Interruption.]—and Caerphilly to see if there
is any scope to provide WiFi at warm banks across Bridgend. So,
will the First Minister provide an update on the roll-out of the
warm hubs across Bridgend? What assessment has been done to see
if we can incorporate having high-speed broadband access into
those hubs to create that legacy of access for our communities?
(First Minister of
Wales): Well, Llywydd, the Cabinet committee on the cost of
living heard direct evidence from organisations in the field
about the way in which families faced with so many pressures on
their budgets often feel that it is the digital spend they make
that has to go first, and yet, in an increasingly digital world,
that causes them all sorts of other difficulties, so the points
the Member makes are very well made and important.
In terms of warm hubs, there are over 300 warm hubs now across
Wales, and those are just the ones we know about. I think it has
been the most amazing, spontaneous effort that we have seen from
so many community groups, sports clubs, faith groups, as well as
public bodies, to respond to the needs that people see during
this winter.
I do know that in Bridgend all the local authority-sponsored warm
spaces do have digital access, and together with the Welsh Local
Government Association, we are currently surveying digital
connectivity at warm hubs across Wales, so that we are in a
better position in the future to make sure that the important
points that the Member has made this afternoon can be attended
to.
