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The eighteenth FMQs of 2022 comes to a close.

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The Senedd will once again be lit tonight in the blue and yellow colours of Ukraine’s flag as a sign of solidarity with Ukraine and its people.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

"Up to 45% of households in Wales could already be in fuel poverty following the price increase in April," warns the first minister.

He points out that Ofgem reported householders can expect typical dual fuel bills to rise to £2,800 in October of this year.

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The first minister laments the billions of pounds lost through the UK government's Bounce Back Loan scheme.

He says, "fraud is only a third of the loss that the UK government itself say they now expect to make through that scheme. Five billion pounds lost directly in fraud, but £17 billion which the government now does not expect to recover from those loans. Now, there are court going through at the moment that show that those bounce-back loans, those fraudulent loans, were being used to pay for the purchase of private cars, for flying lessons, for pornography websites and, in a case which is to be in front of the courts next month, a case where someone who obtained a bounce-back loan is alleged to have used it to fund terrorist activity by Islamic State terrorists in Syria."

The UK government has said it would "not tolerate" people defrauding taxpayers.

The Bounce Bank Loan scheme was set up in April 2020 with the aim of keeping small businesses afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

A total of 1.5 million loans worth £47bn were issued through the initiative, after about a quarter of UK businesses applied.

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The first minister is one of many members wearing the Terrence Higgins Trust's "show heart" badge in the Senedd today to show support and solidarity with people living with HIV.

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price says "The Centre for European Reform last week said that Britain was £31 billion worse off than it would have been without the dual impact of Brexit and Covid, but that the bigger impact by far was the effect from Brexit. Isn't it the case that far from the promised sunlit uplands, Brexit is beginning to cast a long shadow on our economy at a time when we can least afford it?"

He points out that the economy contracted by 0.3% in April after it shrank by 0.1% in March,

April's figure was weaker than expected, and it was the first time the economy has contracted for two months in a row since Covid struck.

The first minister agrees the UK economy is paying a "very high price" for Brexit, "but it's not an impact that anybody should be surprised at, because this was pointed out well in advance, and we were told to disregard the views of experts. Well, I'm afraid that expertise is turning out to have been right all along."

Mr Price says "Northern Ireland, is, of course, within the single market... that's why they have performed better over the last two years compared to Wales and, indeed, every other part of the UK outside of London."

Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, points out that today marks the five year anniversary of the Grenfell fire, where 72 people lost their lives.

He asks what is being done to help people in Wales living with dangerous cladding.

The first minister replies that his government is developing a significant reform programme to deliver a comprehensive building safety regime.

He says "we will bring forward our leasehold programme before the end of this month, and that will set out details of ways in which leaseholders who have been badly affected by the worth of their properties on the open market as a result of anxieties about the standards to which those buildings were completed, how we will help them as well."

Mr Davies says the UK government "has brought developers to the table, and significant sums of money have been earmarked to rectify the defects."

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There is uproar in the Siambr, with shouts of "disgrace" from the Conservative benches, when Alun Davies, Labour MS for Blaenau Gwent, says "the Tories always laugh at poverty... they always laugh when people are suffering".

The first minister says standing charges "I think are one of the scandals of the energy industry, and particularly so for people on prepayment meters. When you run out of credit and you're unable to heat your home, that standing charge continues to rack up day after day."

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The Llywydd (presiding officer) Elin Jones conducts a ballot to determine the names of members who may table questions to the first minister and Welsh ministers. Each member may enter their name into a ballot.

Jenny Rathbone, Labour MS for Cardiff Central, asks what plans does the Welsh Government have to insulate the most energy inefficient housing.

After months of soaring gas prices, energy bills rose further for many in the UK when the energy cap increased on 1 April. Housing also accounts for 9% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Wales.

First Minister Mark Drakeford replies that "improving energy efficiency of homes in the social rented sector is progressing through the Welsh Government's £220 million optimised retrofit programme and the Welsh quality housing standards. Plans to assist those in privately owned and privately rented sectors, through the Warm ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖs programme, will be announced in the autumn."

Jenny Rathbone calls for "an emergency programme to protect the most vulnerable households living in fuel poverty".

The first minister replies "there are a series of barriers, I'm afraid, to instituting an emergency programme of household insulation. To begin with, we simply don't have the capital available to the Welsh Government to mount such a programme."

Image source, Getty Images

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the eighteenth session of First Minister's Questions in 2022.

The meeting is held in a hybrid format, with some members in the Siambr (Senedd chamber) and others joining by video-conference.