North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has questioned the Welsh Government over its promised Guidance to Local Authorities to help them deliver a coherent and integrated Welsh Benefits System.
The Welsh Government’s “Streamlining Welsh Benefits route-map” explicitly committed to issuing Best Practice guidance to Local Authorities by the last quarter of 2025.
In today’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood asked whether this has been done.
Questioning the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, he said:
“Referring to the Welsh Benefits Charter here last month, I noted that in 2019, the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee, of which I was a member, recommended that the Welsh Government establish a coherent and integrated ‘Welsh benefits system’ for all the means-tested benefits for which it is responsible, underpinned by a set of principles co-produced with people who claim these benefits and the wider Welsh public, and I referred to the Bevan Foundation's statement regarding the Charter in January 2024, that ‘participation is voluntary, with a risk that some bodies do not participate at all, while others do their own thing’.
“Although the Charter was agreed by all 22 local authorities, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice stated in her response that, 'It is the responsibility of local authorities to deliver on the objectives of this plan', and referred to the policy steering group.
“However, although the Welsh Government's ‘Streamlining Welsh benefits: route-map’ states that ‘Best Practice guidance would be issued to local authorities’ by Quarter 4 2025, the Social Justice Secretary made no reference to this. So, has this happened, and if not, why not?”
Responding the Cabinet Secretary said:
“As you know this is led by my Cabinet colleague for Social Justice, Jane Hutt, and I know that she has met with local authority leaders on this issue as well, and I have raised it with local authority leaders myself. I'll certainly ask my Cabinet colleague to respond to you in writing on this point.”
