North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to ensure that those most in need during the final stages of covid recovery in Wales benefit from the new £500m Household Support Fund recently announced by the UK Government.
Devolved Governments will receive £79m from the fund and Mr Isherwood is keen for Ministers in Cardiff Bay to utilise it effectively.
Mr Isherwood made the call in Wednesday’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament during a Topical Question on yesterday’s removal of the Universal Credit uplift.
He said:
“The temporary uplift was always time limited and it is misleading to pretend otherwise.
“As the First Minister said yesterday in regards to an NHS pay rise, Government can’t just ‘magic money out of the air’.
“The UK Government, which delivered a £407 billion Covid support package, including a £9 billion injection into our welfare system and an additional £2.14 Billion to the Welsh Government for 2021-22, is now focused on investing in jobs and skills as we bounce back from the pandemic.
“Further, as we heard, the UK Government has also announced a new £500m Household Support Fund available to help those most in need as we enter the final stages of recovery, which will support millions of households.
“Devolved Governments will receive £79m of this, so how will the Welsh Government ensure that its full share of this money ends up helping those most in need in Wales?”
In her response, the Minister, Jane Hutt MS, failed to confirm whether the Welsh Government will ensure that its full share of this money ends up helping those most in need in Wales.
Speaking outside the meeting, he added:
“As with all the extra support provided by the UK Government in response to Covid-19, this uplift was always time limited, although the core benefit remained protected.
“The 6-month extension announced by the UK Chancellor in his UK March 2021 Budget, plus a one-off payment of £500 for working households receiving tax credits also announced then, were expected to cost £3 Billion. In addition, the UK Chancellor announced that Universal Credit advances would not need to be paid for 24 months from April 2021, a 12-month extension, that the maximum Universal Credit reduction rate would fall to 25% from April 2021, and that the ‘higher surplus earnings threshold’ for Universal Credit would remain at £2,500 until April 2022.”
