North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has stated that a ‘Welsh benefits system’ will only succeed with citizen involvement at its core.
Mr Isherwood made the comment when speaking in today’s Welsh Parliament debate on the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee report on the ‘Benefits in Wales - options for better delivery’ inquiry.
The purpose of the inquiry was to examine: arguments for and against the devolution of welfare benefits; lessons learned from the devolution of some social security powers to Scotland; options for different forms of devolution (i.e. Universal Credit flexibilities, the devolution of specific benefits, the ability to create new benefits etc.); practical considerations of devolution (i.e. the financial implications, integration of devolved and non-devolved systems, delivery infrastructure etc.); and the principles that could underpin the delivery of benefits in Wales.
Speaking in today’s debate, Mr Isherwood, who is a member of the Committee, said:
“Throughout our Inquiry, I emphasised that our focus must be on whether doing things at a devolved level in perpetuity would, by itself, better meet Welsh needs and address the impact on devolved policy areas, rather than reflect the ‘politics’ around current UK and Welsh Government policies.
“As our report states ‘devolution does not improve things automatically, a point raised by most stakeholders including Oxfam Cymru, the Bevan Foundation, academics from Bangor University and the Deputy Minister’.
“As we also noted ‘the potential prize of delivering services that better suit Welsh specific needs’ must be balanced against ‘the possibility of breaking the social union’ across the UK which underpins ‘the principle that all UK citizens have an equal claim to the welfare state, and that benefits and burdens depend on need and not geography’.”
“The Bevan Foundation states ‘Poverty could be reduced if the existing devolved schemes’, including the Discretionary Assistance Fund and Council Tax Reduction Scheme, ‘were pulled together into a coherent, effective and fair Welsh Benefits System’.
“In Scotland, the importance of involving people with lived experience in the design of the new social security system was emphasised to us.
He added:
“As our Report states, ‘we are concerned that the current assessment processes do not always take best account of the specific needs or challenges faced by people with some conditions’ – an issue I have been raising repeatedly with the DWP and Capita on constituent cases.
“Hence the need to embed ‘the lived experience of people into the design, implementation and evaluation of the benefits system’.
“Contrary to the report’s statement that the ‘Scottish approach where the private sector has been removed from the assessment process requires further exploration’, the focus should be on the assessment process, rather than who delivers the assessment.
“Whether assessments are conducted by Public, Private or Third Sector, they will fail unless people with lived experience are involved in their design, delivery and monitoring.
“I welcome the Welsh Government’s acceptance of our Recommendations that it ‘establish a coherent and integrated Welsh benefits system for all the means-tested benefits for which it is responsible….co-produced with people who claim these benefits and the wider Welsh public’ – and that it use ‘the Oxfam Sustainable Livelihoods approach toolkit’, recognising that all people have abilities and assets that can be developed to help them improve their lives.
“We now need words turned into real action, so that at last things are done with people, rather than to them.
“The Welsh Government states that it is ‘finalising actions to take forward’ following its ‘Review of its existing programmes and services’ and ‘building on action already undertaken in response to the current crisis’.
“However, ‘developing a set of principles and values on which a Welsh benefits system will be based’ - and tackling poverty more widely - will only succeed with citizen involvement at its core.”