James Evans says the UK Government’s “callous” decision to take the winter fuel allowance away from most pensioners is “nothing short of shameful”.
The Brecon and Radnorshire MS asked at the Senedd what the Welsh Government is doing to support pensioners who will lose the payments worth up to £300.
Video from Senedd.tv
The Brecon and Radnorshire MS asked at the Senedd what the Welsh Government is doing to support pensioners who will lose the payments worth up to £300.
Video from Senedd.tv
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Diolch, Acting Presiding Officer.
00:02What is the Welsh Government doing to support pensioners who will lose their winter fuel
00:06payments?
00:07Thank you for the question.
00:08We are ensuring people in Wales, including pensioners, claim every pound to which they
00:12are entitled.
00:13Our Claim What's Yours advice link Cymru helpline is helping pensioners to find out
00:18and access financial support, including pension credit.
00:23Thank you for your answer, Cabinet Secretary.
00:24Putting political differences aside, I don't think anyone in this Chamber can question
00:28your commitment to improve social justice in Wales.
00:32However, the callous act by the UK Labour Government to remove the winter fuel support
00:37for an estimated 500,000 pensioners is nothing short of shameful.
00:43You have said yourself that it will push people into fuel poverty, and your own party stated
00:48that 4,000 pensioners could die because of this decision.
00:52You may blame the previous UK Government, but this is a political choice made by the
00:56UK Labour Government.
00:59This policy is the single biggest attack on our pensioners in a generation.
01:03So, Cabinet Secretary, will the Welsh Government look to implement its own version of the winter
01:08fuel support to make sure that those people who helped build the communities that we all
01:13live in are supported this winter?
01:15Jane Hutt AM, Deputy Presiding Officer.
01:16Well, thank you, James Evans.
01:17I'm sorry, we can't put politics aside, can we, in terms of why we are in this situation,
01:23why the new Labour Government in Westminster is in this situation, in this regrettable
01:29situation?
01:30No, we can't put politics aside after 14 years of austerity, and I remember that 2010 austerity
01:37budget.
01:38I was actually the finance Minister, and the shock it was going to have.
01:44Cutting benefits—that was one of the main ways they were going to recoup the money that
01:50they wanted to address through their austerity measures.
01:55So, you can't put politics aside, except that I will say, again, I give my commitment today
02:00to ensure that we can do everything we can.
02:03We've had some good exchange already about ways in which we can support emergency support
02:09to households, particularly our pensioners, and I will refer again to our Welsh benefits
02:14charter.
02:15We launched it in January.
02:17It does actually tell us how we can deliver benefits governed by the Welsh Government.
02:22It's a key part of our work to help people.
02:26And all 22 local authorities have signed up to this, and I believe we are working towards
02:32a coherent, simplified Welsh benefits system as a result of the launch of that charter.