2. What assessment has the Cabinet Secretary made of the impact of the UK Government’s welfare reforms on south-east Wales? (OAQ51201)

I’m grateful for the Member’s question and deeply concerned by the devastating impact that the UK Government’s welfare reforms are having on low-income families, particularly those with children. Average annual losses are estimated to be around £600 per household in the sub-region the Member represents, compared with £300 per household in the least affected sub-regions of Wales.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Earlier this year, research commissioned by Cardiff Metropolitan University found the average rent arrears for tenants claiming universal credit was £449.97. The six-week waiting period for the first payments will mean that the first payment of universal credit for those in Newport will be 27 December. Will the Cabinet Secretary once again urge the UK Government to reconsider the six-week waiting period for this flawed policy, which will plunge yet more people into poverty and debt, and also support the housing sector’s calls to immediately roll out the much needed landlord portal and trusted partner status, so that housing associations in Wales will be treated the same as those in England?

I’m really grateful to the Member for raising that with me today. I have written to the UK Government to ask them to put a halt on the universal credit roll-out. The principle of the universal credit programme wasn’t wrong, but it’s not working right and people are being affected and traumatised in the way that they are living their lives. In fact, a six-week wait—. I read an article today about a very young person on the Wirral in Merseyside having to wait six weeks and who was suicidal and living on water for that period of time. It is not right, it needs stopping and it needs reassessing now.

The unemployment rate in south-east Wales has fallen to 3.5 per cent this year; the employment rate in the year to June is up from 70.2 per cent to 72.5 per cent. Given that the Government in Westminster’s welfare reforms are designed at least in part to help people into work, and the Cabinet Secretary himself says he supports the principle of universal credit, shouldn’t he be welcoming these and working with the Government to implement them?

I certainly don’t welcome the universal credit roll-out as it is, and I’ve expressed that in a strong letter to the Minister in Westminster. This is having a devastating effect on families and children right across Wales. It needs stopping now and reassessing as to how that should be delivered for the future.

The Member for Newport West touched on a point of the levels of personal debt and that being a real impact of the hideous welfare reforms being thrust upon us by the British state. Research earlier this year showed that personal debt levels in the NP postcode area were the highest in Wales and, across the United Kingdom, they are now reaching pre-recession levels. I wonder what action the Cabinet Secretary is considering in light of this new research to target ethical financial support in those areas with the highest level of personal debt, and also the areas that are losing financial services from the traditional banks, because the last thing we want is these people who are already under siege from the state to also be under siege from rogue lenders.

Yes, the Member is right to raise this point, and I’ve worked with Bethan Jenkins in terms of financial literacy; it’s a really important point. But, for many of these people who are undergoing universal credit roll-out, the problem is they don’t have any money. The problem is that to have savings or otherwise is a luxury. This programme is flawed. I’m grateful for the Member’s support in this space, but actually we have to, collectively, think about making sure the UK Government recognises the damaging effect the universal credit roll-out is having on communities. And while we had two trial areas in Wales, there was lots of evidence behind that saying about the devastating impact it’s having on those families there. We are only just starting the roll-out of this programme, but it’s flawed and needs stopping.