Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip – in the Senedd at 2:44 pm on 18 September 2024.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 2:44, 18 September 2024

Well, thank you for that also very important question in terms of this cross-Government responsibility that we’ve got. Obviously, this is something on which I’m working very closely with all my colleagues in Welsh Government from health and social care. And carers, obviously, are crucial to this, and I acknowledge that really important report from Carers Wales.

Can I just say one other point that came from the letter from Liz Kendall, which I think is encouraging to us here in Wales? She says, ‘In the longer term, the only way to guarantee greater uptake is to make the whole process'—this is in terms of claiming pension credit particularly, but other credit benefits—'more automatic.' So, the UK Government is going to bring forward the administration of housing benefit and pension credit into more of an automatic process. But, also, from a UK Government perspective, the Warm Homes discount of £150 is also available, but it's not just to those on pension credit, it's to those on housing benefit with high energy costs too. But we will look at the recommendations of the Carers Wales report.