Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip – in the Senedd at 2:38 pm on 18 September 2024.
I can't believe the cheek, I would say, that's coming over. Yes, you're now in opposition in Westminster, but you were in power for 14 years of austerity, where you stripped so many of the benefits of pensioners. [Interruption.] Actually, I'm quite happy to quote from Liz Kendall's letter, because she says in her letter, 'As the first step to rebuilding Britain we must fix the foundations of our economy to make the changes our country desperately needs, given our dire inheritance'—dire inheritance—'including the £22 billion black hole in the public finances this year. We've had to make hard choices.'
But also she has accepted in terms of what the Welsh Government is doing to reach out and work with them to raise awareness of pension credit: 'I'm pleased to say that the Department for Work and Pensions'—obviously, it's the UK Government's responsibility, in terms of benefits—'will be directly contacting approximately 120,000 pensioner households, including in Wales, who are in receipt of housing benefit and who have been identified as eligible but not currently claiming pension credit.'