9. Will the First Minister make a statement on the implications of the benefit cap in Torfaen? OAQ(5)0252(FM)

The estimate is that around 200 households in Torfaen will be affected by the UK Government’s lowering of the benefit cap in 2016-17, with an average loss of £60 per week if they don’t respond by moving into work or increasing their hours.

Thank you, First Minister. Unfortunately, yesterday’s extension of the benefits cap will, I believe, ensure that more children are pushed into poverty by the Tories’ welfare reforms. The figures that you have given are absolutely correct—£58 per week is a significant sum of money and there are some 516 children who are in households that are affected. A number of those families are already in rent arrears and, of course, the fear now is that they will have to choose between buying food for their families and paying their rent.

There’s been a very strong partnership approach in Torfaen led by the council to mitigate the impact of welfare reform, and much of that work has been done under the auspices of Communities First. Given the Welsh Government’s current consultation on Communities First, what assurances can you offer that whatever emerges from that consultation, this work will continue to be a priority for Welsh Government?

Clearly, we want to keep the best practice that has been established over the last few years, The Cabinet Secretary has, of course, said that he’s minded to phase out the Communities First programme, but also, of course, to develop a new approach to building resilient communities, which is why the engagement process is so important for us, to hear examples that the Member has referred to in order to in order to make sure that that best practice continues in the future with the new arrangements.

Does the First Minister agree that there has to be a maximum level of financial support that a claimant can expect the state to provide, and that people on benefits should not be able to receive more than the average working family earns in work in Wales?

We’ve got the fact that the UK Government has withdrawn benefits to those in work. There was a time that we said to people that if they worked, their circumstances would improve and their incomes would improve, and they have been hammered as a result of actions taken by the UK Government. The bedroom tax is another example of that. I certainly deplore the actions over the last few years, where those who are the most vulnerable have been the ones who have suffered the most, whereas those, of course, at the very top end of the income stream had a tax cut. If there was anything more regressive as a tax policy, then that was it.

Will the First Minister agree with me that there are many hardworking families in Torfaen who would be delighted with a take-home pay of £400, which may well be the reason why 21 per cent of the unemployed in Torfaen have declared they do not want a job?

I don’t know where he gets that figure from. What I can say to him is that the unemployment rate is—[Interruption.]

The First Minister is answering the question. First Minister.

Our unemployment rate is 4.1 per cent. We continue to provide jobs for our people. I regret the Member’s tone because I don’t believe that’s his true view. His view, I believe, is that there was a time in this country when there was a contract between people and the state, where the state would do what it could to provide housing, education, to provide good healthcare and also to provide people with a safety net if they became unemployed, but that has been whittled away over the years. When he tries to pit people who are unemployed against those who are employed, I think that is the wrong way forward. The reality is for many people that they struggle to get work because of, sometimes, disabilities; they struggle to get work and that is why they need extra help and qualifications, which we are providing; but, ultimately, I don’t agree that demonising people who are on benefits is actually a good way of building cohesion in society.

Thank you, First Minister.