Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:38 pm on 15 November 2016.
I could not disagree with either of those comments that she’s made. GPs are perfectly well qualified to make an assessment as to whether somebody should qualify for a particular benefit or not. Similarly, of course, I do worry about the fact that those people who are having to go through a number of obstacles in order to claim a benefit are being dissuaded from doing so, and that means greater hardship for them. There are some who may not even want to go through that process in the first place, despite the fact that they may be entitled to benefits. That is where we are, unfortunately, at the moment as a society, where those people who most people would accept need help from the state are being dissuaded from getting that help.