Diolch. Universal credit is designed to help people into work and support people who need help or cannot work. It replaces a system that discouraged people from working more than 16 hours a week, and saw nearly 1.5 million people trapped on out-of-work benefits for nearly a decade. Unlike the disastrous roll-out of tax credits, which saw millions of people facing clawbacks after overpayments of £7.3 billion, universal credit is being introduced gradually. People are moving into work faster and staying in work longer. There are only six weeks, as we heard, since the last Plaid Cymru debate on universal credit where I noted that I'd written to the UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions regarding universal credit helpline charges before his announcement they were being scrapped, and that backbench Conservative MPs were doing their democratic job by calling for a reduction in the six-week waiting time for universal credit payments. 

When I recently visited the new Jobcentre Plus district manager for north and mid Wales and staff at their Mold office, they told me that they can now focus on the claimant's needs, and instead of spending their days helping people filling out long forms as they come off and then back on jobseeker's allowance, and dealing with queries about delays in payments, they can now concentrate on coaching people about how to find extra work and become financially independent. They also told me about the personal budgeting support they provide and about the advance payments available, although these had rarely been taken up so far, they told me. 

I urge all Members to visit a Jobcentre Plus office in their own area. The House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee stated in 2012:

'The principles behind Universal Credit have widespread support, which we share.'

Labour's shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, three years ago, said:

'Labour supports the principle of universal credit'.

Most of the respondents to the UK Government twenty-first century welfare consultation paper agreed with the need for fundamental reform and the principles underpinning universal credit. I therefore move amendment 1, noting that the principle behind universal credit is widely supported.

Rather than scrapping it, Labour's 2017 UK manifesto said, quote:

'Labour will reform and redesign UC, ending six-week delays in payment'.

And, in this context, amendment 1 also welcomes the wide-ranging package announced at the UK Government's budget to address concerns around the transition to universal credit. This £1.5 billion package, which reduces a claimant's wait for their first payment to five weeks, is actually significantly more generous than reducing the payment to one month, which I'll develop.