1. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact of welfare reform in Torfaen? OAQ51574

Thank you. Our research shows that the welfare changes from 2010-11 to 2015-16 have hit the south Wales Valleys hard. This includes Torfaen, which was the seventh worst affected local authority area in Wales, with average income losses above those for Wales as a whole. In terms of the welfare changes introduced since 2015-16, and those that are continuing to roll out over the next few years, analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows Torfaen will be hit hard again. 

Thank you. After the first six months of full service universal credit in Torfaen, the council's head of revenues and benefits, Richard Davies, said he felt the ethos of his role had changed from paying benefits and making sure people had their entitlements to ensuring people had food on the table. Sadly, there is no sign of improvement, and, last week, the chair of Bron Afon Community Housing predicted the number of tenants adversely affected by universal credit will rise again, and the level of rent arrears already being caused is deeply worrying. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to support residents in communities that are struggling under universal credit, and, in particular, what steps can we take to ensure the problems with rent arrears do not lead to an increase in evictions and homelessness?

I thank you very much for that question, and I share your deep concern about the impact that universal credit, particularly, but welfare reform and austerity in the wider sense, are having on our communities. It's a concern that's shared by the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services, who, today, actually, has met with the leader of Torfaen council, and part of the discussion was about the impact that welfare reform is having on people living in Torfaen. I've been very clear with the UK Government that there are severe issues with the roll-out of universal credit, not least the impact that the changes to payment of housing support are having on people with rent arrears.

Welsh Government is really keen that people are proactively offered that choice to have the alternative payment, where the payment is made to their landlord rather than to the individual. We know that makes much more sense for people who haven't had to budget in that way previously, and it gives surety to the individual that they will have that roof over their head. I've had discussions around that with Jobcentre Plus in Wales to try and ensure that people do have that proactive choice and they're not just asked, 'Would you like alternative payments?', because 'alternative payments' doesn't mean anything to anybody, but that the option for an alternative payment is explained in terms of the fact that it will mean that your rent is paid for you and you don't have to worry about that.

We're really keen to ensure that people do have the advice and the support that they need, which is why Welsh Government has invested nearly £6 million of grant funding to support our advice services across Wales, supporting, particularly, funding for front-line advice, Better Advice, Better Lives, and the Communities First shared outcomes project. That's because we are really committed to ensuring that people do have free, independent advice. I've spoken also to Citizen's Advice, because I've been really keen to understand their experience in Torfaen, which has had full roll-out now. They were very clear that rent arrears are a problem for people who have been moved over to universal credit. They are undertaking some local mitigating action, such as access to local hardship funds, for example, and tenants are being helped in that way, alongside those alternative payment arrangements I was talking about. But the message is very strong that this issue is putting quite strong pressure on our advice services and on Citizen's Advice in Torfaen, particularly.

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Ann Jones) took the Chair.

Does the Cabinet Secretary agree that our benefits system should be designed to make sure work always pays? And will she join me in welcoming the fact that unemployment in Torfaen has fallen by 37 per cent since November 2010? Thank you.

The Welsh Government absolutely agrees that work should pay, which is why we have such severe concerns about universal credit, which actually means that in many cases work doesn't pay. People who are in employment, such as lone families, and families with disabled people who are in employment, some of them will actually see their income fall as a result of the impact of universal credit. It's absolutely important that work pays, but it must pay well as well, which is why we're doing so much work around the issue of the living wage. And we have to address issues such as zero-hours contracts. We've made a commitment to do so under the areas where we do have power to do so—for example, in the field of social care. We're keen to ensure that zero-hours contracts are not something to see now as an acceptable way in which to employ people.