I think that many Members have also pointed out that it's not the issue about transition to equality in state pension age that's the question here; it's the manner in which the changes were communicated, the speed with which they were done, and the removal of the transitional arrangements in 2011 that we have a serious problem with. The UK Government has a responsibility towards the women that they have put into this position, to right a wrong and to ensure gender equality is not compounded. Around 195,000 women in Wales are WASPI women, affected by the changes in this Act. And I think many Members have also pointed this out as well, but there is some really heartening stuff here as well, because, as Jane Hutt and Siân Gwenllian and many others have pointed out, it's amazing what the accomplishments of this group of women acting together have achieved already, from getting the message into the mainstream media, the crowdfunding campaign that raised over £100,000 in three weeks, the formation of groups all over the country, and being instrumental in the formation of the all-party parliamentary group on state pension inequality for women.

As a result of their campaign, women from across the country have submitted complaints of maladministration against the Department for Work and Pensions regarding what they see as inadequate communication of changes in the state pension age. Progress on the complaints submitted to the Independent Case Examiner has been very slow, but last November, the legal firm hired by WASPI had a breakthrough, and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman stepped in and agreed with the Independent Case Examiner that it will directly streamline the process in future, and I just mention that in the Chamber to demonstrate the sheer strength of the campaign and the campaigning behind it.

Julie Morgan, in her intervention with Jane Hutt, mentioned the queue of women outside the meeting organised by Anna McMorrin, and we've had similar experiences as well. Very strong feelings have been aroused by this, quite rightly so, because it's an appalling injustice. There have been numerous debates in the House of Commons, unfortunately not binding on the Government, and Carolyn Harris introduced a private Member's Bill in September on behalf of the all-party parliamentary group, which is calling for a review of the situation, and in particular to undertake costings for the compensation scheme. Its Second Reading has unfortunately been postponed, but they have got an online consultation inviting groups who campaign on this issue to respond, so if anyone knows of a group that hasn't responded, please urge them to do so. I know they've had over 100 responses so far. They're going to be presenting the results of that survey on 25 April, and the point of it is to seek to identify a solution that large numbers of Members can support, that can inform the private Member's Bill, and that this Government will also be seeking to support in any way that we can.

Just because Michelle Brown said that she didn't think that we were doing anything, Deputy Presiding Officer, I will just point out that the Welsh Government recognises the important role played by social welfare advice services in helping people make informed decisions and enforcing their rights to civil justice in terms of these sorts of problems. We remain committed to supporting not-for-profit advice providers who have been very instrumental in giving advice to women as to how to submit a complaint, because we feel confident that some of the most vulnerable people in our society ought to have access to free and independent advice on debt, money management and pension issues, and be supported in this way. So, during this financial year, the Welsh Government will provide £5.97 million in grant funding to not-for-profit advice services, helping people across Wales to access free and independent advice on problems linking to accessing welfare benefits, debt advice, housing and so on.

The reason I point that out is because a number of Members linked, quite rightly, the issue of the WASPI women's injustice with the issue of poverty and women living in poverty. Figures show that the number of women aged 60 plus claiming employment support allowance in Great Britain increased by 410 per cent between August 2013 and August 2017. It's not very difficult to figure out why that should be. The increase for women aged 60 plus claiming universal credit and jobseeker's allowance was 110 per cent. Data compiled by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in its 2017 report 'Can’t wait to get my pension: 
the effect of raising the female state pension age on income, poverty and deprivation' found household incomes for women aged 60 to 62 had fallen by around £32 a week on average. The reduction is similar in cash terms for richer and poorer households, meaning that while the average drop in proportional terms is 12 per cent, the decline is significantly larger, on average, for low-income households: a 21 per cent drop, compared to higher-income households, where it's around 4 per cent. So, all the evidence suggests that it's those who are already around the poverty line who have already seen the largest income losses as a result of the impacts of welfare reform, compared to other income groups.

I spoke earlier, Deputy Presiding Officer, in the Chamber, in answer to some questions, about unintended consequences of numbers of policies coming together and having a much bigger effect than was intended, and we will be making that point again to the UK Government, because its roll-out of universal credit, the way that it's reacting to jobseekers and the way that it's reacting to the transition to personal independent payments, combined with the increase in state pension age, is having a most unfortunate cumulative effect on a large number of women in Wales, and it's right that we point that out.

Universal credit has now been rolled out to eight local authorities in Wales, with Denbighshire going live in April. The DWP have, I'm pleased to say, amended their roll-out schedule to include more time for the full Welsh language online system to be available, but it does mean that the women caught in this position are also caught in the transition, which is very unfortunate indeed. We remain deeply concerned about the fundamental flaws of the system, and we're very disappointed that the UK Government is persisting with the roll-out, despite our and others' calls on them to halt the roll-out and address the number of issues, of which this is one that should be addressed as part of the roll-out.

So, Deputy Presiding Officer, we are fully behind the WASPI women in their campaign. I will continue to urge the UK Government to change its mind and not set its face against transitional and other arrangements, and we will continue to do everything that the Welsh Government possibly can do to support the very brave, courageous and very effective campaigns run by WASPI women all over the country. Diolch.