Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:43 pm on 17 July 2019.
So, again, that's not particularly in my portfolio, so I'll have to ask the Deputy Minister to come back to you about the specifics of that particular programme, which I'm not familiar with, I'm afraid.FootnoteLink
We have been, through my Deputy Minister, Hannah Blythyn, in communication with the UK Government on a range of issues to do with welfare. And can I say that I very much welcome the approach of the DWP in Wales for that kind of person-centred approach, which we can only recommend.
But I have to say that, one of the biggest reasons that we have poverty in Wales is because the welfare benefits system is not fit for purpose and simply does not deliver the kind of money to people that they need to live on. And the very cruel bedroom tax and capping system has a particularly detrimental effect on people who live in poverty. So, actually, my own view would be that the very best thing you can do with welfare, although I welcome the trauma-centred approach that you're talking about, would be to make it enough money for people to actually live off.