2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:33 pm on 3 November 2020.

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Photo of Leanne Wood Leanne Wood Plaid Cymru 2:33, 3 November 2020

Can I have a statement about the new isolation payment of £500? I know the question was asked earlier on, but it was dismissed by the First Minister. I want to know whether a chunk of it will be clawed back by Westminster in the form of tax, national insurance and deductions for universal credit purposes, just as the £500 carers bonus was. We need information about this payment to be better communicated than the carers bonus situation was, because that has plunged many people into a very difficult situation, where they've spent the money that they received from the bonus, and then subsequently had the money taken from them in universal credit. 

I'd also like to know why this isolation payment was only backdated for one week to 23 October, despite being announced in September, when people in England have been able to access this payment since the end of September. So why are people losing out in Wales?