Latest news with #WelshWinterFuelAllowance
ITV News
21-05-2025
- Business
- ITV News
FM 'delighted' over PM's U-turn on cuts to winter fuel payments
The prime minister's official spokesman said Starmer wanted the changes to be introduced 'as quickly as possible', as ITV News Political Correspondent Carl Dinnen explains The First Minister has said she is 'delighted' after the Prime Minister confirmed the UK Government is rethinking the controversial cuts to winter fuel payments for pensioners. The Prime Minister said that 'as the economy improves' he wanted to look at widening eligibility for the payments worth up to £300. But officials were unable to say how many more pensioners would be eligible or if the policy would be altered in time for this winter. In response, Eluned Morgan said: "I'm delighted the Prime Minister has listened to the concerns I expressed to him and will rethink the eligibility for winter fuel payments."This is in keeping with the values of our Red Welsh Way. "The cuts to the Winter Fuel Payment caused real concern to people across Wales. "We are yet to hear the details of the announcement, but I'm hopeful that significantly more people will now benefit from the payment." The decision to means-test the previously universal payment was one of the first announcements by Chancellor Rachel Reeves after Labour's landslide election victory last year and has been widely blamed for the party's collapse in support. The Government insisted the policy was necessary to help stabilise the public finances, allowing the improvements in the economic picture which Sir Keir said could result in the partial reversal of the measure. He said he understood the financial pressures on pensioners as he made the announcement at Prime Minister's Questions. 'I recognise that people are still feeling the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis, including pensioners,' Sir Keir told the Commons. 'As the economy improves, we want to make sure people feel those improvements in their days as their lives go forward. That is why we want to ensure that, as we go forward, more pensioners are eligible for winter fuel payments.' He said the Government will 'only make decisions we can afford' and will therefore look at this as part of a 'fiscal event' – indicating a change will not be announced before the Chancellor's autumn budget. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch challenged Sir Keir in the Commons, calling him 'desperate' while leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Darren Millar MS has called for more clarity: "It's unclear from the Prime Minister's statement whether all Welsh pensioners who have lost out will actually have their Winter Fuel Allowance reinstated. "That's why the Welsh Conservatives have made it clear that we would introduce our own Welsh Winter Fuel Allowance, funded by cutting the Welsh Labour Government's bloated bureaucracy. "Our pensioners shouldn't have to accept anything less." Plaid Cymru 's Work and Pensions spokesperson, Ann Davies MP said:the announcement as a 'half-turn' rather than a U-turn: 'Keir Starmer's latest remarks offer little comfort to the around 600,000 Welsh pensioners affected by the Winter Fuel Payment cut last winter. "That decision sent a clear and callous message: that this UK Government does not care about older people. "The trust that was broken cannot simply be restored with vague promises made months after the damage was done."
South Wales Argus
16-05-2025
- Politics
- South Wales Argus
Welsh Conservatives pledge to build M4 relief road
These are among a series of commitments made at the 2025 Welsh Conservative Conference in the Llangollen Pavilion. The party aims to 'fix Wales' with a range of policies targeting the NHS, education, transport, and the economy. The M4 relief road project was previously halted by Mark Drakeford in 2024, who said it was 'not in the long-term interests of Wales.' He admitted that the 'easy decision' would have been to proceed with the project, having spent £144 million on planning and preparation. However, he decided against it after 'careful consideration'. The Conservatives also plan to return the default speed limit to 30mph, unfreeze all road projects, and halt the creation of new cycle lanes until roads are fixed. In the health sector, they plan to declare a health emergency to reduce waiting times, ensure no patient waits more than 12 months for treatment, and introduce a seven-day GP guarantee. They also propose a public inquiry into the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and the creation of an NHS Leadership Register to prevent failed managers from being rehired. In education, the Conservatives plan to automatically exclude children for carrying knives into school, ban mobile phones in schools, and reinstate home economics in the curriculum. They also propose a 1p cut in the basic rate of income tax, introduce a Welsh Winter Fuel Allowance and 'focus on the people's priorities'. Darren Millar, Welsh Conservatives' leader, said: "The Welsh Conservative 2026 manifesto will be the boldest and most ambitious in our history. "My team and I will present a comprehensive, fully-funded set of policy commitments to fix Wales ahead of the Senedd election." Sam Rowlands, Welsh Conservative policy director and shadow cabinet secretary for finance and transport, added: "The Welsh Conservatives are the only party being forthright with voters, not only by offering policy proposals to fix public services and address the people's priorities, but including how they will be funded. "Cutting waste and putting money back into people's pockets is central to our offer."
Sky News
04-03-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Budget 2025: Welsh government plans approved - but what do they mean for Wales?
The Welsh government's budget has been approved by Senedd members in a vote on Tuesday. Every year, the government sets out its spending plans for Wales in funds devolved from the UK government, which then have to be agreed by a majority of members. Labour has exactly half the number of seats in the chamber, 30 out of 60, since the last election in 2021. After the election, Labour had entered into a co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru which involved the Welsh nationalist party supporting the government on a number of key policies. But the deal came to an abrupt end last year due to concerns about a controversial £200k donation to then first minister Vaughan Gething and government delays to policies such as council tax reform. So without their coalition partners, Labour were looking to borrow a vote to get them over the line. The final budget vote passed on Tuesday, 29 votes to 28, after the Labour government struck a deal with the Welsh parliament's sole Liberal Democrat member, Jane Dodds, who agreed to abstain. In exchange for her abstention, the Welsh government announced a number of investments, including a £1 bus ticket pilot scheme for under 21s. The agreement also includes a commitment to ban greyhound racing in Wales. 'Demanding better' The £26bn budget has allocated funding for areas such as health, housing and education for the next financial year, taking Wales into 2026 when voters will next go to the polls to vote for their representatives in the Senedd. Welsh finance secretary Mark Drakeford said: "Passing this budget is a significant moment for Wales - it unlocks a real uplift in funding for the services that matter most to people, after some very tough years. "We have secured a financial package that will strengthen our NHS, reduce waiting times, support schools and help communities across Wales thrive, making a real difference to people's lives." Welsh Lib Dem leader Ms Dodds said she agreed with "those who are demanding better from their government", but said she was not prepared to see Wales's public services "lose £5bn worth of funding" if the budget vote failed. The Welsh Conservatives ' shadow finance secretary Sam Rowlands said his party "would instead focus on putting money back into Welsh people's pockets", including the creation of a Welsh Winter Fuel Allowance. Plaid Cymru's finance spokesperson Heledd Fychan said Wales needed "fresh thinking" and that her party had "long-term solutions to improve [the] NHS" and "grow [the] economy". At the next election, the number of Senedd members will increase from 60 to 90, with a more proportional voting system adopted. And with just over a year to go, politicians of every party will be keener than ever to make their case for Wales.
