Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Rural Poverty: Benefits System

Monday 18 March 2024 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Hywel Williams commissioned a poverty report for the Arfon constituency from the Bevan Foundation.
  • The Minister thanked Hywel Williams and stated they would review the report with interest.
  • Virginia Crosbie thanked Alwen Gardiner and the Ynys Mn DWP team for organizing a tourism and hospitality jobs fair.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Hywel Williams PC
Benefits & Welfare
Context

The question follows a report by the Bevan Foundation highlighting that 35% of people receiving both universal credit and housing benefit in Arfon are affected by the bedroom tax, compared to 21% across Wales. This disparity is exacerbated by limited housing stock due to high levels of holiday homes.

Question

I commissioned a poverty report for the Arfon constituency from the Bevan Foundation which finds that 35% of people receiving both universal credit and housing benefit in Arfon are paying the bedroom tax, compared with 21% across Wales. Will the Minister review the differential negative effects of the bedroom tax between communities, particularly those with a diminished housing stock due to high levels of holiday homes?

Answer from Mel Stride

I thank the hon. Gentleman for referring to that report which I will look at with interest. Of course, there is no such thing as a bedroom tax; it is a spare room subsidy. It exists to free up additional space for those who need it. Local housing allowance has been improved so that 1.6 million people on low incomes in the private rented sector will be £800 a year better off come April.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not commit to reviewing the differential impact of the bedroom tax as requested.

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Q2 Hywel Williams PC
Benefits & Welfare
Context

The question follows a report by the Bevan Foundation highlighting that 35% of people receiving both universal credit and housing benefit in Arfon are affected by the bedroom tax, compared to 21% across Wales. This disparity is exacerbated by limited housing stock due to high levels of holiday homes.

Question

I commissioned a poverty report for the Arfon constituency from the Bevan Foundation which finds that 35% of people receiving both universal credit and housing benefit in Arfon are paying the bedroom tax, compared with 21% across Wales. Will the Minister review the differential negative effects of the bedroom tax between communities, particularly those with a diminished housing stock due to high levels of holiday homes?

Answer from Mel Stride

I thank the hon. Gentleman for referring to that report which I will look at with interest. Of course, there is no such thing as a bedroom tax; it is a spare room subsidy. It exists to free up additional space for those who need it. Local housing allowance has been improved so that 1.6 million people on low incomes in the private rented sector will be £800 a year better off come April.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not commit to reviewing the differential impact of the bedroom tax as requested.

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Q3 Virginia Crosbie
Employment Benefits & Welfare
Context

A tourism and hospitality jobs fair was organised in Llangefni, Ynys Môn, which attracted over 150 jobseekers. Companies like Tredici Butchers & Deli and Breeze Hill also participated.

Question

One of the best ways to tackle poverty in rural areas such as Ynys Môn is through jobs fairs. Will the Secretary of State join me in thanking Alwen Gardiner and my brilliant Ynys Môn DWP team for organising an excellent tourism and hospitality jobs fair, which was attended by over 150 jobseekers?

Answer from Mel Stride

I thank my hon. Friend for drawing attention to her jobs fair. She is a local dynamo in standing up for her constituents. When I arrived there recently thinking I was very special to support yet another jobs fair—a disability jobs fair—I was quickly reminded of the fact that I am the 32nd Minister to have been to her constituency in, I think, the past 12 months.

Not addressed: The Secretary of State did not directly thank the organisers for the tourism and hospitality jobs fair.

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