Plaid Cymru AM and the Welsh Housing Minister Jocelyn Davies has today expressed disappointment as the reality of ConDem plans to cut housing benefit were outlined in the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).
The plans were recently criticised by six leading Welsh charities that joined forces to demand a rethink by the ‘ConDem’ government on the plans. Jocelyn Davies, the Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales East said that the ConDem’s own findings show that their plans will have dire consequences leading to an increase in poverty and homelessness. An assessment by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has shown that over 99% of claimants will be affected, that the private rented sector will shrink by 20% and that homelessness is likely to increase.
Jocelyn Davies AM said that the Welsh government has been working hard to tackle homelessness and poverty. She warned that the ConDem plans threaten to undo that work and would hit Wales particularly hard.
Plaid Cymru AM and Welsh Housing Minister Jocelyn Davies said:
“I am bitterly disappointed that following the CSR today, these ConDem plans to cut housing benefit will become a reality for many families across Wales and the UK as a whole. The Tories and Lib Dems clearly chose to ignore the advice of leading charities and indeed the findings of their own assessment.
“The ConDem government’s plans show a complete lack of understanding of the situation here in Wales. The lack of affordable housing has long been an issue in many communities across Wales and since Plaid went into government we have been working hard to tackle this problem. The ConDems’ proposals would price even more people out of the market and exacerbate the problem further.
“What’s more the plans are likely to lead to people being pushed out of bigger cities and into areas with lower house prices, leading to even greater pressure on services in those areas. If the ConDem government wants to spend less on housing benefits then they need to increase the provision of affordable housing, as we have been doing in Wales. The question is, if more affordable housing is not made available, but housing benefits are reduced, where are people expected to go? It is clearly going to lead to more homelessness and poverty. This is an attack on the most vulnerable in our society and it will cause huge problems for our communities as a whole in the long term.”
