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ISHERWOOD: WALES NEEDS WELFARE REFORM |
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February 2nd
NORTH Wales Assembly Member, Mark Isherwood, has this week spoken of the reasons why Welfare Reform is crucial for Wales.
Speaking in the Debate calling on the Welsh Government to bring forward measures to help tackle the stigmatisation of those dependent on the benefit system, Mr Isherwood stressed that over the last decade - and long before recession - the benefits bill was allowed to soar to unsustainable levels, whilst only creating ever bigger barriers.
He said: “It is right to tackle the stigmatisation of people dependent on welfare support” but “it is not fair that since devolution the Welsh Government has concentrated on the top 2%-3% of the poorest but neglected the most vulnerable, locking them into dependency”.
“In the biggest shake up of the welfare system for 60 years, steps to make work pay and put individual responsibility right at the heart of the benefits system were unveiled in the Welfare Reform Bill.
“Hence our Amendment which “recognises that worklessness and benefit dependency create ever bigger barriers for those who wish to escape a life on benefits and enter work”.
Mr Isherwood added: “Even before recession started, one in three working aged adults in Wales were not in work - double the UK rate - and it is a matter of shame that despite spending Billions on Economic Development - including two rounds of EU funds - the Welsh Government failed to tackle this.
“Housing benefit expenditure over the last decade has almost doubled to £20 Billion, over three times more than we pay for policing.
“Without reform it is forecast to reach £25 Billion by 2015 reform the need to tackle the record deficit makes reform even more pressing.
“With five million UK people trapped on out of work benefits and almost two million children growing up in homes where nobody works, we cannot afford to simply continue tinkering around the edges of the welfare system.
“The entrenched poverty and worklessness we see in too many areas of our country is bad for benefit recipients, bad for communities and bad for society, often leading to higher levels of debt, family breakdown, alcohol and drug addiction and crime.”
ENDS
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