Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Lake Excerpts

Wednesday 13th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

1. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the cost of living in Wales.

[Ben Lake (Ceredigion) (PC)]

4. What recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on supporting rural areas in Wales with the cost of living.

[Richard Thomson (Gordon) (SNP)]

5. What recent assessment he has made of the impact of increases in the cost of living on people in Wales.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ben Lake]

A number of my constituents have been adversely affected by their transfer from working tax credit to universal credit, because they work in sectors such as agriculture and tourism and their incomes are therefore seasonal. The switch from an annual to a monthly assessment of their entitlement means that many are losing out, but the Government have said that there will be no impact assessment to determine the financial effect of the move. Will the Secretary of State intervene in support of such an assessment, so that workers with seasonal incomes can be treated fairly?

[David T. C. Davies]

The hon. Gentleman is a champion of constituents in rural areas such as his, and I am happy to look at any information that he wants to give, but I hope that he will recognise that the increase in the living wage will have helped his constituents, even those who work seasonally. That is alongside the extra payments that the Government have made to households in which people are living on benefits or have disabilities.