A Welsh Conservative FOI, requesting the publication by the Welsh Government of “all correspondence between the First Minister, Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers with the UK Government regarding Wales-specific consequences of the winter fuel payment cut” has revealed only two letters of correspondence – neither of which were from the First Minister.
The first of which was from the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice, Jane Hutt and though it outlined the effects of the policy on fuel poverty, it did not explicitly outline any opposition to the policy from the Welsh Government.
The second was from Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall to Jane Hutt and focussed on pension credit.
According to this FOI response, it is clear that the First Minister has not corresponded with the UK Government regarding the Winter Fuel Payment cut and neither has the Welsh Government expressed any kind of opposition to this policy, which the Welsh Conservatives have called a “dereliction of duty”.
Commenting, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Darren Millar MS said:
“The First Minister’s failure to stand up for Welsh pensioners and oppose Keir Starmer’s cut to winter fuel is nothing short of a dereliction of duty.
“It is clear that for Labour at both ends of the M4, older people, who have paid into a system their entire lives, are just an afterthought.
“The Welsh Conservatives will protect our pensioners by rolling back increased spending on Labour’s bureaucracy budget to introduce a new Welsh Winter Fuel Allowance, so that pensioners won’t have to choose between heating and eating.”
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