Swansea East MS welcomes new support fund to help families hit hardest by the cost-of-living crisis

 Swansea East MS welcomes new support fund to help families hit hardest by the cost-of-living crisis 

  

Welsh Labour’s Member of the Senedd for Swansea East, Mike Hedges  has welcomed a new £51m package of support to help families facing the cost-of-living crisis to pay their bills this winter. 

  

The funding, which has been released from the Welsh Government’s reserves, will support lower income households, providing immediate support for people facing rising living costs this winter. 

  

The first phase of the Household Support Fund will target the rising costs associated with heating and eating by providing families with extra help to pay their energy bills over the winter and giving extra funding to foodbanks and community food schemes. 

  

The new fund comes as the Conservative UK Government continues to refuse to reverse its £20 cut to Universal Credit which has impacted tens of thousands of families in Wales and amid warnings from the Bank of England that inflation will rise to 5% by the spring, which will push prices even higher. 

  

Welcoming the new support fund, Mike Hedges MS said:  

  

“Families in Swansea East are facing a cost-of-living crisis thanks to the economic choices and mismanagement of the UK Conservative Government, rising prices and the cruel £20 cut which is being imposed on those in receipt of Universal Credit.  

  

“While the Conservatives have once again failed families, the Welsh Labour Government is stepping in and doing everything they can within their powers and budget to support families through what is going to be a difficult winter.  

  

“I welcome the support which has been announced to help with heating and eating pressures and I again call on the Conservatives to reverse their cut to Universal Credit and to take meaningful action to address the cost of living crisis which people across Swansea East  are facing.”  

  

Welsh Labour’s Minister for Social Justice, Jane Hutt MS, has outlined the first measures that will be funded.  

  

More than £38m will be made available through a Winter Fuel Support Scheme for households in receipt of working age means-tested benefits.  

  

More than £1.1m has also been provided to support and bolster foodbanks, community food partnerships and community hubs. This will help them address food poverty, food insecurity and provide a wider range of services to help people and families maximise their income, including the extension of the successful Big Bocs Bwyd project to a further 25 schools. 

  

Further announcements about the Household Support Fund will be made in the coming weeks. 

  

ENDS 

  

Notes to editors: 

  

Households that are eligible for the Winter Fuel Support Scheme will be able to claim a one-off £100 cash payment. It will be available to all eligible energy customers regardless of whether they pay for their fuel on a pre-payment or a credit meter. 

  

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Report, published on 04 November 2021, can be found here: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy-report/2021/november-2021 

Mike Hedges, MS welcomes launch of the Young Person’s Guarantee

 Mike Hedges, MS welcomes launch of the Young Person’s Guarantee 

  

Welsh Labour’s Member of the Senedd for Swansea East, Mike Hedges, has welcomed the launch of the Welsh Labour Government’s ambitious Young Person’s Guarantee. 

  

The Young Person’s Guarantee, one of Welsh Labour’s key election pledges, will help ensure there is no lost generation in Wales following the COVID-19 pandemic by providing everyone under 25 with the offer of work, education, training, or self-employment. 

  

The comprehensive package is designed to provide the right support at the right time and meet the diverse needs of young people across Wales. This includes new user friendly services to help young people find opportunities more easily. 

  

Phase one of the Guarantee will provide young people aged 16 to 24 in Wales with access to: 

• one simple route to access the Young Person’s Guarantee via the Working Wales service - support and advice from advisers will be provided in a range of ways, including virtually, on the high street and through improved outreach facilities across Wales; 

• self-employment advice and support; 

• traineeships which provide work experience and training; 

• training and wage incentives via the ReAct programme; 

• a place on one of the Welsh Government’s outreach Community Employability programmes; 

• help to find an apprenticeship; 

• a new course search platform, for those wanting to enter further education or higher education, to make it easier to find their choice; 

• a referral to one of the programmes funded by other partners, such as DWP and Local Authorities. 

  

Welcoming the ambitious plans, Mike Hedges MS said: 

  

“At the Senedd election in May I stood on a platform that promised to ensure that no young person would be left behind as a result of the pandemic, so I’m really pleased that our Welsh Labour Government is already delivering on this key commitment to the people of Wales. 

  

“This support is crucial to young people as they navigate their way into the world of work and decide what they want to do next – we know that they hold the key to Wales’ future success. 

  

“It is more important than ever that young people are supported to gain the skills and experience they need to succeed, whether that’s in employment, education or starting their own business. The Young Person’s Guarantee will make a real difference.” 

  

As part of the plan, Working Wales (https://workingwales.gov.wales/) has become the single gateway for every 16 to 24 year old in Wales to access the Guarantee. This builds on the already strong and successful model of delivering careers guidance and signposting support. They are also trialling a new Job Matching service, to assist young people with securing employment and to help employers fill vacancies. 

  

The Welsh Government has said the next steps in the development of the guarantee will include: 

  

• Regional Skills Partnerships will hold engagement events to shape the provision of the Young Person’s Guarantee within their area of responsibility. 

• A series of focus groups will be held with young people between now and December to help understand how they view the support available, what they want to see and the barriers they face. 

  

ENDS 

  

Notes to editors: 

  

The guarantee is supported by wide ranging provision which ensures young people can take up effective support that works for them.  In this year alone the Welsh Labour Government has invested: 

  

• £390m in Sixth Forms and Further Education, providing thousands of young people with a range of academic and vocational courses; £16.4m in Educational Maintenance Allowances; £5m for extra places and an additional £33m to support young people in education to recover from the impact of the pandemic. 

• £152m in apprenticeships, including an £18.7m investment in employer incentives to recruit and support young people.  Whilst this is an all age programme, around 39% of all apprentices starting in 2019/20 were under the age of 25. 

• Around £1.22bn in Student support for 2021-22. In the past year, Ministers have also provided £122m of additional funding to build capacity and to enable our universities to increase their hardship funding and support services to students affected by the pandemic. 

• £70m per annum to help people into work through a range of employability programmes including ReAct, Traineeships and Community Employabilty Programmes.