£10-a-week child poverty payment plans face legal problems, says expert

Welsh government plans to give the poorest parents in Wales extra money face "substantial practical issues", according to a legal expert.

The new Plaid Cymru government has proposed a trial offering £10 a week for 15,000 children aged under six, in households already receiving universal credit.

But there are concerns that the payments would be treated as regular income, resulting in money being deducted from their benefits.

Prof Emyr Lewis from Aberystwyth University said that, while legally the Welsh government does have the power to do this, it would need the cooperation of the UK government.

The UK government has been approached for comment.

The Welsh government has no powers over welfare, with the UK government retaining control over benefits.

Lewis said the Welsh government needed to be certain the money paid to parents "would not be taxed nor taken into account in calculating any benefit cap or deductions from Universal Credit".

There are "substantial practical issues which would need to be sorted out," he said, which also includes getting the UK government to share data about who receives Universal Credit and for how long.

This would require the agreement of the Department for Work and Pension (DWP) and HMRC.

The previous Welsh government failed to get such an agreement when it introduced a basic income pilot for care leavers, which was treated as income by both HMRC and DWP.

Despite having some powers over welfare, Scotland still needed to come to a similar agreement with the UK government before it could introduce its own child payment.

Sioned Williams, Welsh government minister for social justice, said discussions had begun with the UK government "in order to look at that interrelationship between benefits, taxation" and the payment scheme, known as Cynnal.

"This is something that we will need to look at in detail and bring pressure to bear on the UK government to do the right thing," she said.

A Welsh government spokesperson said "no child in Wales should grow up in poverty and the evidence shows direct financial support is one of the most effective ways to help".

Melanie Simmonds, head of charity Save the Children Cymru, welcomed the pilot as poverty "deeply affects" children's lives.

Steffan Evans from the Bevan Foundation said a Welsh child payment "would be a powerful lever to address child poverty", and added it was "vital that the UK government cooperates".