Calls For Assurance That £150 Support Payment Will Be Extended To Students

Jane Dodds Calls For Assurance That £150 Support Payment Will Be Extended To Students:

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader and Mid & West Wales Senedd Member Jane Dodds has today called on the Welsh Labour Government to ensure its £150 cost of living payment is made available to support students.

Yesterday, Welsh Finance Minister Rebecca Evans announced a £150 cost-of-living payment going to most households. However, students who live alone or share the rent with other students are exempt from council tax so it is unclear whether they will be able to receive the new payment – despite facing the same rise in household bills. 

Most students in Wales are exempt from paying council tax and would therefore not be eligible for the support unless specific measures were taken to include them. No such measures have been outlined in the Government’s announcement.

Dodds, whose region contains Aberystwyth University and University of Wales Trinity Saint David said:

“Students will be stunned to discover that despite their rents and bills rocketing, they may have been excluded from financial support by the Welsh Government.

“I appreciate the Welsh Government is doing more than in England and has limited capabilities while Rishi Sunak continues to hold the purse strings tight, but it is totally unfair students who don’t pay council tax look excluded from this support when they are facing the same cost-of-living crisis.

“Students will have every reason to feel abandoned if this is the case.

“I am calling on the Welsh Labour Government to urgently clarify this matter and give an assurance that students will be able to benefit from this £150 support package to help them through the cost-of-living crisis.”