Plaid Cymru call for EMA to rise with inflation

laid Cymru’s Luke Fletcher welcomes EMA increase to £40 – but says larger uplift needed to help students

The EMA should rise with inflation, Plaid Cymru has said.

The payment, known as EMA, will increase from £30 per week to £40 for eligible further education students in sixth form or college.

Plaid Cymru’s economy spokesperson Luke Fletcher, who himself received EMA when he was younger, has consistently campaigned for the Education Maintenance Allowance to be increased from £30 per week to at least £45 per week.

Mr Fletcher said students were using the payment – which is designed to help learners from lower income backgrounds with their education – to cover basic costs due to the cost-of-living crisis.

He welcomed the commitment from the government to increase the payment to £40 as a “step in the right direction” but said he would continue to push for an “inflation linked increase” and a change in thresholds to who can access the EMA.

Plaid Cymru’s economy spokesperson Luke Fletcher MS said,

“Since my election to the Senedd in 2021, I have consistently campaigned for the Education Maintenance Allowance to be increased from £30 per week to at least £45 per week.

“Countless conversations I’ve had with young people in receipt of EMA made it clear that the current payment wasn’t coming close to covering basic costs. Many were resorting to using EMA not for its stated purpose of enhancing their educational experience, but for helping their families through this artificially imposed cost of living crisis.

“EMA should be at around £54 per week today, a £24 uplift from the £30 learners currently receive. This means that successive Welsh governments have cut the real-terms value of EMA by a third over the last 15 or so years.

“Having been in receipt of the EMA myself, I know just how much of a huge difference this increase will make to so many students.

“I welcome this commitment from the government as a step in the right direction and will continue to push for an inflation linked increase as well as a change in thresholds to who can access this crucial lifeline.