Welsh ministers refuse to release benefits cuts letter

The Welsh government says it will not publish a letter to the first minister from the UK government's work and pensions secretary about the impact of welfare reform in Wales, a day after confirming they had received it.

Eluned Morgan had written to Liz Kendall on 11 March requesting a Wales-specific assessment, but it is not known whether any such work has been done.

On Friday, the first minister refused to back the reforms until she knew more.

Last week the chancellor confirmed a tightening of eligibility for personal independence payments and a freeze on some Universal Credit payments.

The Welsh Conservatives said the public had a right to see the letter, while Plaid Cymru accused the first minister of "running away from scrutiny".

Morgan has previously said that the changes would have a greater impact in Wales because of the relatively high level of claimant rates.

The welfare reforms come as the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, looks to boost defence funding and tries to meet her own self-imposed fiscal rules, including not borrowing to pay for day-to-day spending.

In her Spring Statement on Wednesday she announced a number of benefit changes, including tightening qualification rules for Personal Independence Payments (Pips) - the main disability benefit - claimed by more than 250,000 working aged people in Wales.

In her address to MPs, Reeves said "it can't be right" to "write off" an entire generation who are out of work and improperly using Pips.

Reeves also confirmed health-related universal credit for new claimants, which was already due to be halved from April 2026 under a package announced last week, would be frozen at its new lower level of £50 per week until 2030.

Health-related payments will be frozen for existing claimants.

A DWP assessment found 3.2m families across England and Wales would be worse off as a result of the changes, with 250,000 more people pushed into relative poverty.

The issue has become politically-charged in Wales, because of the country's relatively high level of benefits claims and after Morgan revealed a fortnight ago that she "personally spoke to number ten" about her concerns.

A copy of Morgan's letter to Kendall, dated 11 March, was then released to the media.

But in a session of the Senedd's Scrutiny of the First Minister Committee last Friday the first minister confirmed that she had not spoken to the Prime Minister Keir Starmer and could not remember who she had spoken to.

In the same session Morgan said she was reserving her position until she had more information.

Other Labour politicians have been openly critical of the planned reforms.

The Blaenau Gwent MS Alun Davies warned that some of his constituents were "terrified".

The Labour MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr, Steve Witherden, repeated his calls for a wealth tax, and in a post on X warned that "lives would be shortened" by the changes.

The Welsh government said it would be up to the sender to release the letter.

BBC Wales has asked the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if it intends to.

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar said: "Labour promised openness with their party in power at both ends of the M4, but instead, they're operating in secret. The people of Wales have a right to see that letter."

"I will be raising this directly with the first minister this week."

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said: "The first minister promised that transparency would be a 'watchword' of her government - yet when given the chance to be open about the impact of welfare cuts on Wales, she chooses secrecy instead."

"Instead of standing up for Wales, she is running away from scrutiny and putting party loyalty ahead of the people she serves."

In a separate development, Plaid's leader in the House of Commons, Liz Saville Roberts, has written to Kendall asking for the letter to the FM to be published because of the "significant consequences" for Wales.

Writing on X, she said the two governments should not "shield each other from scrutiny".