I’m really looking forward to joining Shelter Cymru and colleagues across Wales at the People & Homes Conference in October Join us if you can

How do voters in Wales view housing and how do they prioritise it as an issue for the Senedd election next year? @lukeyoung.bsky.social, Head of Policy with @citizensadvice.bsky.social, will be one of the panelists discussing this at our People & Homes Conference. Register now: bit.ly/44hthxK

Making full use of the cinema air conditioning I’ve seen Superman and Jurassic World. Superman is fantastic. Both the lead and Lex Luthor. Excellent film 🦸🏻‍♂️ The dinosaurs were fun too 🦕 🦖

📢Joint statement. We stand united with organisations working to tackle poverty and advance the rights and inclusion of disabled people in rejecting harmful narratives that pit communities against each other. These are not competing issues.

1) New report alert 📚! Written [email protected] and myself, it looks at the relationship between health and work. It is the first report from our wider project on health inequalities, funded by @healthfoundation.bsky.social‬. 🔗 www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...

Does every shop really need a dj? Who’s asking for this

We’re asking all MPs to vote against the UCPIP Bill today. The government’s own impact assessment says the cuts will plunge 150,000 people into poverty by the end of this Parliament. This is likely an underestimate. MPs must protect their disabled constituents and vote against this Bill.

Unity across disability organisations and charities in calling for MPs to vote against the UC & PIP Bill today www.ucpipbill.co.uk/wp-content/u...

If the UCPIP Bill becomes law it will cut PIP for over 400k disabled people & UC for over 700k people who are disabled or have a long-term health condition by 2030. Government’s own impact assessment says the cuts will plunge 150k people into poverty by the end of this Parliament

If Parliament votes in favour of the UCPIP Bill it will enshrine an arbitrary cut in law. We welcome the Timms Review but once again the government is doing things in the wrong order. @CitizensAdvice is asking MPs to vote against these proposals and calling on government to step back and think again

Exempting current claimants from harmful cuts does not mean profound harm will not be inflicted as result of UCPIP bill. Citizens Advice is urging MPs to vote against the bill. These are not reforms. They are cuts to people who can least afford it. wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/these-are-no...

🚨 MP Debbie Abrahams said that one of the offers the government is making today is not what rebel negotiators thought they had negotiated. Says there has been "row back" and tells ITV that "We're not there yet."

A busy, productive time at Welsh Labour Conference. Thanks to all who came to Trussell’s event on poverty & food banks. This weekend was a good opportunity to reflect on the shared position of many in Llandudno that the UCPIP Bill should not be voted through at Second Reading.

Just spoke to @timesradio with a bit of myth busting on PIP and response to rebel deal. Yes, big concessions from govt for current claimants but this is a political fix that creates unequal policy. All it takes is illness or life event for any of us to need PIP. People will have less.

PIP helps people with the additional costs and helps many disabled people stay in work. Cutting PIP is cutting employment support

Good to speak to Sky News on the impact changes to disability benefits will have, and why the Govt should pause and reassess - failing that MPs should vote for the Reasoned Amendment and against the current Bill on Tuesday

Overwhelming opposition to benefits cuts, Welsh ministers say www.bbc.com/news/article...

Welcome to see a growing number of MPs publicly opposing the planned PiP and UC cuts. If those on the fence need any more evidence of what the right thing to do is this should focus the mind. 👇 Sincerely hope the UK Government rethink these plans.

NEW: A coalition of anti-poverty, advice and disability organisations are asking MPs to vote against the UC & PIP Bill, which contains the biggest cuts to social security in a decade. A briefing from orgs inc Citizens Advice, Scope, Mind, JRF and Trussell available here www.ucpipbill.co.uk

Happy #PrideCymru to all who celebrate and protest 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Looking back on the shy(ish), panicked, closeted kid I used to be, I can hardly recognise myself. And that’s the point, right? That we all have the freedom to be ourselves without fear or being told we are not welcome.

Today, the government laid its Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill before parliament. But what's actually in the bill and what happens next? New blog out now: wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/why-were-ask...

Important to meet MPs, Peers & support staff in Westminster this week. Across meetings and drop-ins we hammered home the urgent need for welfare measures in the government's child poverty strategy, and the damaging impact disability benefit cuts will have on the children and families we support

“Of the many severe critiques of the government’s Pathways to Work plan for these disability cuts, one of the most authoritative is the Citizens Advice response, Pathways to Poverty.” Pleased to see our policy work on disability cuts is cutting through www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

All spending review allocations next week will of course drive consequentials for Welsh Government - in same process that saw difficult tax choices made last autumn drive the extra £1.5bn for Wales.

Thanks to @annkempster.com for pointing out Torsten’s message here We will be asking Welsh Government what they plan to do with the money - and encouraging extending FSM to secondary pupils where parents in receipt of UC

Torsten says there will be money for Wales: bsky.app/profile/tors...

Welcome news of expansion of Free School Meals to children of people on UC in England. We will ask whether this education spending means Barnettised money for Wales, where all primary pupils already have FSM. The big game changer in child poverty across both nations remains the two child limit

Excellent new report from @maddyirose.bsky.social @scollerton.bsky.social @victoria-anns.bsky.social A must-read analysis on why disability benefit cuts are arbitrary, driven by savings costs rather than improving outcomes, and will cause hardship in ways the government has not yet grasped

Good to join BBC Radio Wales this morning as part of a joint charities call to lift half a million children out of poverty. Ahead of the Spending Review, the UK Government should make an unambiguous commitment to scrap the two child benefit limit

MPs will be voting in June on legislation to cut disability benefits with very limited information from the UK government on what the impact of those cuts will be. Citizens Advice has published analysis of what these changes means for the people we support www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...

The Pathways to Work Green Paper sets out plans to cut billions from health and disability benefits. Instead of getting people into work, these cuts will push hundreds of thousands into poverty. Our new report looks at the impact of cuts to PIP, UC health & scrapping the WCA (🧵)

Bad practice led to people on precariously low income pushed into debt and disconnection. I’m glad to see this action to compensate and put things right www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“Good research can and should contribute to a healthy dialogue between the government and the electorate. It is never wrong to find out what voters think. But deciding policies is another matter.” open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...

Clare Moriarty, the chief executive at Citizens Advice, said: “The need to tackle child poverty is urgent and the prime minister and chancellor should not let a point of process excuse them from taking decisions now.” www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Today’s speech has done nothing to allay fears or suggest the UK government has listened to concerns on cuts to disability benefits Our Chief Exec is quoted here: www.bbc.com/news/article...

Omg #DoctorWho

Deductions are leaving people with less income than they need to make ends meet and pushing them into debt. The benefits system should be there to support people, not force them into hardship Read more: inews.co.uk/news/univers...

Rest well our dear friend and hero xx

Note the way that decision is justified there. The cap is popular with “key voters”; that is enough. This isn’t governing. It’s campaigning. A rant which has been building for quite some time.

The Times is reporting that more than 80 MPs are signing up to a private letter against cuts to disability benefits. The obvious question constituents could ask their Labour MPs is - have you signed it? www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Latest episode of Spare a Thought is out. In today’s episode I talk to @lukeyoung.bsky.social Head of Policy @citizensadvice.bsky.social about proposed changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP): spareathought.podbean.com

We have a generation of younger people and millennials who have seen their prospects in employment and education get worse, at the same time as support in communities and from the state has reduced. And that was before any of us even heard of Covid. We need to prioritise long term solutions

NEW from Cit A: discussion paper by @julia-rt.bsky.social on crisis support in England. Discretionary crisis support is an essential element of a well-functioning welfare system. The paper assesses HSF and sets out principles for an improved model www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publi...

Good news for those struggling with council tax debt in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The Welsh Government is consulting on extra time before becoming liable to pay a full bill, checks on entitlement for council tax reduction and more @citizensadvice.bsky.social work mentioned by Cab Sec here www.gov.wales/written-stat...

These reforms are to be accompanied by additional support to help people back into work. But any benefit from these changes is likely to be overwhelmed by the impact of the overall cut in support for thousands of people.

Our first focus is on the relationship between health and work. The government has recently set out major reforms to disability and incapacity benefits, meaning huge changes for the support people receive when they are unable to work for health reasons.

The new government has committed to reducing health inequalities. At Citizens Advice, we have a unique insight into many of the different factors that can shape people’s health. So it’s exciting to be leading a new project, funded by @healthfoundation.bsky.social, to study this important topic.

I spoke to Spare a Thought about the people & places that have influenced my career & life. I chose my Bamp, my Mam, and Blaina. We also spoke about protecting disabled people from cuts and I gave my pitch for Saving the Millennial Dream 🎧: spareathought.podbean.com/e/personal-i...

New 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Data: Single adults, social tenants, those w/ a long-term health condition or disability, or are on a low income, are more likely to need advice on a bailiff issue after falling behind on council tax bills Eng: public.flourish.studio/story/1703447/ Cym: public.flourish.studio/story/1732769/