Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has received representations from the Welsh Government on the impact of receipt of the NHS and social care financial recognition scheme by primary care workers in Wales on income tax liabilities and/or benefit payments.

Frontline health and social care workers make a valuable contribution to our society and we are so grateful for their continued work.

Income Tax is a tax paid on income and is therefore applied to grants and support payments made because of Coronavirus, including the NHS and social care financial recognition scheme.

Receiving a bonus may reduce the amount of support a claimant receives through means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit. This is because if a claimants’ earnings increase, they therefore have more money available to support themselves. It is a long-standing principle of means-tested benefits that as a person’s earnings increase their Government support decreases.

HM Treasury officials regularly discuss these, and similar issues, with the Welsh Government and other devolved administrations.