The Welsh Government's basic income trial has become the centre of a major political row after it asked for a small number of young asylum seekers benefiting from it to still be given help with their legal bills.
We've laid out here the full details we've been able to find out about how many young asylum seekers are receiving the cash, how long it has been going on for and why it has only now become a political storm.
Nigel Farage, Rishi Sunak and Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies are among those leading right-wing figures who have attacked the Welsh Government for allowing young asylum seekers to take part in the scheme, with former Ukip leader Farage calling it "the most mad thing I've ever heard" and suggesting boats will soon be dropping off asylum seekers in Cardiff Bay.
Yet it is not new that a small number of young people who have come to the UK alone to seek asylum have been allowed to apply to take part in the Welsh Government's Basic Income pilot, which it launched in 2022. The scheme gives young people who have been brought up in care £1,600 a month for two years to aid their transition to adult life. The payments, which equate to £1,280 after tax, are started on the month after someone's 18th birthday and there are no restrictions on what the money can be spent on.
Read more: Wales is giving people £1,600-a-month in a trial of basic income
In the House of Commons, Mr Sunak accused Welsh Labour of handing the cash to illegal migrants but it is not clear why he is suggesting that that young people did reach the UK illegally and the Welsh Government disputes this.
How many asylum seekers are receiving £1,600 a month?
While it is not yet clear how many asylum seekers are claiming the monthly payment, it is believed to be a small number. According to BBC Wales figures up to 8 March showed there were 294 recipients in total of the basic income pilot. It is expected around 500 will eventually join by the time the scheme closes to new applicants in June.
Of these 294, the vast majority (246) describe themselves as being Welsh, British or English. Only 35 said their nationality as other, within which there were 29 different nationalities. And 13 did not provide a response to the question. Not all of the non-UK nationality recipients will automatically be asylum seekers. Some may already have been granted asylum or be living her legally through another route.
How long has this been going on?
The Welsh Government said when it launched the scheme that lone young asylum seekers would be able to apply. The scheme launched on July 1, 2022, meaning the very first recipients started receiving the money over eight months ago.
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There have been several reports implying that the inclusion of asylum seekers is a new expansion to the scheme, but the government say they have always been included.
The eligibility requirements state that to receive the money, a person must be leaving care and turning 18 years of age between 1st July 2022 and 30th June 2023. To be eligible, people just have been looked after by a local authority for a period of 13 weeks, or periods amounting in total to 13 weeks, which began after he or she reached 14 and ended after he or she reached 16. They must also have been resident in Wales, or placed outside of Wales but supported by a Welsh local authority’s social services department.
Why has it become a row now?
Due to the payments, the amount of income received means that it is unlikely that a young person would qualify for full legal aid should they need legal representation due to this being means tested. This has become an issue for young asylum seekers who would otherwise receive help funding their legal representation.
The issue became public when Welsh ministers asked the UK Government to effectively allow asylum seekers to claim legal aid anyway, even though their income would otherwise be too high.
In a letter to Lord Bellamy, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, Welsh Labour ministers Jane Hutt, Julie Morgan and Mick Antoniw had asked for clarifications to be made to UK Government's legal aid requirements citing: "Welsh Government would not like to see individuals deemed to have deprived themselves of a resource in the scope of this regulation should the circumstances necessitate legal assistance and should they therefore decide to leave the pilot in order to access legal aid."
The ministers asked the UK Government to clarify if those in receipt of the cash would then lose their entitlement to legal aid. It has now been confirmed that they will.
In his letter, Lord Bellamy said that the legal aid funding scheme will not apply, “if individuals enrolled in the pilot are seeking legal aid for proceedings which are in scope of legal aid, such as immigration, housing or criminal cases.” He also reiterated the Government’s opposition to the scheme in general, saying there is already sufficient support for care leavers provided by the UK-wide Universal Credit scheme.
What are critics saying?
In the House of Commons on Wednesday Welsh Secretary David TC Davies said Labour ministers wanted to exempt asylum seekers "from having to pay the same legal bills the rest of us would be subject to".
The Prime Minister backed this, stating: "I know the Labour leader has said that the Welsh Labour government is his blueprint, and unbelievably as my honourable member said, Labour in Wales are trying to pay illegal migrants £1,600. We're stopping the boats, Labour are paying for them".
Speaking on GB News, Nigel Farage said: "It seems to be the most mad thing I've ever heard in my life....
"I really did think it must be an April 1 story. Unbelievable! If you come in aged 17 and aged 18 and get a £1,600 a month benefit, I promise you it won't just be dinghies coming into Dover, there will be much bigger boats coming straight into Cardiff Bay with people with no documentation claiming they are 17 years and 11 months old and waiting to take the money. It is almost beyond comprehension. Perhaps what it is showing us is how mad devolution is becoming.
"Drakeford seems to have gone completely and utterly mad in ever regard. I have been predicting this disaster for the last three years. I have been calling for two years for a national emergency to be declared."
Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies said: "This plan from Labour is genuinely one of the most extreme policies I’ve ever seen."
What does the Welsh Government say?
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We believe that care leavers have a right to be properly supported as they develop into independent young adults. Too many young people leaving care continue to face significant barriers to achieving a successful transition into adulthood than many of their peers.
“In line with our Nation of Sanctuary approach, we want to ensure that Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children are supported to rebuild their lives and are not prevented from accessing appropriate Welsh Government schemes and benefits to support their integration.
“The Basic Income Pilot scheme is about giving the most vulnerable people in our society a start in life. It is disappointing that inaccurate and misleading claims are being used to trivialise these sensitive issues.”
But what exactly does the Basic Income pilot mean? And who is and isn't entitled to the payment?
- Funds available for those leaving care who are turning 18 years of age between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023.
- Providing a monthly payment of £1,600 (£1,280, after-tax) to all eligible recipients choosing to participate in the pilot, via BACS.
- Providing payments for a period of 24 months, starting the month following the recipient’s 18th birthday.
- Available to those leaving care aged 18 across Wales during the opening 12-month timeframe, including those looked-after children placed outside of Wales but who remain the responsibility of a Welsh local authority.
- To be delivered for a total of 36 months, with individuals entering and exiting the pilot during this timeframe according to their entry point.
Those eligible will be contacted by social services or their young person’s advisor and invited to take part in a programme to find out more about the scheme and they can find out more about the enrolment/payment process and the effects this could have on their benefit entitlement. Before it starts, they will be invited to meet an independent advisor.
Will the scheme be expanded?
The Welsh Government has said that there are currently no plans to expand the scheme. They say that although they have never explicitly referenced Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, these have always been included in the eligibility requirements and have been factored into the £20m put aside for the scheme. They say they won't know how many people have benefitted from the payments until the end of the first year in June.
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