Local Labour duo Ken Skates and Susan Elan Jones have hit out at the UK Government after new figures revealed that welfare changes will cost working age people in Denbighshire £589 a year.
The research produced for the Financial Times also highlights that welfare cuts will cost the Denbighshire economy £34m a year.
The pair said the figures were shocking and highlighted the devastating impact benefit reform would have on communities in North East Wales over the next few years.
Clwyd South MP Ms Jones said: “These punitive welfare cuts will only serve to increase the inequality gap in our communities and will have a devastating effect on businesses and local jobs.
“The Government is hurting the communities I represent in Clwyd South where one in 20 economically active people is now unemployed. My constituents are paying the price for the Tories incompetent handling of the economy over the last few years.
“These changes will take £34m out of the Denbighshire economy each year, sucking out much needed demand for local businesses at a time when they need it most.
“It’s economic illiteracy from the government because the cuts mean less money in the local economy, only pushing the recovery further away. Just as with the VAT rise, it will be another blow for small and medium sized businesses in our area.”
Clwyd South AM Ken Skates said: “The changes will cost the average working age adult in Denbighshire £589 and will have a catastrophic impact on families already struggling to make ends meet.”
“These figures are a sobering reminder of the how uncaring and unaware the UK Government are about the devastation welfare reform will have on our already vulnerable communities.
“The figures show that the changes are hitting everyone in Denbighshire, working families, those on unemployment benefits, the disabled, and children. The only people not getting battered by this Tory Lib Dem coalition government are the millionaires who are just seeing their top rate tax cut kick in.
“This isn’t my idea of fairness.”
According to the research, the financial loss per working age adult, by local authority:
- Bleanau Gwent £698
- Bridgend £599
- Caerphilly £644
- Cardiff £477
- Carmarthenshire £579
- Ceredigion £432
- Conwy £558
- Denbighshire £589
- Flintshire £458
- Gwynedd £438
- Isle of Anglesey £511
- Merthyr Tydfil £722
- Monmouthshire £393
- Neath Port Talbot £696
- Newport £560
- Pembrokeshire £539
- Powys £433
- Rhondda Cynon Taf £668
- Swansea £559
- Torfaen £589
- Vale of Glamorgan £473
- Wrexham £511
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