Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami has welcomed the change in the law meaning 200,000 pensioners will be taken out of the 'Universal Credit pension trap'.

The Government will spend £70 million fixing the problem highlighted by Mr Tami’s campaign.

Mark Tami first highlighted the issue in Parliament in January with a motion calling on the Government to change the rules which meant new pensioners who had been on Universal Credit would have a wait of up to nine weeks without any money to live off- leaving some vulnerable older people without enough money to buy food.

As Mr Tami led the cross-party campaign, it picked up support from Citizens Advice, Age UK, and the National Association of Welfare Rights Advisers (NAWRA), as well as national press attention.

Eventually the Government agreed to close the gap in support immediately, and promised to change the law later in the year. The new rules have now been put before the House of Commons.

Mr Tami said “I am proud to have been able to lead this campaign on a very obscure and technical bit of the benefit system, but which pushed too many older people into poverty.

"As a result of this change in the law, hundreds of thousands of pensioners will be better off by an average of £350 each, at a time when this will make the difference between being able to heat their homes in Winter or not.

“Making a real difference for the people I represent is what politics is all about. Whilst the DWP have been paying this money since the Government agreed to the campaign’s demands in March, this change in the law guarantees that support for the future.

“I would like to thank everyone from across Parliament who signed the motion calling on the Government to make this change, and I would also like to thank Citizens Advice Flintshire, NAWRA, and Age UK for their support.”

The new rules will take effect from November, but people who reach pension age before then will not be worse off. The official name of the new rules is The Universal Credit (Persons who have attained state pension credit qualifying age) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.