Blaenau Gwent MP Nick Smith has received promising news about plans to change the rules around Bereavement Support Payments for unmarried couples with children.
The call came after Mr Smith was contacted by a constituent who had been left in difficult circumstances after her partner recently passed away.
Mr Smith said: “The current rules discriminate against unmarried couples. No grieving partner should be denied crucial support because of their marital status.
“Leaving people who are already dealing with terrible grief without the support they should be entitled to is not right.”
In response to his letter the Lords Minister for Work and Pensions Baroness Stedman-Scott told Mr Smith that it is “our intention to take forward a Remedial Order to remove the incompatibilities from the legislation governing Widowed Parent’s Allowance and Bereavement Support Payment by extending these benefits to cohabitees with children.”
The response also said that the Order was intended to go before the House “in due course”.
Mr Smith has now responded to ask for further clarity on the timetable for these plans and to ask for assurance that backdated payments will be considered.
Mr Smith said: “I would like to know more about these plans, but what I have heard is encouraging.
“I look forward to working constructively with the Government on this issue to make sure that no one is unfairly overlooked when it comes to bereavement support.”