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Cynnal: Child Payment Pilot
Is this devolved to Wales?
Devolved
The necessary powers are not reserved to the UK Parliament in Schedule 7A of the Government of Wales Act 2006.
Shared Powers
Insert a specific explanation of the powers situation for this issue here.
Not Devolved
The powers over this are reserved to the UK Parliament in Schedule 7A of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (Specific Section/Number/Clause).
Ahead of the 2026 Senedd election, Plaid Cymru’s manifesto included a promise to introduce a pilot £10-per-week “top-up” payment called “Cynnal” (“Support” in English). This would be paid out to households with children aged under-6 that receive Universal Credit.
While welfare isn’t devolved, the Welsh Government does have the power to introduce top-up forms of welfare (called discretionary payments).
The main aim of the pilot is to tackle child poverty. Relative child poverty is defined as a child living in a household with an income less than 60% of the median UK average.
In material terms, it would provide low-income families with an extra £520 per year once launched.
The Scottish Government introduced the Scottish Child Payment in 2021 on identical terms to Plaid Cymru’s proposal. Since its introduction, the Scottish Government estimates1 that relative child poverty rates are up to 7 percentage points lower than they would have been if the policy hadn’t been introduced – the equivalent of 70,000 children.
Nobody yet, as the pilot is yet to be launched.
Current figures and stats on child poverty are available below.
Children (Wales) in relative income poverty by economic status of household (in the three years before date)
Note: Some of these figures are based on small sample sizes and are considered unreliable. Rounded to nearest 10,000.
Percentage of children living in relative income poverty by age, and country or region of the UK, after housing costs (3 years to March 2025)
Costs & Economic Impact
Cynnal Child Payment Pilot-
It's unclear what the costs of a full rollout would be yet.
Who has raised this at the Senedd?
Rhun ap Iorwerth MS
First Minister
Sioned Williams MS
Social Justice Minister
Elin Jones MS
Finance Minister
Elyn Stephens MS
Backbencher
Niamh Salkeld MS
Backbencher
Sara Crowley MS
Backbencher
Cristiana Emsley MS
Shadow Communities Minister
Dr Gareth Thomas MS
Shadow Mental Health Minister
Lynne Neagle MS
Labour Whip
Peter Fox MS
Backbencher
Jane Dodds MS
Backbencher
Rhun ap Iorwerth MS
First Minister
Sioned Williams MS
Social Justice Minister
Elin Jones MS
Finance Minister
Elyn Stephens MS
Backbencher
Niamh Salkeld MS
Backbencher
Sara Crowley MS
Backbencher
Cristiana Emsley MS
Shadow Communities Minister
Dr Gareth Thomas MS
Shadow Mental Health Minister
Lynne Neagle MS
Labour Whip
Peter Fox MS
Backbencher
Jane Dodds MS
Backbencher
What are the party positions on this?
- Supportive
- Opposed
- Neutral/No Opinion
Plaid Cymru backbenchers have shown support for the child payment scheme, unsurprisingly. There are hints that some MSs would want to use this as a showcase for additional powers over welfare administration, as in Scotland.
- Supports
- Opposed
- Neutral
Reform haven’t shown any outright opposition to the plans, but don’t believe the Welsh Government have been transparent about the potential costs of the pilot.
- Supports
- Opposed
- Neutral
Conservative comments on this are limited, but they want more details without opposing or supporting the pilot idea as it currently is.
- Supports
- Opposed
- Neutral
The Greens haven’t said anything on this yet, but it’s likely that they would be supportive in principle.
- Supportive
- Opposed
- Neutral/No Opinion
Jane Dodds appears to support the idea in principle, but views tackling child poverty as part as a wider scope of measures.
Who is responsible?
Sioned Williams MS
Social Justice Minister
What have ministers said?
What's being done about this?
Launching a child payment pilot was a core promise in Plaid Cymru’s 2026 Senedd election manifesto.
As noted, the plan is to pay £10-a-week to households with young children who receive Universal Credit. The exact details are yet to be published.
An expert group met for the first time in July 2026 to discuss the details of the pilot, including the target age range and how it would work in practice.
There would need to be talks with the UK Department of Work and Pensions over how this payment would impact income calculations used to work out universal credit payments.
There’s no deadline or timescale, but the Minister wants to roll it out “as soon as we (Welsh Government) can”.
What have the Senedd's Committees said?
Nothing has been discussed yet.
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Relevant Votes
Nothing to see yet.
Further Reading
- Scottish Government (27th March 2025). “Child poverty modelling update: 3. cumulative impact assessment“
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