Gwynedd councillors have slammed the UK Government’s bid to slash £5billion from the benefits bill and the impact cuts could have on “vulnerable” residents.

Cllr Elin Hywel asked Gwynedd Council to note the “disproportionate and cumulative effects of austerity policies” on Gwynedd residents – the result of successive UK governments, whether Conservative or Labour, and raised a notice of motion, which was approved, at full council on 1 May.

With 18.1 per cent of Gwynedd’s population considered disabled, her notice said the people of Gwynedd would “be hit particularly hard”.

She called on the council to note its “growing responsibility” to mitigate the “brutal effects of austerity policies,” through its services and called on the “Welsh Government to stand up for Wales and demand that their fellow Labour members in the UK Government make a U-turn on their plans to cut benefits, to ensure respect and dignity for all”.

“Cyngor Gwynedd calls upon the Welsh Government and the UK Government to adequately fund benefits and social services.”

She also requested council “demand Welsh Government calls on the UK Government to devolve welfare and benefits, together with all the necessary levers to enable the Welsh Government to protect, care for and sustain our society.

“Cuts to the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) to Universal Credit and to help with housing costs mean that the Labour Government has turned its back on the ordinary people of Gwynedd,” she said.

“A welfare system that was created to protect people in crisis and support those in need is now a process that punishes people.

It was not a lack of funding that drove cuts but “a lack of political will,” she said.

“When a Government allows a beneficial tax system for the rich but fails to maintain a basic income for individuals trying to live on less than £80 a week, that is completely hypocritical.”

The motion was seconded by Cllr Delyth Lloyd Griffiths.

Cllr Gwynfor Owen described criticism on social media of disabled people, after comments claiming many were ‘not disabled’ or ‘needed to work.’

“If they could only be in the shoes of disabled people for one day, they would see there was a real need for these benefits and what disability entails,” he said.

Council leader Cllr Nia Jeffreys said the topic was “particularly close to her heart.” Her father had been disabled, claiming benefits, when she was a child, in the 1980s.

She remembered the “stress and worry” of the assessment process, and “stigma” of being a family living on benefits, in a council house.”

“In 2025 there are families and children still living in deprivation in Gwynedd,” she said.

“I see the impact everyday with people in my ward coming to see me to get food bank vouchers, or help with benefits or homelessness.”

The problems were being caused by decisions taken “far away” from Gwynedd, she said, urging anyone facing difficulties to seek help from the council, councillors, community hubs or from Citizens’ Advice.