Welsh Government Reviews 2

So i recently applied for an emergency assisstance payment (small grant of around £63) from a company contracted by the Welsh Government. This fund is set up for citizens experiencing financial hardship. On their website the criteria states you can apply if your in financial hardship due to unforseen circumstance and have no other means of help.

So, i lost my wallet and applied citing this as the reason for my hardship. My application was refused with the reason cited that the fund does not replace lost money.

This is not what i was requesting them to do. I had simply provided this as my reason for the financial hardship and it seems they took this out of context and used it to refuse my application.

I was further told that the Welsh Government has very strict criteria that decision makers must follow when determining an award which, in my opinion, totally negates the "Discretionary" part. In any event, i believed i had met the qualifying standard so in my appeal i requested a copy of the criteria to satisfy myself that what i was being told was correct. They agent replied - "This criteria is set by the Government, we cannot give this out."

So i asked a second time, same response. I then replied asking are we under a democratic government, or a dictatorship? The very reason they use to suggest it cannot be given out, is the very reason it should be. Its an open Government Document. This is part of the Governments public sector, and a government that claims to be open and transparent and yet i am told not only am i not able to be given this document, but they also refuse to tell me who the decision maker was in my case so that i cannot ask him what he or she took into consideration. This again violates the very principle of democracy of government of the people, for the people, by the people. This is absurd. Secret criteria documents, secret decision makers employed and paid for by us, the tax payer.

Two appeals have been refused with them rehashing the same reason of the fund doesnt replace lost money when i never asked them to and that was simply my reason given for being in hardship because its a compulsory question you must answer on the application, only to then be deliberately taken out of context and used to refuse the application.

Ive now had to file a FOIA for this criteria which the company acting on behalf of the Government stated it cannot give out. Going by the on site criteria, i meet the qualifying standard. Because of this, i feel i am the victim of discrimination and possible HRA violations.

They have refused the appeal, twice, so i am waiting to see if i get a copy of this criteria document from the FOI document.

This kind of secrecy has no place in a free and open society. Its undemocratic, and in my own opinion, a disgrace to what democracy stands for.

I shall keep this section posted with any update

Update: 10/04/2026

Yesterday, on the 09/04/26, i submitted another application in which i stated in the cause of hardship section that i refuse to answer this question as i have reason to believe it may be taken out of context and used as a basis for refusal.

Received a telephone call from a very nice lady at the discretionary fund and was able to convey better my circumstances. She explained the reasons for the refusal, and i gave my counter argument in response.

At the end of the call, the lady made the decision to award the application. To which i am very thankful.

NHS wales make their voters have generic version of all medication in wales claiming it is the same, but I have had reactions to all these generic versions. They gave free prescriptions when the people who needed repeat prescriptions were exempt anyway. It was only for vote winning. Now they have no money and are looking for ways to claw back some. They have to realise some people do have reactions to the generic because they are not exactly the same the components and compositions are different.