Rejected petition To ensure that students are eligible for the funeral expenses payment
I am a full time university student in Wales, I lost my dad in May 2020, in the middle of the first wave of the pandemic. The Government currently provides a funeral expenses payment to people who struggle financially, to help assist with funeral costs. However, full time students cannot apply for this because they aren't on benefits, but students cannot claim benefits either. This is a pressing issue that the government need to realise and bring to light especially in the pandemic.
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Whilst I fully understand that the benefits system in Wales is still run by Westminster, this is an issue that is an issue that the welsh government need to desperately bring the governments attention.
The average student leaves university with a debt of £40,000 and to be denied this grant is devastating when you are a family members next of kin and working hard in university.
I have acquired over 4000 signatures on a separate petition:
https://www.change.org/FuneralExpensesPaymentEligibilityInTheUK
and the media and MP's have verbalized their support
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-53496667
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/student-funeral-poverty_uk_5eeb65b4c5b61c08257bd31f?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANh31jHXGqHsAcj6QmdbId9yEZqRwCS6I7qTibqdijBNP-hsDN8-AoiAXkZ_N39y3XkJS7UnXu5xr3JGRkciwyKjWmPmeGh2Go7zBv8yMxre3cEOVgFJat4hl4l7fuaTEUdW25-ly2ThW7VwB3gZPioWP7VjSFAcgBJjYLNU0vm1
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s about something that the Senedd or Welsh Government is not responsible for.
Petitions to the Senedd must call for a specific action that falls within the powers of the Senedd or Welsh Government. The grant provided to support funeral costs is administered by the UK Government via the benefits system.
As a result, it is not possible for the Senedd to take the action called for by your petition.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards
Rejected petitions are published in the language in which they were submitted