Blog Post Community Wellbeing The state of democracy in Wales: What is it and how can we measure it? Concerns over democratic health are a global phenomenon, often triggered by crises or events that result in public pressure for reform. Iceland’s near-economic destruction after the Global Financial Crisis, for instance, instigated wide-ranging reforms to their democratic system. In Wales (and the wider UK) discussions around the health of our democracy have traditionally focussed narrowly […] Read more Topics: Local government November 17, 2022
Blog Post Community Wellbeing What does 'blended' digital and face-to-face provision mean for access to services during the cost-of-living crisis? The cost-of-living crisis is making access to community-based wellbeing services ever more important for an increasing number of people. These services – from advice, advocacy and support services to leisure and cultural organisations – are critical in supporting our immediate and long-term wellbeing. As highlighted during the pandemic, they save lives in times of crisis. […] Read more Topics: Local government Poverty and social exclusion November 8, 2022
Blog Post Tackling Inequalities Are the Welsh Government’s plans for the Welsh NHS Executive a missed opportunity? With so much of the focus on the NHS being given to waiting times, it was easy to miss the Welsh Government’s update on the NHS Executive for Wales. This may seem like a bureaucratic distraction from more important issues, but establishing an NHS Executive has long been seen as an essential reform to the […] Read more Topics: Health inequalities Local government October 12, 2022
Report Tackling Inequalities International review of effective anti-poverty policies and programmes As part of the Wales Centre for Public Policy’s (WCPP) review of poverty and social exclusion, the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at the LSE was commissioned to conduct a review of the international evidence on promising policies and programmes designed to reduce poverty and social exclusion across twelve key policy areas. The […] Read more Topics: Local government Poverty and social exclusion September 26, 2022
Blog Post Research and Impact Has devolution delivered? The last 25 years have seen a significant and sustained increase in public support for devolution in Wales. The 1997 referendum produced only a wafer thin majority in favour of creating a Welsh Assembly. Now fewer than 1 in 5 of the adult population say that they would vote to reverse that decision, whilst a […] Read more Topics: Local government Research and Impact: Impact September 23, 2022
Blog Post Community Wellbeing ‘Blending’ online and offline provision in community wellbeing services: what does it mean and why does it matter? Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, public and third sector organisations supporting community wellbeing have relied on a mixture of remote and face-to-face methods for delivering services and engaging with the people they support. These have been delivered in different combinations at different times, in response to a rapidly shifting landscape of restrictions on physical contact and […] Read more Topics: Community collaboration Local government August 30, 2022
Report Community Wellbeing Research and Impact What is the role of evidence in shaping suicide prevention policy in Wales? Suicide is one of the leading causes of death worldwide.¹ Across the globe, 800,000 people die by suicide every year, translating to approximately one suicide death every 40 seconds (WHO, 2021). When considering the number of bereaved family, friends, and communities behind every single one of these deaths, the impact of suicide on our world […] Read more Topics: Health inequalities Local government Research and Impact: PhD Interns July 8, 2022
Report Environment and Net Zero What Works Network Implementation Project Building on our work to increase the impact of the What Works network across the UK, the Wales Centre for Public Policy won funding from the ESRC to work with Professor Jonathan Sharples at EEF and other What Works Centres to apply the latest thinking and evidence on implementation – how evidence is used in decision […] Read more Topics: Local government April 10, 2022
Report Reform of electoral law and practice Elections were devolved to Wales through the Government of Wales Act 2017. Since then, Welsh Ministers have embarked on a programme of electoral reform most noted by the extension of the franchise to 16 and 17 year-olds and qualifying foreign citizens for Senedd and local government elections. The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act also […] Read more Topics: Local government March 25, 2022
Blog Post Community Wellbeing ‘Levelling Up’: continuing the conversation ‘Levelling Up’ - used here to refer to the wider UK Government policy agenda rather than the specific Levelling Up funding stream - is predominantly about tackling place-based economic inequality, economic development, and productivity. As set out in our previous WCPP blog, this is a conversation that is critical for Wales. Whilst ‘Levelling Up’ seeks […] Read more Topics: Economy Local government March 14, 2022