Report Environment and Net Zero At the Tipping Point: Welsh Local Government and Austerity This report outlines Welsh councils’ responses to austerity, drawing on interviews with Welsh council leaders, chief executives, finance directors, and external stakeholders. Councils have responded to austerity in three main ways: by making efficiency savings; by reducing the need for council services; and by changing the role played by councils and other stakeholders. There are […] Read more Topics: Economy Local government June 26, 2019
Blog Post Uncategorized Methods Powers and Policy Levers - What works in delivering Welsh Government policies? As Wales marks twenty years of devolution, our latest report, Powers and Policy Levers: What works in delivering Welsh Government policies? presents the findings of a research project into the way that the Welsh Government has used the powers and policy levers available to it. Having outlined the policy context in Wales over the last […] Read more Topics: Local government May 17, 2019
Report Uncategorized Powers and Policy Levers - What works in delivering Welsh Government policies? This report presents the findings of research on the ways in which Welsh Ministers use the powers and policy levers available to them. We focus on two case studies: the 2014 statutory framework for homelessness services and the first attempt to introduce minimum unit alcohol pricing in Wales. These two contrasting examples show how policy […] Read more Topics: Local government May 17, 2019
Blog Post Uncategorized Methods How can governments improve cross-cutting working? Cross cutting working - making sure that different departments and services work effectively with each other - is a constant challenge for all governments, even when they are as comparatively small as the Welsh Government. Last year, we were commissioned by the First Minister to synthesise the evidence on cross-cutting working, and our latest report, […] Read more Topics: Local government April 17, 2019
Report Uncategorized Improving Cross-Cutting Working Cross-cutting working is not new to Wales, and it possesses many of the prerequisites for effective cross-government working. Research shows that cross-cutting working isn’t a panacea or quick fix because it runs counter to the way in which government activity is usually organised and therefore requires high level political commitment backed by significant managerial capacity. […] Read more Topics: Local government April 17, 2019
Report Uncategorized Sustainable Public Procurement This paper has been produced at an important juncture in discussion of public procurement in Wales. Procurement services have been criticised by both the Wales Audit Office and the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee, and following a year of consultation, the then Cabinet Secretary for Finance announced the cessation of the National Procurement Service in […] Read more Topics: Local government March 13, 2019
Blog Post Community Wellbeing How do we Tackle Loneliness? Evidence on Deprivation and Different Communities This is the third in a three-part blog series on loneliness and isolation in Wales. Part one is here, and part two is here. Here, Suzanna Nesom discusses how loneliness might be tackled for materially deprived people and in different communities, given the available evidence. This series of blogs has been exploring what is known […] Read more Topics: Local government Loneliness March 7, 2019
Blog Post Uncategorized Methods Managing diverse relationships in cross-cutting government This ‘think piece’ builds on my recent presentation to a seminar for senior officials hosted by the Wales Centre for Public Policy which looked at the thorny issue of cross-government working. It isn’t an academic review, and I have deliberately not burdened it with lots of academic references. Instead I’m drawing on practical, interesting and […] Read more Topics: Diversity and inclusion Local government March 5, 2019
News Tackling Inequalities New report sets out paths from debt as large council tax rises loom Early intervention is key to stop Welsh households falling behind on their council tax or social housing rent payments, according to a new report from the Wales Centre for Public Policy. As councils across Wales are seeking large increases in their council tax rates for the coming year, the report highlights the importance of building […] Read more Topics: Local government Poverty and social exclusion February 28, 2019
News Community Wellbeing Adroddiad newydd yn nodi llwybrau rhag dyled wrth i drethi cyngor godi Read more Topics: Local government Poverty and social exclusion February 28, 2019
