A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales made a series of recommendations for tackling poverty and deprivation in rural Wales.
Source: Poverty and Deprivation in Rural Wales, Rural Development Sub-committee/National Assembly for Wales (029 2082 5111)
Links: Report | NAW press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jul
A report called for a huge increase in affordable housing supply in rural Wales. There was an increasing unmet housing need in rural Wales: homes were getting more expensive; more people were homeless; and there was even less social housing in rural areas than in towns and cities.
Source: JRF Commission on Rural Housing in Wales: Final Report, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report | Findings | JRF press release | CIH press release | CHC press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jun
A study found that the Welsh Assembly Government's programme to improve living conditions for people in the most disadvantaged communities – 'Communities First' – had been successful in getting community members involved in the planning and delivery of local solutions to local problems: but it had not led to communities influencing service providers or achieving significant change.
Source: Dave Adamson and Richard Bromiley, Community Empowerment in Practice: Lessons from Communities First, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings | JRF press release
Date: 2008-Mar
The Welsh Assembly Government began consultation on new goals for its 'Communities First' 10-year programme for economic regeneration. There would be a new emphasis on programme partnerships demonstrating practical action to tackle economic and social regeneration. Partnerships would need to show evidence that they were delivering by improving income generation, delivering skills and employment opportunities, tackling child poverty, or improving health and well-being. The programme would be renamed 'Communities Next'.
Source: Communities Next: Consultation on the future of the Communities First Programme, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2008-Jan
The Welsh Assembly Government began consultation on a revised spatial plan for Wales, designed to shape how each part of the country would develop economically, socially, and environmentally; and to guide the way the Assembly Government spent its money.
Source: People, Places, Futures: Wales spatial plan update 2008, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Consultation document | Consultation document (Welsh) | WAG press release
Date: 2008-Jan
