A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales highlighted concerns about the availability and standard of financial education in schools and communities in Wales.
Source: Financial Inclusion and the Impact of Financial Education, Communities and Culture Committee/National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report | NAW press release | IFS press release
Date: 2010-Nov
A report said that the Communities First regeneration programme had to work better with other regeneration initiatives in order to meet the wider outcomes needed to improve the conditions of people living in the most deprived neighbourhoods in Wales.
Source: Stephen Hincks and Brian Robson, Regenerating Communities First Neighbourhoods in Wales, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | Summary | JRF press release | BBC report
Date: 2010-Oct
A report examined the attitudes and actions of people in Wales over the age of 50, and those over 65, towards their finances. It warned that the next generation of older people risked carrying greater levels of debt into retirement, along with a lower capacity to manage a budget.
Source: Financing the Future: A study of older people's finances, Consumer Focus Wales
Links: Report | Consumer Focus press release
Date: 2010-Oct
A report said that over 420,000 people in Wales (18 per cent of the adult population) had fallen behind with meeting bills or credit repayments in the previous year. This included 29 per cent of younger people (aged 18-34), around one-quarter of people with long-term illnesses or disabilities (23 per cent), and over one-quarter of those on lower incomes (26 per cent).
Source: Consumer Finances in Wales: Debt and credit use, Consumer Focus Wales
Links: Report | Consumer Focus press release
Date: 2010-Aug
The Welsh Assembly Government published a new fuel poverty strategy, designed to reduce the impact of fuel poverty on householders, create green jobs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the domestic sector.
Source: Fuel Poverty Strategy 2010, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Strategy | WAG press release | NEA press release
Date: 2010-Jul
The Welsh Assembly Government began consultation on a strategy and delivery plan setting out how it intended to tackle child poverty in Wales and improve outcomes for children and parents living in low-income families.
Source: Child Poverty Strategy for Wales: Consultation document, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Consultation document (Strategy) | Consultation document (Delivery Plan) | WAG press release
Date: 2010-May
A think-tank report examined efforts by the Welsh Assembly Government to make asset-based welfare a key part of its long-term strategy to tackle child poverty. It called for specific measures designed to increase the number of parents opening child trust funds, to ensure a high rate of uptake for CTF Cymru, and to encourage more parents with low incomes to place additional funds in their children's CTFs.
Source: Tony Dolphin and Rajiv Prabhakar, Asset-Based Welfare and Child Poverty: Next steps for the Welsh Assembly, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Report | IPPR press release
Date: 2010-Apr
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales said that the 'Communities First' programme – designed to tackle deprivation and improve the living conditions and prospects for people in the most disadvantaged communities across Wales – had not delivered good value for the significant amount of public money spent on it. This was largely because of weaknesses in the Welsh Government's construction and management of the programme.
Source: Communities First, Public Accounts Committee/National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2010-Feb
