The first evaluation report was published of the Flying Start programme in Wales. It included a baseline survey of families, and also explored the early influence of the programme.
Source: Emma Wallace, Sarah Knibbs, David Jeans, Sarah Pope, Anastasia Knox, Patten Smith, Jamie Burnett, and Ivonne Nava-Ledezma (with Lisa McCrindle, Marian Morris, Geoff White, and Karl Ashworth), Evaluation of Flying Start: Findings from the baseline survey of families – mapping needs and measuring early influence among families with babies aged seven to 20 months, Welsh Government
Links: Report | Summary | Appendices | Welsh Government press release
Notes: The Flying Start Programme was launched in 2006-07, aimed at making 'a decisive difference' to the life chances of children aged under 4 in deprived areas of Wales. It sought to improve child outcomes through the provision of key service entitlements, including enhanced health visiting support and evidence-based parenting courses.
Date: 2011-Dec
The Welsh Government published its annual report highlighting progress against its sustainability commitments. It detailed progress in a number of areas including employment, greenhouse gas emissions, social justice, education, and transport. There had been little change in the percentage of the population in relative low-income households (before housing costs) since 1994-1997.
Source: One Wales: One Planet – The Sustainable Development Annual Report 2010-2011, Welsh Government
Links: Report | Welsh Government press release
Date: 2011-Sep
A study found that around 60,000 people in Wales would be thrown off incapacity benefits as a result of the coalition government's welfare reforms. In most of Wales the high incidence of worklessness was rooted in a shortage of jobs: welfare reform was therefore unlikely to move people into work without a commensurate increase in job opportunities.
Source: Christina Beatty and Steve Fothergill, Tackling Worklessness in Wales, Industrial Communities Alliance (Wales)
Links: Report | Sheffield Hallam University press release
Date: 2011-Jul
A study found that meeting the Welsh Government's target of eradicating child poverty by 2020 would mean that the rate would have to fall four times more quickly over the next 10 years than it had over the previous decade. The latest figures also showed that almost 1 in 4 people in Wales across all age groups – 680,000 in total – were in poverty.
Source: Anushree Parekh and Peter Kenway, Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Wales 2011, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Findings | JRF press release
Date: 2011-Jul
The Welsh Assembly Government began consultation on new structures for delivering the Communities First programme, with a greater focus on evidencing the impact of locally funded activities. There would be more consistent governance and financial accountability across the programme, with 'clear and consistent' demarcation of roles and responsibilities.
Source: Communities First: The Future, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Consultation document | WAG press release | BBC report
Notes: The Communities First programme was launched in 2001 to involve local people in the work of regenerating the most deprived communities in Wales.
Date: 2011-Jul
The education inspectorate in Wales said that personal and social education lessons at school were not sufficient on their own to make sure that children and young people had the skills to make sound financial decisions when they were older.
Source: Money Matters: The provision of financial education for 7 to 19-year-olds in primary and secondary schools in Wales, HM Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales
Links: Report | HMCIETW press release
Date: 2011-Jun
A report set out data on the overall level of economic inequality in Wales, and inequalities between and within sub-groups of the Welsh population. It looked at outcomes in education, employment, earnings, income, poverty, and wealth in Wales in comparison to other areas of the United Kingdom. The data analysis compared outcomes by gender, age, ethnicity, religion, disability, and housing tenure.
Source: Rhys Davies et al., An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in Wales, Research Report RRS/002, Wales Institute for Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (Cardiff University)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2011-May
A report said that disabled people in Wales were experiencing increasing poverty and hardship – more so than anywhere else in the United Kingdom. Disabled people in Wales were almost twice as likely as non-disabled people to live on a low income.
Source: Joe Allen, Disability Poverty in Wales, Leonard Cheshire
Links: Report | Leonard Cheshire press release
Date: 2011-Mar
The Welsh Assembly Government responded to a report by an Assembly Committee on child poverty in Wales. It said that reducing child poverty was a fundamental element of its social justice agenda.
Source: Welsh Assembly Government Written Response to the Children & Young People Committee's Report – Follow Up Inquiry into Child Poverty, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Response
Notes: Report (February 2011)
Date: 2011-Mar
The Welsh Assembly Government published a new strategy for tackling child poverty. It restated its target to eradicate child poverty in Wales by 2020.
Source: Child Poverty Strategy for Wales, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Strategy | WAG press release | BBC report
Date: 2011-Feb
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales examined some of the issues faced by children living in poverty, and how education could play a part in tackling them. The Welsh Government needed to work harder to implement a stigma-free school meals system.
Source: Follow Up Inquiry Into Child Poverty: Eradication Through Education?, Children and Young People Committee, National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report | NAW press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Feb
The Welsh Assembly Government responded to a report by an Assembly Committee on financial education in schools and communities.
Source: Written Response to the Communities & Culture Committee Report on Financial Inclusion and the Impact of Financial Education, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Response
Notes: The Committee's report had highlighted concerns about the availability and standard of financial education in schools and communities.
Date: 2011-Jan
