Monthly Archives: April 2011
An Age of Opportunity?
Recent weeks have seen the launch of party manifestos for the Assembly elections. During development of Age Cymru’s own manifesto older people identified several priorities for the next Welsh Government including health care, social care…
Put tourism in the hands of the third sector.
Tourism is a vital contributor to the welsh economy, accounting for 13% of welsh GDP and around 172,000 jobs (source). So given its importance, one would have thought that local authorities are keen to provide good public facilities and services in areas that should be attracting visitors. Unfortunately,…
Child Poverty – are we downsizing our ambition?
This week I’ve been writing an updated piece on child poverty for a forthcoming book for social welfare practitioners in Wales which has required some desk-based research on the latest statistics and government plans. The statistics of course…
One hand clapping
In two weeks time, Wales will go to the polls in our fourth Assembly Election. But despite the shouting the campaigns so far have failed to come alive. Manifestos have been published, corrected and largely ignored by…
Cutting fuel taxes is not the long term answer
Despite the recent cut in duty applied for petrol, fuel prices have continued to rise to record levels at the pumps. This will increase the prevalence of Transport Poverty, particularly in areas where people have to commute to jobs, and place further pressures upon people already suffering from…
Get social enterprises out of the ghetto
Three of the four 2011 manifestos see a golden future for social enterprises in the economy in Wales. Labour, Lib Dems and Plaid all promise funding, advice and support for social enterprises and ‘opening-up’ public procurement. The Conservatives promise…
Social Mobility doesn’t equal Social Justice
‘Social mobility’ has been all over the media in Wales and elsewhere these past two weeks. What’s striking about this, as a value and goal, is just how much time people spend agreeing about it. When Nick Clegg launched Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers: A Strategy for Social…
The Future is Still Green in Wales
The UK Government’s decision that it could deliver its commitment to be the “greenest Government ever” without the need for independent advice and scrutiny brought my role as Commissioner for Wales on the UK Sustainable Development Commission to a premature end. A sad occasion as we had built the…
School exclusion myth
It’s been a few weeks since there was a bad news story about Merthyr Tydfil, so the Western Mail has jumped to fill the void with a story about pupils permanently excluded from school. Pupils urinating…
The John Lewis Factor
More businesses in Wales should model themselves on John Lewis, according to the latest pamphlet in the influential Bevan Foundation Platfform series. One of the UK’s most profitable retailers, the John Lewis Partnership is one of a handful of companies to have a written constitution which places…
