Homelessness law in Wales – what people really want

Ahead of the Housing Minister’s statement on the Welsh Government’s homelessness legislation review, Shelter Cymru director John Puzey looks at how the charity ensured that the views of service users were properly reflected.

We have talked and written…

This Government’s not for turning!

The UK Government’s Welfare Reform Act is far reaching, and as one speaker at the Welfare Reform Conference (19th April 2012) stated: ‘unprecedented’, and will have a devastating effect on communities like those in…

140,000 reasons for reform

Why first past the post is creating democracy deserts across Welsh local government

Next week voters across 21 ofWales’ 22 unitary authorities will head to the polls to decide the political make-up of their local councils.  Voters will…

A United Welsh Alternative

Values in politics are important.

When considering Plaid Cymru’s options for coalition government in future, trust and a shared understanding of core values is a basic requirement. While all three Westmister-based parties have different priorities to…

Barnett threat from benefit reform

Changes to social security benefits will transfer the cost of supporting people in need from Westminster to the Welsh budget, concluded delegates at the Bevan Foundation’s conference on welfare reform last week.

The numbers of people receiving benefits…

Local Matters

We are now just six weeks fromWales’ local government elections. Witness the big yawn from our national elites who are convinced that the parochialism and personalities of local councils can have no relevance to the huge…

International Women’s Day: Unfinished Business

The Equality and Human Rights Commission have produced an update of ‘Who runs Wales?’ for International Women’s Day 2012 which reminds us there is unfinished business if we are serious about achieving gender equality…

Special Feature: A Co-operative future for housing in Wales?

With the average age of first-time buyers being 37 and expected to rise to 40, it’s perfectly clear that the current housing system needs to be changed. Hefty deposits, the difficulty in securing affordable mortgages from…

Cardiff bay to Egypt and back again

The coastal strip between Sharm El Sheikh airport and the town of Naqb offers a glimpse of the changing nature and volatility of the middle east. The post Arab Spring climate of tension, optimism, fear, and uncertainty…

The Politics of Ageing

Paul Goodman’s tongue-in-cheek piece aiming to show how Labour could win every UK election from now until 2024 made me think. One of its arguments was that big demographic changes – immigration, votes in Scotland…