Press 1 for hold music or Press 2 to be cut off

We have all experienced the frustrations suggested by the title of this article.  As financial pressures increase, the trend away from face-to-face communication and towards encouraging us to use the telephone or internet to engage with…

Time for a Welsh budget?

Now that the leaks and Chancellor’s statement are over, we are now into the period of accusations and counter-accusations about who is or is not affected most by Osborne’s changes. Welsh Ministers have responded with concerns…

Time for Charity Reform?

Is the regulation of charities effective? The activities of one charity, AWEMA, have drawn more attention to the charity sector in Wales in a few weeks than it normally gets in a year. Unfortunately that attention is…

Let’s not forget rural communities…

The current piece of research I am leading at the Bevan Foundation is looking into the impact of changes and reductions to the benefits system on people in Wales. Central to this is ensuring that the research…

Blue Skies or Black Clouds for Wales

Last week saw the launch of an initiative to look at how Wales’s public services need to be reshaped in coming years, called Wales 2025.  Involving leading figures from academia, health and local government, the…

Post Offices and meeting the needs of the customers

Post Office Locals can sustain the network, if they meet the needs of customers -

Over the next few years, changes to the Post Office network could see as many as one in five dedicated sub-post…

Helping is better than inspecting

In one local authority, a revolution has taken place.  The food safety inspectors have abandoned their clipboards and white coats, and are focussing their efforts on how best to engage with business owners – and…

The race online

The starting gun of the race online was fired years ago but the finishing line is not yet in sight.

In 2010 as many as 785,000 people in Wales were not online and were therefore missing out…

Cutting crisis loans

Cuts Watch Cymru is a coalition of third sector organisations in Wales who are concerned with the impact of the spending cuts on people in Wales.  There are almost 700,000 people in Wales already living beneath the…

Staying in control

Keeping control of our lives – Mutual Retirement Housing.  Wales has an ageing society.  Improved health services and better diets mean that people are living longer.  Nowadays there are more pensioners than youngsters under 18 years.  But…