Little by Little - Small Changes lead to Better Living

Welsh Government's Warm Homes Wales project has funded 5 Local Authorities (RCT, Torfaen, Cardiff, Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr) to take a joined up approach in order to support its households to take action to save energy alongside the installation of energy efficiency measures. The South Wales based energy behaviour change project, Little by Little, has been supporting households across the local authority areas, targeting over 1400 households who have previously received energy saving measures under the Welsh Government's Warm Homes Wales.

The project's key aims are to educate and empower householders to use their energy more efficiently through looking at the whole household's approach towards energy, whilst providing support to improve the quality of life of all those they engage with.

Advisors carry out a home health check with each household, along with energy saving advice that provides information on how to switch providers and the savings that could be made.

Using its partners, the project signposts those who require onto training, education and employment opportunities, digital inclusion advice, along with debt support and other house management opportunities.

As well as providing adults with an OCN level one in Understanding Home Energy via its training sessions, the project is also working with schools encouraging children to become Junior Green Energy Champions via its fun workshops. The project will also be carrying out local energy fairs where energy providers, partners and other community groups can engage with the community to help reduce those affected by fuel poverty.

The project is being run on behalf of the five local authorities by Melin Homes. Allison Cawley, Project Manager said: “This really is a fantastic programme that is helping those in the community who are on the verge of or already in fuel poverty to make some big savings as well as supporting them with their employment, training, digital and financial requirements.”

For more information or to discuss the project, please contact: Allison on 01495 745947, 07791 657386 or allison.cawley@melinhomes.co.uk.

Allison Cawley
Project Manager, Little by Little

A view from housing: What would the draft Wales Bill mean in practice?

The draft Wales Bill, published last week, caused all the usual political rumblings. Amid all the talk of insults to Wales, Whitehall being a bad loser, and the looming threat of a constitutional crisis, there doesn’t seem to have been too much discussion about the practical implications of the proposals within the Bill.

A devolved legislature with extensive powers is now clearly the settled will of the people of Wales.

And while technical debates about constitutional mechanisms and legislation probably won’t be a topic of conversation as the people of Wales eat their tea tonight; job security, health, and housing probably will.

What will the draft Wales Bill mean to, for example, a social housing tenant in Bangor? Or a homeless woman in a hostel in Cardiff?

Housing is probably the area of devolved policy where we have seen Wales and England diverge most over the last 16 years.

Not only is devolved government the settled will of the people of Wales, but a vastly different approach to housing (amongst other things) is too.

In Wales, we have had successive governments committed to investment in social housing, through Social Housing Grant, which has allowed the housing association sector to provide an average of 2,000 additional homes each year. At the same time, Welsh Government supports a ‘Help to Buy’ product which allows better access to home ownership. Across the border, UK Government pursues home ownership as the be all and end all of housing policy, with funding for social housing sacrificed for a loosely defined ‘affordable’ home ownership offer.

Devolution has meant that the housing association sector in Wales has had an opportunity to define itself very differently from our friends across the border.

The Right to Buy for housing associations and the 1% cut to social rents will have a profound impact on affordable housing as we know it in England. In Wales, there are proposals afoot to abolish Right to Buy completely, and we hope that Welsh Government won’t follow the same path on rents – a path now roundly rejected by housing providers and tenants groups.

The draft Wales Bill threatens the ability to legislate for these policy differences – voted for by the people of Wales.

Welsh Government suggests that the Housing Act, which took action on the scourge of empty homes, created new models of co-operative housing and takes action to improve the private sector, would not have been within the competence of the Assembly. This is inexplicable.

It is not a leap to suggest that the proposals in their current form take us back to the dark days of the Legislative Competence Order (LCO). Those of us schooled in the history of LCOs, or indeed housing policy, will know that this didn’t work.

The Reserved Powers model this Bill seeks to enshrine should be about simplicity and clarity. For legislators and voters.

In its present form, the Bill adds to the confusion - not only threatening to slam the brakes on the devolution journey, but threatening to halt the significant progress Wales has made as a nation in a number of areas. For housing, devolution hasn’t just allowed us to do things differently; it has allowed us to better meet the needs, and the will, of the people of Wales.



Aaron Hill
Public Affairs Manager, Community Housing Cymru Group

This blog post was originally published on IWA's Click on Wales site. You can read it here. 

Digital Co-operative Housing in Wales

Further to the One Big Housing Conference 2015 in Llandrindod Wells where the Wales Co-operative Centre exhibited and Dave Brown, our Director of Communities and Inclusion, ran a session on ‘Meeting the Skills Gap’, I’m ‘Identifying the Opportunity within a Challenge’ by demonstrating the use of digital inclusion within co-operative housing across Wales.

The Centre has been supporting the development of co-operative housing across Wales for three years which has grown from eight ‘pioneers’ to nearly thirty schemes. Forty-one of these social rented homes are now occupied in Cardiff, where the Home Farm Village housing co-operative members communicate through a closed Facebook site and photos are tweeted by Cadwyn HA, who helped develop the scheme. Some of the residents hadn’t used social media before so being part of the group, and with the support of other co-operative members, their participation and skills have increased which demonstrates the power of formal and informal volunteering. They now resolve issues and keep each other informed about suppliers, service providers, refuse collection and anti-social behaviour, through Facebook.

The Wales Co-operative Centre also has a strong track record in the area of digital inclusion. It is currently delivering the Digital Communities Wales project for Welsh Government. The Centre has been helping communities get online since 2005 and was the lead delivery partner of the Welsh Government’s Communities@One and Communities 2.0 projects, both funded by the European Union. The Centre has extensive experience of developing and implementing co-operative solutions to strengthen communities and promote inclusion.

Recent statistics show that 56% of social housing tenants have broadband access compared to 78% of the total population. The aim is for 100% of co-operative residents to be digitally included. One way in which this is being achieved is by tenants using social media, as a platform that brings people together.

In Merthyr Tydfil, ‘Taf Fechan’ Housing co-op has recently set up a Facebook page and website. They have free wi-fi in all flats and hope to carry out most of their training and business electronically. They also tweet - @Taffechancoop.

There are other good examples of this all over Wales. In Newport, where nineteen leasehold shared-ownership homes are currently being built, members communicate through a closed Facebook site and also have a public page. There will be opportunities in future to market available properties through social media.

In Carmarthenshire, founder members of a site that has twenty-seven ‘Intermediate Rent’ homes also have a closed and public Facebook page. Members have chosen the co-op’s logo, street names and internal finishes for the homes through the Facebook page. Training presentations are uploaded to the Facebook site for members that can’t make any of the regular meetings. An emerging group in Powys uses Facebook as they start to engender interest.

Further North, in Wrexham, a small self-build housing co-op has both a website and Facebook site. They have gone public online with the website and have already accumulated over 300 likes on Facebook. They are getting some great messages of support from local community and from those already working on sustainable projects.

There is a large Community Land Trust in Pembrokeshire, which is establishing a website that links into the local community council’s website. In Swansea there is a small established housing co-op that also has a Facebook presence.

All of this not only shows the power of social media, but it provides a great opportunity to help people do more online as they develop housing co-operatives – a win-win as far as we’re concerned. The development and interconnection of all these co-ops across would not be possible without social media and the support of the Wales Co-operative Centre and the Confederation of Co-operative Housing.


Dave Palmer, Wales Co-operative Centre

Care & Repair doctoral research project

The Care & Repair Swansea University Doctoral Research project is now live! Given many of the headline messages from social policy and Welsh Government strategy relating to housing, health, social services and primary care, around a community-based social model of healthcare and public service integration, this is an exciting opportunity. Detailed work around our main activity as a frontline, home-visiting casework service will undoubtedly trace a bigger community footprint, which should be useful for policy development at a crucial stage in the debate around future-proofing public services.

Care & Repair agencies provide a unique and standard approach to the housing, environmental and living circumstances of older people. It is a blended approach, combining social care and technical housing fabric to provide a person-centred and problem-led approach. The older person receives an individually tailored, bespoke service. This has always appeared to work well. However, in a world of integrated approaches, shrinking public investment and competitive approaches, does it still work? ‘Bespoke’ is an old-fashioned and possibly hackneyed term, so are we becoming an old-fashioned service? In a fast-moving world, where the old artisan and craft skills are disappearing, will our approach end up as ‘time consuming’ and ‘over promising and under delivering’? Living under the big community tent and marshalled by statutory partners, are we a pivotal hub and close to the tent pole, or are we a cheap resource, disappearing at the edge of the camp like a flapping guy-rope?

My take on our ‘big offer’ is that we are the most modern of public sector organisations, anticipating important strategic trends and in the vanguard of change. We are defined by our partnerships and our collaborative efforts - in the best sense, ‘co-production’ in action. Seeking to build service capacity, we were a ‘social enterprise’ brand before the social entrepreneurs moved in. If you are looking to define prevention, we are responding to the real challenges older people face before they escalate into crises. If we deconstruct the pseudo-sociological concepts of ‘social model’-speak, we are a plain-talking, honest and accessible community delivery model. For the 12,000 older people we visit in their homes each year, we are a future-proofing service, keeping them ‘ahead of the curve’ rather than ‘stuck in the past’. I would say that, wouldn’t I? What do you think? This is an opportunity to say what you want as research student Joanna Wolton begins her investigations.

Neil Williams
Head of Agency Performance and Funding, Care & Repair Cymru

At this early stage, please leave a comment on the blog if you'd like any further information. 

Co-operation housing helps build co-operative communities

At the Wales Co-operative Centre, we are running a Welsh Government funded project to utilise co-operative housing approaches to help meet the demand for affordable housing. We know that co-operative approaches lead to a sense of ownership and empowerment which lead in turn to improvements in quality. These principles are extremely important drivers for those social landlords currently engaging in developing this approach – increased tenant ownership and empowerment leads to reduced arrears, reduced void turnarounds and improved community and quality of life.

In West Wales, Grŵp Gwalia is working in partnership with Carmarthenshire County Council to develop a co-operative housing scheme near Carmarthen town centre that will see 27 new homes built.

In recent months, Gwalia has held events to engage with potential members to the Carmarthen housing co-operative. A core group has come forward comprised of people on the housing waiting list who believe they can bring something to a co-operative housing living situation. The site has also recently received planning permission.

One young family, which has been provisionally allocated a property on the Carmarthen site, told us why they've got involved:

“We are living in temporary accommodation for the homeless. It’s not ideal but it’s a roof over our heads. We had so many issues in our last property that Environmental Health said it was unsafe for us to live in. Also, there’s no security when you rent privately. Landlords can tell you to move out at any time. The housing co-operative offers you the chance to live within a close knit community, you know everybody and have the security of housing. You’re in a house and you don’t get kicked out for no reason - it’s all a plus to us.”

This development is part of a wider initiative, led by Welsh Government, where several pilot projects are being developed to explore the use of co-operative models as an additional housing option.

Amongst the other lead pilot projects are developments with Seren, Cadwyn and a Community Land Trust in West Rhyl which North Wales Housing is working with.

The benefits of developing co-operative housing approaches are many. They help to fulfil the need to provide more affordable housing. They offer a community led approach so are often more sustainable in the long term than other approaches. Co-operative housing developments are largely self policing, and their approaches are democratic and based on fairness and equality. Co-operatives tend to work together to look after their communal areas and are often able to manage the maintenance or maintenance contracts on their homes.

There are several different approaches which can be taken up when a social landlord is developing co-operative housing. Ownership can be completely devolved to the co-operative, ownership can be based on a long-term lease to the co-operative, and the social landlord can stimulate co-operative approaches to the management and upkeep of the properties.

In 2014, the Welsh Government pledged to increase the supply of affordable homes to 10,000 before May 2016. Co-operative housing has the potential to make a sustainable contribution to that target and to offer a long term and sustainable approach to housing provision, as well as to the development of local communities.

You can read more about the Grŵp Gwalia scheme here. 

David Palmer, Co-operative Housing Project Manager
Wales Co-operative Centre

“Trust me, I’m a housing professional...”

This week at the Welsh NHS Confederation conference, the menu of topics is interesting and timely. How do we set up our workforce in an integrated way? How do we bring about meaningful change for those we serve? How do we move from rhetoric to reality?

As a policy professional working in the housing association sector in Wales, I’m keenly interested in all of the above. I was recently invited, on behalf of Community Housing Cymru, to contribute to Welsh Government’s “Making Prudent Healthcare Happen” online resource, which is a collection of essays exploring the challenges and opportunities of this new way of working.

The services provided by housing associations, in terms of high quality housing, care and support services, community initiatives, employment and skills, and digital inclusion, are but some examples of the broad work taking place to improve health and work to reduce the number of people requiring the services of their GP or local A&E. The housing association sector and people working within it are able to provide legitimate solutions to the mounting challenges faced by the NHS and, more broadly, public services in Wales.

Housing associations work in some of the most deprived communities in Wales. When we think about how we work as public facing services to combat factors such as unemployment, education, and inactivity which we know have a substantial impact on health and wellbeing, housing associations are a key part of the formula for addressing such issues.

But the carpet is being pulled from underneath us as a housing sector. Salami slicing cuts to vital services such as the Supporting People Programme are threatening to further push people into NHS services who may otherwise have received a preventative, person centred service at a far earlier stage.

The Welsh Government budget for 2015/16 confirmed a £10m cut to Supporting People, reducing it to £124m. In real terms, this means that over 4,000 people will now go without the support they could have accessed if the fund were protected. The £10m cut is the equivalent of annual funding to provide all services for men and women at risk of domestic abuse and young people with support needs in the Vale and Cardiff. In addition, supporting people services provide a well-used referral route for hospital move-on teams, freeing up hospital beds and resources.

At a time when we need a strong “prevention sector” in Wales, we cannot afford an environment of disinvestment that undervalues the key work of organisations delivering Supporting People services.

Although the prudent healthcare work demonstrates the value, the opportunities and the enthusiasm for things to change, these words mean nothing without action from all sides.

If through prudent healthcare we’re entrusting people to look after themselves and to make positive health behaviours part of their regular habits, then it’s also vital to trust the ability of the housing association sector to support and work closely with the NHS in meeting the challenges it faces both now and in the future.

In our recent economic impact report you can see some case studies (p16-18) which demonstrate the prudent nature of the housing associations sector. Taff Housing addressing delayed transfer of care, and Melin Homes working with a collaborative to re-invent Continuing Healthcare packages in Gwent. Consistency is key, however, and we will know we are on the right track once we are able to call projects such as these common practice rather than best.

Matt Kennedy
Policy Officer: Care, Support and Health  

Out of Stock: The Future of Right to Buy in Wales

Right to Buy, introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1980, has helped thousands of people in Wales to buy their social homes at a discounted rate. However, this has come at a detriment to Wales’ struggling social housing stock. Over the lifetime of Right to Buy, more than 130,000 homes have been bought at a discount and removed from the social sector altogether, accounting for a 45% decrease in the number of social homes across Wales. This is something Wales simply cannot afford. Affordable and social housing are a vital safety net for the most vulnerable in our society and, with Wales being disproportionately affected by welfare changes, this safety net is now more important than ever. Right to Buy has contributed to a lack of availability and to the backlog of people languishing on housing lists across Wales.

The Community Housing Cymru Group welcomes Labour’s proposal to end Right to Buy, should they win the next Welsh Assembly elections, with the reservation that this measure is like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted – we have an affordable housing crisis in Wales and ending Right to Buy will not build more homes. Ending Right to Buy needs to be part of a bigger approach to tackling Wales’ chronic housing problem including more use of public land for affordable housing development, more planning freedoms and a sustained programme of investment. The Legislative Competence Order already provides Welsh Ministers with the power to allow councils to refuse Right to Buy requests in areas where there is high demand for affordable housing, as has been done in Carmarthenshire. CHC has signed a Housing Supply Pact with the Welsh Government and will continue to work with members and Welsh Government to deliver the affordable housing target of 10,000 homes by 2016 to help ease the pressures of low housing stock and a backlog of unmet housing need.

To own a home is a great ambition but to have a home to go to is essential – ending Right to Buy will help meet the needs of many but it is only a small part of what is a big problem.

The Welsh Government has opened a consultation on the future of Right to Buy and Right to Acquire which will close on 16th April 2015.

Liam Townsend
Political and Administration Assistant

'But what does a Policy Officer actually do?'

Imagine doing a job where your Mum thinks you work for the government, your younger brother thinks you go the pub with the First Minister, and your Gran asks whether you're able to get her a new house on the cheap. It doesn't get any easier when it comes to meeting new people either. Nobody knows what a policy officer does. They know we have meetings, and we like coffee, and it's verging on something political so they're not really interested anyway.

It's hardly the greatest stigma of our age, but policy types get a bad rap. Our colleagues in comms are always waiting on us, our friends in political parties think we're a bit boring, and our parents don’t have a clue what we do!

I'd worked in the Assembly, and on campaigns, and I'd flirted with a career in comms, so all these assumptions about the mysterious policy folk weren't new to me. Starting out at CHC, I was anxious not to become one of those 'bods'. Ten weeks on a Go Wales placement couldn't hurt though, could it? And how much could there really be to know about housing?

I very quickly learned that many of my assumptions were wrong. I found myself at CHC with lots of great people who were passionate and impatient for change. And, whisper it, the people in policy weren't boring either! Oh, and there really was quite a lot to learn about housing...

Three years in policy at CHC was an education. It was the trip to the House of Lords in my first week to campaign against the welfare reforms; it was the constant reminders about why we do this job as I heard the money advice team ask some of the toughest questions anyone will ever ask another person. It was successfully protecting the Supporting People budget last year, and wondering why my 'normal' friends weren't as excited as I was in the pub that night. It was becoming an overnight expert in devolution as we prepared to make radical calls to the Silk Commission. And it was the occasional campaign defeat too. And trying to understand the Lobbying Bill. And the Conservative MP who still replies to complain every time I use 'bedroom tax' in an email. And it was digesting the ever changing Welsh Government budget sheet – ‘what have they called social housing grant this year?!”

Policy was far from the boring drag I’d been told about; partly because working with the people at CHC meant even the longest strategy document or the driest task and finish group would turn out OK, and partly because I was representing a sector that really was about ‘more than bricks and mortar’. Over the course of three years, you can see that policy really can make a difference to people’s lives if we’re given the opportunity to channel it – it’s the basis of great projects and successful campaigns. It’ll change your political views and your outlook on life. But as I head off to my new policy role at NIACE, I’m still not sure my Mum knows exactly what I do…

Aaron Hill 

Aaron is leaving CHC after three years to work for NIACE Cymru as Policy and Public Affairs Officer. Good luck in your new role, you'll be missed! 

Welcome, Tomos!

I started at CHC in March 2014 as Energy and Sustainability Officer whilst Shea Jones is on sabbatical leave for six months. 

One of my primary aims over the next few months is to work with CHC's members to develop our EU Energy Funding bid and new partnerships. 

As part of my role, I oversee the Technical Services Forum, Social Housing Fire Safety Strategy Group and Energy Group. Over the course of the next six months, I will keep CHC members up to date with developments on the Future Generations and Housing Bills, as well as every changing policy development within energy, sustainability and fire safety. 

The most challenging aspect of my role will be to develop our EU Energy Funding bid proposal whilst also keeping myself and members informed of UK, Welsh Government and European energy and sustainability policies and developments. What I hope to enjoy most in the next few months is being re-acquainted with staff working in HAs across Wales, learning new skills and experiences. 

Tomos Davies
Energy and Sustainability Officer

Homeless prevention - at the heart of what we do

In the summer of 2013, Community Housing Cymru commissioned research in partnership with the WLGA, funded by Welsh Government, to explore the opportunity for greater collaboration between housing associations and local authorities.

Reflecting on this, it's fair to say that the research challenges the sector and local authorities by, to some extent, putting the writing on the wall over what works and what doesn't. It highlights some issues around consistency, roles and responsibility and some contrasting priorities. But it also demonstrates the high volume of innovative projects that local authorities and housing associations have worked on together in using housing stock and the generally positive relationships that exist between housing associations and local authorities in Wales.

The workshop sessions conducted for the research revealed that some local authorities are concerned that with increasing pressure on housing association rental income, this will increasingly become the focus of business. It's important that we put such concerns to rest.

We've always said we're more about bricks and mortar and we've consistently shown this to be the case - you just need to look at the regeneration, innovative care provision, financial and digital inclusion initiatives, employment and skills projects provided by the sector to understand what housing associations are about. It's more than tackling homelessness - for our members it's about supporting individuals to build fulfilling, rewarding lives.

We know that Supporting People funding will also continue to be an important part of how we provide accommodation and support and the new collaborative arrangements which drive how this funding is used should be an opportunity to build and spread the highly positive practice that exists, much of which is highlighted in the report.

Welfare reform continues to be a shadow over the sector which, in the context of homelessness, undermines the ability of local authorities to house individuals quickly and reduce demand on temporary accommodation due to the 'bedroom tax'.

CHC will continue to challenge and support our members to deliver more, and explore new ways of delivering projects to meet increasing demand on both our own and other sectors. It's clear that the homelessness challenge facing Wales will continue to require dynamic thinking from housing, health, the third sector and Welsh Government to drive improvement in how we do things. It’s true that public services in many instances have no option but to change, so if we can’t control that then we should seek to control how we change in an informed way. This research is a stepping stone to doing that in the context of homelessness.

You can read the full report here.


Matt Kennedy
Policy Officer: Care, Support and Health

Silk - as smooth as it sounds?

After more than two years of consultation and evidence gathering, the Silk Commission has now published two reports which focus on devolution in Wales. Part I, which focused primarily on tax powers, was released on 19 November 2012 and Part II, which focused on the powers of the Welsh Assembly, was released this week on 3 March 2014. Altogether, the Silk Commission has recommended significant constitutional changes that would provide the Assembly in Cardiff with more power - power that will be taken away from Westminster.

The Silk Commission was made up of voluntary members who researched how the Assembly works and how it could be improved. It was set up by the UK Government and its members comprised a representative from each of the four main parties in Wales as well as independents, so agreeing on its recommendations should be easy, right? Not quite. Part I, which was supposed to be the less controversial part, caused tensions between Westminster and Cardiff and brought about tensions within the parties themselves. The ‘lockstep’ on income tax powers (you can’t lower taxes for the poorest without doing so for the richest and vice-versa) was particularly problematic as the Welsh Conservatives found divisions within their own party and significant divisions with the UK party. Meanwhile, Labour appears to not support income tax powers at all and have been dubbed the ‘party of anti-devolution’.

Silk Part II has published 61 recommendations in all, including the devolution of policing, youth justice, energy projects and water. The report also says that the current ‘conferred powers model’ (being told what powers you do have) should be replaced with a ‘reserved powers model’ (being told what powers you don’t have, as in Scotland). Also, like every report before it, the report has called for more AMs to cope with the extra powers. This is a particularly sore topic for everyone involved, especially the electorate. What comes as a disappointment, though not as a surprise, is that the Commission has not called for the devolution of welfare which could have given the Welsh Government the chance to right the wrongs of the UK Government’s pernicious welfare changes (benefit cap, ‘bedroom tax’, Universal Credit) which disproportionately affect people in Wales.

Part II is set to be much more controversial as cross-party support in the Senedd is unlikely. Even more unlikely is any real cooperation between Cardiff and Westminster unless the 2015 General Election returns a UK Labour Government, giving them free reign to do what they wish in Wales. So why is Part II so controversial? It comes down to principles. Should the Assembly be more powerful? If so, how? Plaid Cymru have said that the recommendations do not go far enough, while the Welsh Conservatives have been hush-hush about it as of yet, no doubt because agreement between Conservatives seems difficult to achieve when it comes to Wales.

The Welsh Government hopes that the recommendations will be met in full and will be fully implemented by 2020/21, while the UK Government has all but confirmed that any major reforms will have to be carried out by the government elected in 2015. With tensions already high, talks on Part II are sure to split parties further while it is the people of Wales who suffer from a stunted devolution settlement, the victims of partisan politics and a long-lasting stranglehold of power.

Liam Townsend
Political and Administration Assistant

Tackling the pay day lenders

Bethan Jenkins explains why she is introducing legislation in the Senedd tomorrow to help people facing bad debt...

It was around a year ago that I first wrote to Bridgend County Borough Council, asking it to block access to payday loan sites from its public library computers. I was told that this was nigh-on impossible to achieve – which was not encouraging, particularly since other local authorities such as Dundee have already done it.
Meanwhile, the present economic situation continues to push people on low incomes into debt they cannot afford from lenders who demand sky-high rates and use harassing methods to get their money back.

I become more and more concerned every time I hear of a constituent who has been through this process – especially when the reasons for going to a payday lender is to borrow for precious things, like children’s Christmas presents.

The extent of these problems is shown by the number of people with financial difficulties who are seeking help from Citizens Advice Cymru. Of those who approached it between April 2012 and March this year, 84 per cent had financial capability issues. Of these, 74 per cent continue to receive support.

How can people work and spend their income in the local economy if they are doomed to spend years repaying a company whose profits are most likely off-shored? Money management is likely to become a greater issue for those out of work as well, with the advent of Universal Credit and its switch to monthly payments. These will require a culture change for generations used to managing finances on a weekly basis.

Legislation I am proposing on the floor of the Senedd tomorrow will give people the tools to turn their lives around. Aimed at helping them to make more informed choices about their finances, my Financial Education and Inclusion Bill is divided into two areas:

• Promotion of financial education to help future generations manage their money.
• Providing greater powers for local authorities to promote financial inclusion – to help people with their current debt problems.

At the heart of the Bill is a statutory duty placed on local authorities to promote financial inclusion. Statutory duties have come in for a fair bit of criticism in recent times. It has been said that they achieve little and are too open to abuse. But you can argue that about pretty much any poorly written piece of legislation or regulation. Provided we have in place the means to measure outcomes, I believe this could encourage local authorities to think outside the box at a time when finances threaten successful service delivery.

Properly implemented, the proposals in the Bill will produce a greater co-ordination of services resulting in:

•  One-stop internet shops that can provide visitors with the help they need – the Bill prevents local authorities from charging for internet access.
• Promotion of the Money Advice Service’s excellent tools and resources.
• Local authorities collaborating to produce an awareness campaign for Money Made Clear and for Welsh credit unions.

The Bill’s proposals have been welcomed by a range of organisations, including Community Housing Cymru, Swansea Council, Consumer Futures, Action for Children, Age Cymru, and Shelter Cymru. Individuals who are supporting the Bill include the Welsh Financial Inclusion Champion, and Martin Lewis, creator of MoneySavingExpert, who has run a long and high profile campaign to have financial education included in the curriculum in England.

It is encouraging that the Welsh Government has already taken steps in this area, particularly in financial education. However, poverty Minister Jeff Cuthbert recently told the Western Mail that 'more needs to be done' on combatting payday lenders, while Education Minister Huw Lewis recently told me in the Senedd that there was 'room for improvement' in financial education.

If my colleagues give me leave to take my Financial Education and Inclusion Bill forward I am sure we will be able to improve its proposals. AMs from all four parties have spoken with great concern on this issue. If we work together I believe we can produce legislation that will bring significant improvements in people’s lives. Indeed, the Bill is a great example of what the Assembly was created to do – to move decision making closer to the people it affects and, in this instance, giving them a better life away from bad debt.
 

Bethan Jenkins AM 

You can read the relevant press release on CHC's website. 

What are the current challenges for the new Health Minister?

I have taken on the role of Health Minister at a time when there is no choice but change for the health service. The NHS has changed every single year since it was founded in 1948 and this is still the case.

My aim is to bring the process of NHS configuration in Wales to a conclusion and to provide people with certainty about the shape of healthcare to come.

The process is already underway. I understand that when decisions are made not everybody will be happy. Not everybody will get the decision that they would prefer, but we need to make changes and finish the process so people can get on with delivering important services.

The changes come at a time when the whole of the Welsh Government faces stringent cuts in the revenue provided to all the vital services that Wales needs. My job as Health Minister is to speak up as loudly and persuasively as I can to make sure that we have the money we need to provide a health service that meets people’s needs.

An important part of my role is to meet people and I’m keen to talk to people and explain why things are being done in the way that they are.

What I can promise people is that I’ll consider everything as thoroughly as I possibly can, I will weigh up the arguments, I will look at the evidence, and then I will give them a decision.

Dr Mark Drakeford
Health Minister


Dr Mark Drakeford will be speaking at CHC's Health and Housing Conference in Cardiff City Stadium on 18 July. For further information, please see CHC's website.

Making the case for tackling age discrimination

This poem is probably familiar to you, you may even think it is sentimental cliché. http://www.stargazerdownunder.com/general/reading/see.html

I’ve met many older people with fascinating histories. For example, recently I met a lady who was recruited at age 17 to work as a code-breaker at Bletchley Park; a ‘Barnardo’s boy’; another who was a prisoner of war in Italy. Anne (not her real name) told me of her early life. Before Anne was sixteen her mother had been widowed twice and Anne’s three sisters had all died of (what are now) preventable diseases. A hard start to a long life.

When I hear their stories, of adventures and achievements, or of their triumph over adversity, it makes me feel humble. It makes me question why society and the media persist with negative images of ageing and older people.

Perceptions of older people are influenced by negative imagery and language about ageing and older people, which devalues a large part of our population. These perceptions lead to ageism and discrimination. It is misleading to portray older people solely as frail and as consumers of health and social care. Addressing discrimination is an investment both now and in the future, for we all hope to grow old don’t we?

An article in Stylist magazine investigated our fear of old age and I quote that “shifting our attitudes towards ageing would not only be good for old people… studies in Japan… have shown the prevalence of depression and dementia is far lower, implying that this culture may exert a protective influence.”

The contribution of older people is often underestimated. University College London estimate that the over 65s contribute an average £3,000 a year (net of pension, welfare and health costs) to society through tax receipts, spending power, volunteering and childcare.

Moving forward means putting an end to old-fashioned stereotyping of people because of their age. We need greater examination and recognition of the valuable contribution older people make to society. It is in everyone’s best interests to recognise the talents and contribution of all our citizens. Promoting positive images and stories of ageing in Wales is an important step in the right direction.

Equality is fundamental to building a fair and inclusive society. Yet ageism and discrimination are deeply embedded in the social framework and are resistant to change. It is for this reason that ten years ago the Welsh Government committed itself to a Strategy for Older People. The third phase, which was launched on 22 May, will build on this valuable work.

We all need to play our part to realise our ambition to make Wales a great place to grow old.


Shona Martin is the Agency Chief Officer at Care & Repair Monmouthshire and is currently on secondment to the Welsh Government to lead on the development of phase 3 of The Strategy for Older People in Wales.