The Bevan Foundation has always recognised the importance of the various grants and allowances provided by the Welsh Government and Welsh local authorities to low-income households. From the Council Tax Reduction Scheme to Free School Meals, these grants and allowances provide vital support to low-income households across Wales and sit alongside the support provided through the UK social security system.
The Bevan Foundation has long proposed that these various grants and allowances should be brought together into a single framework which we termed a Welsh Benefits System. This has real potential to lift people out of poverty.
To turn this vision into reality the Bevan Foundation has worked with several other organisations to commission external experts, Policy in Practice, to assess how to implement a common approach to Welsh benefits focusing on data requirements.
Listen back to learn about
- Findings from the feasibility study that show how establishing a Welsh Benefits System could be see millions of pounds-worth of unclaimed benefits find their way to the pockets of people on low-incomes
- Practical actions that the Welsh Government could take in the medium term to establish comprehensive arrangements
- Immediate actions that the Welsh Government could take now using data to boost take up of several grants and allowances that low income families are missing out on during the cost of living crisis
Guest speakers:
- Dr Steffan Evans, Head of Policy (Poverty), The Bevan Foundation
- Zoe Charlesworth, Associate Policy and Research Lead, Policy in Practice
- Jack Rowlands, Policy and Data Analyst, Policy in Practice