Shaping the future of Communities First

The Bevan Foundation’s work on how best to reduce poverty in communities across Wales has been extensively quoted in recent debates in the National Assembly for Wales and media coverage.

The Cabinet Secretary for Children and Communities, Carl Sargeant AM, announced that he intended to wind up Communities First, the Welsh Government’s programme to reduce poverty in Wales’ most deprived communities. In his announcement in the Senedd on 14th February 2017, the Cabinet Secretary quoted the Bevan Foundation, saying:

Individuals have clearly benefitted from Communities First but, as the Bevan Foundation highlights, performance has been mixed and poverty remains a stubborn and persistent challenge.

Our thinking was also quoted by Mark Isherwood AM (Conservative) and by Mohammad Ashgar AM (Conservative) in the debate, and in questions to the Cabinet Secretary on 8th March 2017.