Welcome for Senedd report on debt and the pandemic

The Senedd’s Equality and Social Justice Committee has published a report on the impact of the pandemic on debt, drawing on our evidence. 

The Bevan Foundation have welcomed the findings of the Senedd’s Equality and Social Justice Committee’s inquiry into the impact of the pandemic on debt. The Bevan Foundation submitted written and oral evidence to the Committee in September 2021 drawing on the findings of our own research into the issue, as set out in our Debt in the pandemic report. We are pleased to see that our evidence is reflected in the Committee’s final report. 

A key message of both reports is the unequal impact that the pandemic has had on debt. The Committee’s findings echoes the Bevan Foundation’s own research which demonstrated that whilst many households have been able to pay down debt over the pandemic, households that were at the greatest risk of being in problem debt have fallen further behind. We are therefore pleased to see that the Committee has made a number of practical recommendations that could ease some of this pressure. 

The Committee have made 14 recommendations, including extending the Tenancy Hardship Grant to the Social Housing sector, the retaining DAF flexibilities on a permanent basis and the undertaking of a broader review of DAF. 

The Committee’s report can be accessed in full here.