Significant impact in the Senedd in June

The Bevan Foundation left its mark on the Senedd once again in June with the Foundation quoted in discussions on fair work, free school meals and housing.

Fair work

June 7th saw the Deputy Minister for Social Partnership make a statement to the Senedd on the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Bill. The Bill aims to place social partnership on a statutory footing in Wales and the Bevan Foundation has taken a keen interest in the Bill’s progress, with the Foundation submitting both written and oral evidence to the Senedd’s Equality and Social Justice Committee.

During the debate that followed the statement, Plaid Cymru MS, Peredur Owen Griffiths, made reference to our evidence in his statement:

The Bevan Foundation raised a number of important points during their consultation response, including the need to address the wider labour market context in which the social partnership Bill will operate. 

In other matters relating to fair work, June 16th saw the Welsh Government jointly release its ‘Shared strategic vision for the retail sector’ with the retail sector and trade unions. The Bevan Foundation’s 2021 report Experiences in Retail was quoted as evidence.

The 2021 Bevan Foundation report on Experiences in Retail indicates that terms and conditions in retail and in other foundational sectors are in need of improvement. 

Free school meals/education 

June was another busy month for our work on education. June 14th saw our latest report on how the rollout of universal free school meals could be accelerated raised in the Senedd. Speaking during plenary, Conservative MS, Altaf Hussain quoted our concerns about the previous slow-roll out of free school meals:

Minister, last week, BBC Wales carried a story featuring a range of concerns from the Bevan Foundation about the roll-out of the Welsh Government free-school-meals option for all primary schools, which is to be commenced in September. 

On June 16th, Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles MS, gave a keynote speech at a webinar held by the Bevan Foundation where he set out his plans on education and inequality. The First Minister, Mark Drakeford MS referenced this speech in a Plenary session on June 21st:

I thank the Member for that question. I commend to him the recent lecture given by the Minister for education to the Bevan Foundation, in which he grappled with exactly the sorts of issues that Dr Hussain has raised with us this afternoon.

On 29th June, Jeremy Miles MS, made reference to the webinar during an evidence session with the Children, Young People and Education Committee on pupil absences:

In the work that I’ve been doing, the statement I gave in March, and the speech I gave to the Bevan Foundation a few weeks ago on closing the attainment gap, I’m very, very mindful of the fact that the attendance patterns for pupils who are eligible for free school meals is a significant issue.

Housing 

On 12th June, the Bevan Foundation’s released an update on our Local Housing Allowance work. The findings illustrated clearly the severe shortage of rental properties for low-income households in Wales.  

In a plenary session on 14th June, Plaid Cymru MS, Mabon ap Gwynfor, raised this report in the context of the cost of living crisis:

This week, the Bevan Foundation published research showing that only 24 properties were available throughout Wales at the LHA rates—the local housing allowance rates. Now, we must see this allowance being increased.