In the news in September

The Bevan Foundation’s work has been covered in the media throughout September

Welsh benefits

In September, we published a new briefing outlining the impact of inflation on Welsh benefits. We found that this ‘silent squeeze’ is locking people in real hardship out of the help they need and cutting the value of payments they do receive. These findings were covered by a range of news outlets including Nation.Cymru, Golwg360, Business News Wales, Yahoo News, WalesOnline, South Wales Argus and Barry & District News.

Housing crisis

August also saw the release of our new report with Shelter Cymru around people’s experiences of living in temporary accommodation. The report also received coverage in Nation.Cymru, South Wales Argus, The Leader, Free Press Series and Business News Wales.

Our impact

Some of the Foundation’s recent successes were also referred to in the media this month. September has seen the roll-out of the final stage of the universal school meals programme, meaning that every primary school child in Wales is now eligible for a free school meal. Deeside.com covered the story, mentioning that the Bevan Foundation was a key advocate in the push for universal free school meals and that we’re calling for further action to include other groups of children in the scheme.

The upcoming changes to Council Tax Support have been covered by Policy in Practice, who the Bevan Foundation worked with to see how data can help to simplify Welsh benefits. The new plans could see 60,000 more households get Council Tax Support.

Other

Head of Policy (Poverty), Steffan Evans, appeared on the radio twice throughout September. Towards the beginning of the month, he discussed Audit Wales’s report on housing supply on Radio Cymru, and more recently he was heard on Radio Wales discussing changes to the Winter Fuel Payment.

This month, Senedd Research published a second article on Supporting international students: The realities of studying in Wales. The article references the Foundation’s 2024 report calling for better support for people in Wales who are living with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF).