In the Senedd, October 2024

The Bevan Foundation’s work informed a range of debates in the Senedd through October 

No Recourse to Public Funds 

Following Sioned Williams MS raising our work on the exclusion of children affected by the No Recourse to Public Funds condition from Free School Meals in Wales in September, October 2024 was another month that saw the Foundation’s research inform debate on the issue. 

This month Sioned Williams MS was joined by the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip, Jane Hutt MS in making reference to our work. 

During a Senedd debate, Sioned Williams MS asked the Cabinet Secretary:

This is something that we’ve been raising and the Bevan Foundation have been loudly raising: the issue of no recourse to public funds as regards entitlement to free school meals. I’ve raised it with the Cabinet Secretary for Education. There still has been no action. Will you take action on this? Because the discretionary model with local authorities isn’t working.

Whilst holding short of committing to take action, the Cabinet Secretary did make reference in her contribution to her desire to continue working with the Bevan Foundation and other partners to develop a “child-first, migrant-second approach”. 

Our work to end homelessness

The Bevan Foundation’s recent work on temporary accommodation was also used to inform Senedd debate through October. 

In response to a statement made by the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government: More homes towards ending homelessness, both Sian Gwenllian MS and Mark Isherwood MS directly quoted from our research, with Mark Isherwood asking the Cabinet Secretary:

How will you work with the Bevan Foundation and Shelter Cymru following their new report, ‘Nowhere to call home: Understanding our housing crisis—Living in temporary accommodation’, which stated that whilst the Welsh Government wants homelessness to be rare, brief and unrepeated, that aspiration seems a long way from being realised?

Fuel poverty 

Another recent Bevan Foundation publication that drew the attention of Senedd Members during October was our work on the help that is made available for people who are struggling with their energy bills. Responding to a question by Jane Dodds MS the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip, Jane Hutt MS stated:

I was very thankful to the Bevan Foundation, who did some work on this and actually identified that energy suppliers can play a key role. They can support their customers through this very difficult time with fair and affordable payment plans and emergency support where required. So, I’ll be meeting with them as well, in fact, later this week.

Poverty in Arfon

It’s not just the Bevan Foundation’s recent publications that has gained the interest of Senedd Members over October. The Bevan Foundation’s work from the summer of 2023 on poverty in Arfon continues to inform Senedd debate. Sian Gwenllian MS used our work to highlight many of the extra cost pressures faced by young people in her constituency during a debate on a Petition’s Committee Report on free and accessible public transport for young people. 

Healthy Start Vouchers

The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip, Jane Hutt MS also drew attention to previous work undertaken by the Bevan Foundation when reflecting on some of success that the Welsh Government has achieved in boosting take up of Health Start Vouchers. During a debate in plenary, the Cabinet Secretary stated:

I remember meeting with the Bevan Foundation in the early days of my having this portfolio and they were saying, ‘If we could get families to take up the Healthy Start vouchers’. In fact, Lynne Neagle, when she had the role, managed to get health visitors trained and we massively increased access to Healthy Start vouchers