9. Debate on the Equality and Local Government and Communities Committee Report — 'Into sharp relief: inequality and the pandemic'

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:25 pm on 7 October 2020.

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Photo of John Griffiths John Griffiths Labour 5:25, 7 October 2020

Many Members and the Minister mentioned the need to engage meaningfully and effectively, and I know Mark Isherwood mentioned this, and he rightly very often does: we have to find new ways to make sure that we really are reaching out into our communities, into those that are most vulnerable and in the greatest difficulty and to those providing the services to them, to really understand their situations and to make sure that we're moving forward together in that spirit of co-production, which I know Mark Isherwood, again, rightly, is also very keen on.

So, it's clear, isn't it, that one size doesn't fit all and that policies, interventions, funding and legislation do have to be targeted and tailored for different needs and experiences. The only way that we can do that is through that level and depth and breadth of engagement. I'm confident from what we've heard that Welsh Government will move forward in that spirit and in that way. I do believe that the recommendations in the report are practical and that they are short to medium-term actions in the main, but they will help produce a fairer country, which is what we all want.

It was really good to hear Members and particularly, I think, Alun Davies, who isn't a member of the committee, paying tribute to the work of the committee staff as well as the committee members and all those who gave evidence. Because I do believe that our committees here in the Assembly fulfil a very important role, and the staff that back them up do an amazing job. Too often, although we are, I think, consistent in making those points, in Wales as a whole, perhaps, too often, we're not really singing from the rooftops what our committees do and the importance of the work and just what practical effect it has in partnership with Government.

So, housing was mentioned by Delyth Jewell, and that, I think, is something that the committee has concentrated on quite a lot over a period of time, and rightly so, because insecurities in housing, overcrowding in housing, poor-quality housing, insecurity of tenure and so on really did come across strongly in terms of the impact that they have on people's lives in general, but also their health. And in the pandemic it was an important part of the vulnerability that certain sections of our society have, and they are the people with the protected characteristics, and very often there is that intersectionality between them that really does put them in very difficult positions, and housing is very often at the very base of that.

We do have to deal with the data issues again, as the Minister said, because it's so obvious, isn't it, that unless we're in a position to know where we are and whether we're moving forward effectively through meaningful data, then we're never going to know whether our policies are having the impact that we require from them. We have to work at this to produce more meaningful data, otherwise we'll never have the evidence base that we need, and when we talk about evidence-based policy, we won't really be able to back that up in terms of the data situation that we have.

I know I'm getting dangerously close to the time available to me, so let me just finish by saying, in terms of the tackling poverty strategy that we've consistently called for as a committee, it is something that we will follow up further with the work that we do in the remainder of this Assembly term, but it would be really good to see Welsh Government setting out some detail and timing in terms of the steps it will take to produce that, I think, vital tackling poverty cross-Government strategy. We've called for it consistently over a long period of time because of the evidence that we've had and because of the backing from key organisations in Wales that are working to understand and tackle poverty. So, I do think that recommendation has real force. I'm pleased that it is now accepted in principle, but we do need to see detail and timing behind that acceptance in principle as we move forward. Diolch yn fawr.