WRITTEN RESPONSES TO RICHARD COMMISSION CONSULTATION
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TOTAL REPRESENTATION (TR)
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Letter received from the Anti-Poverty Network Cymru
/ Rhwydwaith Gwrth -Diodi Cymru
dated 25 July 2003
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| Re: Commission on Powers and
Electoral Arrangement of National Assembly of Wales. |
| I am writing on behalf of the
Anti -Poverty Network Cymru (APNC), which has a membership
of over 60 organisations and individuals actively involved
or interested in community regeneration practice in Wales.
The membership is made up of representatives from the
voluntary, statutory and community sectors - and of individuals
with direct experience of poverty who have no access to
a community group in their area. All regions of Wales
are included in the membership base, reflecting the different
but related issues facing people in the urban valleys,
in the North, in rural mid Wales and on the West Coast |
| We have become increasingly aware
that many of the issues facing those in poverty in Wales
cannot be dealt within the current powers of the National
Assembly of Wales. This significantly reduces the possibility
of developing a specific Wales policy agenda in relation
to issues of poverty. Household income in Wales is only
86% of the British average, and many other poverty indicators
are significantly worse in Wales as compared to the UK
in geneial (see attached document) We are of the view
that the NAW requires significantly increased powers if
these substantial Welsh inequalities are to be tackled.
We suggest that powers should be given to the Welsh Assembly
on the lines of those in Scotland, so that issues of poverty
and inequality can be more effectively and quickly addressed
in ways specific to the needs of Wales. |
| Yours sincerely |
Nia Higginbotham
On behalf of the APNC |
Poverty statistics for Wales
Children and young people |
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.............. Poverty here is defined
as `below 60% median income after housing costs'.
81.7% of children in Tredegar Park, Newport live in
poverty and 80% in Townhill, Swansea.*
The youth unemployment rate is 28.6%*
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Employment
However, a Sheffield Hallam study of `real unemployment'
finds that Merthyr Tydfil has the highest level of real
unemployment in the UK (28.2%) and Blaenau Gwent the third
highest (23.2%).**
Education
In Blaenau Gwent this figure is 45%, in Merthyr Tydfil
43.9% and in RCT 40.5%.***
Sickness
Monmouthshire and Flintshire. In Merthyr it's 30% of people
and in Neath Port Talbot 29.4%.***
with the highest proportion of claimants are in Wales
(40%). Yet out of the 408 districts in the UK, only 22
are in Wales (5%). ** |
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*The Wellbeing of Children in the UK -
Save the Children / University of York 2001 "'Real unemployment'
includes men and women who have been diverted onto sickness-related
benefits and those who are looking for work and available
for work but not claiming benefit. The Real Level of Unemployment
2002 - Beatty, Fothergill, Gore and Green Sheffield Hallam
University October 2002.
***2001 Census
****Welsh Assembly Government Statistics 2001 |
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