Monday 12 May 2014

Older People's Commissioner for Wales: An update

Earlier this year, I released a report calling for the preservation of community services which are essential for helping older people to maintain their health, independence and wellbeing.

The report, entitled ‘The Importance and Impact of Community Services within Wales’, outlines the importance of provisions including buses and community transport, public toilets, pavements, public seating, outdoor areas, libraries, leisure facilities, community and day centres.

There is real concern among many older people that these vital services are disappearing, which will have a devastating impact on their lives.

The evidence in the report was drawn from a series of focus groups that took place with older people around Wales, as well as from a range of partners with expertise in specialist areas.

Many of these older people are housing association tenants and I meet them at home, in their residential complexes and schemes, as well as at the various clubs and groups which they are members of, through my ongoing Engagement Roadshow.

The community services that older people consistently talk about are not luxuries, but are lifelines to helping them stay independent, healthy and connected to their local communities, their friends and families.

I understand the current budgetary pressures being placed upon Local Authorities and that difficult decisions on expenditure and savings must be made. It is vital, however, that as spending decisions are made, essential community services are recognised as being as impactful and as important as statutory services and that older people are able to continue to access them.

Building on the report, I will publish a toolkit later this year to help housing association residents and all older people to engage with Local Authorities and influence the decisions that affect them.

I am also planning a number of seminars for key local authority staff, to present the case for the retention of community services, facilities and infrastructure in Wales and to discuss and agree an effective way forward.

For a copy of ‘The Importance and Impact of Community Services within Wales’ or to find out more about my work across the country, visit www.olderpeoplewales.com or call 08442 640670.





Sarah Rochira
Older People's Commissioner for Wales



Wednesday 7 May 2014

CREW Regeneration Wales' 'Deep Place' Study

CREW has recently published its ‘Deep Place’ report, the result of 12 months of detailed research into the community of Tredegar by Professor Dave Adamson and Dr Mark Lang. CREW has been pleased with the initial reaction to the report which some have described as a game changer for current approaches to tackling poverty and creating environmentally, socially, economically and culturally sustainable communities in Wales.

The research, which looked at Tredegar holistically, has identified the key disadvantages experienced by people living in the town, and identifies the positive opportunities to create a sustainable community. It offers an alternative to the view that regeneration is only about managing decline in post-industrial communities.

The ‘Foundational Economy’, a concept developed by Prof Karel Williams of Manchester University, is viewed by CREW as the principal means to achieve economic growth in Tredegar. The report argues for a more localised semi-autonomous local economy that could provide a sustainable future for the local community with, for example, localised supply chains and patterns of employment. It identifies four key sectors that are critical to future success: food; energy conservation and generation; the care sector; e-commerce and employment.

There are already spatially orientated policy initiatives in Wales, such as Enterprise Zones, Local Growth Zones and City Regions. There needs, however, to be a ‘Total Place’ strategy for communities, and this is what the Deep Place Study proposes for Tredegar.

The Deep Place approach can be used as a means more generally in other disadvantaged communities in Wales and beyond. For communities to become more resilient, inclusive governance is needed. However, this requires very different perspectives from the normal approach to power at community level and will depend on willingness and openness of public sector organisations at national, regional and local levels to share power, coordinate activities, develop synergies and work for common objectives.

To find out more, you can download the report, Toward A New Settlement: A ‘Deep Place’ Approach to Equitable and Sustainable Places, from the CREW website.

CREW Regeneration Wales will also be hosting a Twitter talk on the study later today from 5 until 7pm, using the #DeepPlace hashtag. 




Dr Mark Lang
CREW Regeneration Wales

Thursday 1 May 2014

Why Council Homes Chat...?

In recent years there has been a torrent of misleading, sensationalist reporting in both the print media and on television programmes. Recent examples include ‘Benefits Street’ and ‘How to get a Council House’. Each of these programmes had its own special brand of reporting, which failed to depict a balanced and thoughtful picture. Instead they opted for heavily biased journalism aimed at boosting ratings and creating a ‘moral panic’ amongst its viewers.

If the TV programmes and skewed reporting amongst the print media weren’t bad enough, the Twitter hashtags created by such programmes are quite frankly scary! You only have to look at the ‘twitter storm’ created by Wednesday’s ‘How to get a Council house’ to get a glimpse of the hateful bigotry and at best massively ill-informed views created by such media reporting. We’ve had enough….

Growing up within council housing gave me the best possible start I could have in life. It was safe, secure and enabled my family to feel part of a community. It meant I had a happy and healthy childhood and I still hold great memories and fondness of my time there. Likewise, as a housing professional, I get to see how social housing brings out the best in people. Having a home shouldn’t be dependent on someone’s income or ability to pay.

Put simply, a house is someone’s home, where they can grow roots, build a community and have a family. A stable home provides people with a solid foundation for good health, employment and happiness. The tenure of the home shouldn’t matter. It is only right to have a good menu of tenures to suit different needs; however, this does not make one more important or desirable than the others. This is why it’s essential to start challenging the stereotypes created by the mainstream media.

Council Homes Chat was set up to challenge the status quo and to act as a platform for people to tell their stories, especially the ones that the media refuses to report because, dare I say it… they’re positive! The benefits of good, decent and secure housing have been well-documented, both in terms of an individual's health and wellbeing, but also to society as a whole. These are the stories that we need to start telling…

How can you get involved?

If you believe in the right to have a safe, secure and decent home regardless of income and would like to get involved in our campaign, please get in touch. You can find out more about the campaign on the Council Homes Chat blog.


Cheryl Tracy
Community Investment Coordinator, Monmouthshire Housing




‘Council Homes Chat’ is managed and coordinated by Cheryl Tracy, Elisa Faulkner and Michala Rudman and you can get in touch with them on Twitter: Council Homes Chat.