2022 – In Review

Welcome to our review of some of the highlights of the Wales Centre for Public Policy’s work in 2022.

We have enjoyed another prolific twelve months and are grateful for the opportunities we have had to work with Ministers, public service leaders and colleagues in the civil service on some of the most important policy challenges facing Wales. We have continued to seek to strengthen the links between policy makers and academics, to increase understanding of ways to increase the role that evidence plays in policy making, and to nurture the next generation of policy researchers.

Much of our work has focused on tackling poverty and social exclusion which has been even more important in light of the cost of living crisis. We published a total of 18 reports on this topic, covering key issues including:

  • Trends in poverty and social exclusion in Wales;
  • The lived experience of poverty and social exclusion in Wales;
  • What makes an effective anti-poverty strategy; and
  • International evidence of what works when designing policies to tackle poverty and social exclusion.

Other policy challenges that we have worked on over the last year include:

  • The social care crisis in Wales;
  • Community wellbeing;
  • Decarbonising the Welsh economy; and
  • Electoral reform.

Our reports on these and other topics are available to download from our website, together with a range of commentaries, briefings, and podcasts. We hope that you enjoy them and find them informative and useful.

We want to thank our funders – the Economic and Social Research Council, Welsh Government, and Cardiff University – for their continued support. We are particularly grateful to our Advisory Group and Public Services Reference Group for their ongoing support and advice. And we acknowledge the excellent contributions made by the numerous experts, research organisations and other What Works Centres who we worked with in 2022 to provide policy makers and public service leaders with authoritative independent evidence that can help inform the decisions and choices they have to make.