This report, written by the New Policy Institute (NPI), reviews the international evidence on what makes an anti-poverty strategy effective. The report forms part of a wider project that is intended to practically inform Welsh Government policy decisions on poverty and social exclusion.
The focus of the report is on the anti-poverty strategy itself, as opposed to the individual anti-poverty policies and programmes that sit beneath (or within) it.
The review of international policies and programmes is the subject of a separate study led by the LSE. This study therefore focuses on reviewing strategy design, implementation, governance and monitoring, and ‘effectiveness criteria’, to explore how overarching and cross-cutting strategies can best be created to mobilise and harness poverty reduction efforts.
The report is based on research into five anti-poverty strategies currently being pursued by the national governments of New Zealand and Scotland; the regional governments of Baden-Württemberg (Germany) and Castilla La Mancha (Spain); and the city government of Toronto (Canada).
Based on these cases, the report concludes that the role of an anti-poverty strategy is to bring about action on poverty within a context in which those who want action are not always the same people and organisations as those who can take action. Drawing additionally on other research into what constitutes a good strategy, it is proposed that a well-designed anti-poverty strategy should:
- Provide a framework which provides a means by which to enable or oblige action.
- Be clear what it aims to achieve and only include actions which serve that end.
- Recognise that until an anti-poverty initiative has had time to settle in, its planning and implementation are what matter most.
- Recognise that effective planning and implementation require good understanding, co-ordination and resources.
- Recognise that making something happen has value in its own right.
- Be capable of learning as it proceeds, with outcome measures playing an increasing role.
- Be the responsibility of a minister with enough seniority to ensure that the strategy is put into effect.