Legacy and Embedding

Every Poverty Truth Commission concludes with recommendations for change in the local area.  But that is just one set of outputs; it does not reflect the ongoing impact which a PTC can have.

The Ripple Effect 

The true potential for change is in the way that people move forward in their work and their lives.  A “ripple effect” is commonly reported by areas which have held a PTC, with some outcomes being quite abstract and difficult to capture.  A senior manager in a public body, a charity or a business having a changed attitude towards people in poverty, and a changed approach to their work, can take their new perspective into all kinds of meetings, planning processes and policy developments; without the PTC itself ever being attributed.

The Commissioners

In the months following the close of a commission, it is important for commissioners to remain connected with each other, and for those who have made any particular commitments to receive any support necessary to enable them to see this work through.

Swansea’s PTC generated a lot of interest.  Commissioners have been invited to participate in numerous ongoing activities to do with Welsh policymaking and lived experience of poverty, including a major project with the Wales Centre for Public Policy on preventing and addressing poverty stigma. 

Some commissioners have received training in facilitation skills, which they are using to develop workshops providing an insight into aspects of poverty stigma and barriers to services, and to undertake public speaking at events and conferences. 

Recommendations

Ideally, the Civic and Business Commissioners who participate take ownership of these and champion the changes, initially in their own organisations and in their wider sectors. 

The comments received at our closing event indicate a high level of commitment and motivation for taking forward some of the actions discussed. 

The team have prepared a document summarising the recommendations and main learning points arising from the commission, you can read it by clicking here.

Evaluation

The Swansea Poverty Truth Commission was independently evaluated by an external consultancy.  The evaluation finds that the process has:

Deepened Commissioners’ understanding of poverty and how the system, that is supposed to be there to help people when they are in need, ends up creating deeper and more problematic issues.

Increased the visibility of poverty and has given voice to the different aspects of poverty

Created a momentum and commitment to making change happen, despite the constraints and challenges facing the public sector

Changed people personally and professionally

Had influence well beyond Swansea with input into national and UK wide strategies

Click here to see the full evaluation report

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Poverty Insight Lab

After the conclusion of the commission, some community commissioners supported a project at SCVS investigating how secondary schools could be more supportive towards families on low incomes.

This project, called “Solution Focused Schools”, used a poverty truth approach to enable school decision-makers and parents to have very productive, honest conversations and devise great solutions.

Some of the parents involved were keen to continue working in this way. Together with some of the original SPTC Community Commissioners, a group has been formed called the Poverty Insight Lab, which brings experts in low income (with real life experience) together with people who design and deliver services, to discuss how things could be more accessible and more effective.

If you’d like more information about the Lab, and particularly if you are a service provider who would like to work with the Lab to improve your service offer and outcomes, please contact [email protected].

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