A new political direction for the UK – What happens next for Wales?

After nearly a week since the General Election, the dust has settled on a Labour majority at Westminster. A campaign focused on ‘change’ – but when so much of policy, including housing, is devolved, the key question is: what happens next for Wales? It’s been 14 years since we’ve had a Labour Government at Westminster – a long time in anyone’s memory. In that period, devolution has expanded not just in Wales, but across the UK. Here are 4 things we may see in Wales, particularly in relation to housing and equalities: 

Increased partnership working – We’ve already seen positive signs about increased partnership working between UK and Welsh Government. While housing is devolved, this could mean many of the areas that intersect with it such as Welfare could be improved. As the new UK Government settles in, it will be interesting to see how this relationship develops and whether there will be closer policy ties between Wales and England. Will the Labour UK agenda and majority provide a blueprint for Vaughan Gething’s agenda here in Wales?

Focus on Economic Growth – Much of the campaign focused on the need for economic growth and this as part of the solution for increased investment in the public sector. Increased house building, with a target of 1.5m homes set over the course of the Parliament, and planning reform, is clearly an area that could boost this. While much of this is devolved to Wales – it would not be surprising to see convergence in this area which may help the Welsh Government with their target of 20,000 social homes. The Welsh economy has been sluggish in recent years, which has led to higher levels of poverty than the rest of the UK – how can we get our economy growing and share the benefits of that growth across policy areas? 

Rights-based approach – With growth so central to the new Government’s agenda, it will be interesting to see how this affects human rights. The Renters Reform Bill was a piece of legislation that wasn’t completed in the last parliament – seeing this return in another form could provide opportunities for Wales – including ending no fault evictions and making it a crime to discriminate against tenants on benefits or families. Enhanced rights could provide opportunities for economic growth; indeed, incorporation of the right to adequate housing could generate £2bn for the Welsh economy, through house building and additional economic activity. Allowing asylum seekers to work could also have an economic benefit and tackle destitution. If austerity has taught us one thing, equality and growth should be seen as far more inter-related than previously recognised. Given the makeup of the new UK Parliament, discourse around rights may come more to the fore in coming years.

Final thoughts 

A new political direction will offer opportunities across Wales and the UK. However, it’s important to remember the challenging financial situation the new government is facing. Given ‘change’ was so central to the campaign, we would urge the government to consider how this can be achieved over the long term, considering these existing financial constraints. Tai Pawb would advocate the incorporation of international rights – including the right to adequate housing as an opportunity set out a path for long-term, sustainable change and improve lives. Given the work started on this in Wales and Scotland, the UK Government has an opportunity to learn from these early steps.