Episodes

  • 2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 8: Round-up of the week,

    2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 8: Round-up of the week,
    Apr 18 2026

    Timestamps

    (0:06) Introductions

    (1:27) The SNP price cap plan for 'essential' foods

    (5:28) The campaign in Wales this week and the Welsh Lib Dems manifesto

    (7:07) Tax policy and unwillingness to confront fiscal trade-offs

    (11:20) The remaining Scottish manifestos from the week

    (15:13) What's been left unsaid
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    20 mins
  • 2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 7: Devolved Social Security in Scotland

    2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 7: Devolved Social Security in Scotland
    Apr 17 2026

    Timestamps:

    (0:05) Introductions

    (1:25) Scotland's child poverty targets

    (5:15) Devolved and reserved social security systems

    (8:32) Child poverty delivery plan

    (13:00) Scottish Child Payment
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    16 mins
  • 2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 6: Higher Education in Wales

    2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 6: Higher Education in Wales
    Apr 13 2026

    Timestamps:

    (0:05) Introduction and the overall funding challenge

    (3:30) The wider role of universities in local economies

    (6:33) International students

    (9:49) Difference in funding between Wales and the rest of the UK

    (19:44) Proposals from the different parties so far
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    27 mins
  • 2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 5: Round-up of the week

    2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 5: Round-up of the week
    Apr 11 2026
    João Sousa and Ciara Crummey of the FAI and Ed Poole and Guto Ifan of the Wales Governance Centre talk through the main points of the week, including the launches of the Plaid Cymru, Welsh Greens and Scottish Conservatives' manifestos and what they reveal about parties' plans for the next parliamentary terms. This work is supported by the Nuffield Foundation. The Nuffield Foundation is an independent charitable trust with a mission to advance social well-being. It funds and undertakes rigorous research, encourages innovation and supports the use of sound evidence to inform social and economic policy, and improve people’s lives. The Nuffield Foundation is the founder and co-funder of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, the Ada Lovelace Institute and the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. Find out more at: nuffieldfoundation.org. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation.
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    21 mins
  • 2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 4: Childcare policy in Wales

    2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 4: Childcare policy in Wales
    Apr 10 2026

    Timestamps

    (00:05) Introduction and the current state of childcare policy in Wales

    (4:14) Why the government intervenes in this area

    (7:53) Differences between Welsh provision with the rest of the UK

    (14:41) Trade-offs between universal and more targeted approaches

    (19:04) The effect of policy objectives on childcare policy design
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    24 mins
  • Progress on child poverty: New statistics and a final delivery plan

    Progress on child poverty: New statistics and a final delivery plan
    Apr 7 2026

    Participants

    Prof Stephen Sinclair, GCU & SPIRU
    Hannah Randolph, FAI
    Spencer Thompson, FAI

    Time stamps

    (1:10) Latest child poverty statistics
    (4:45) Changes to the Family Resources Survey
    (12:00) Final child poverty delivery plan
    (16:10) Child poverty targets
    (23:20) More on data revisions
    (25:30) Scale of actions in the delivery plan and distance to the 2030 targets
    (30:15) A time for optimism
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    32 mins
  • 2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 3: The financing of the Scottish Government

    2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 3: The financing of the Scottish Government
    Apr 6 2026

    Timestamps:

    (0:06) Evolution of funding during the last Parliamentary term

    (7:13) Income tax policy and divergence from the rest of the UK

    (13:39) Public sector pay and pressure on the Scottish Budget
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    22 mins
  • 2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 2: The financing of the Welsh Government

    2026 Scotland and Wales Election Analysis Ep 2: The financing of the Welsh Government
    Apr 2 2026

    Timestamps:

    (0:05) Introductions

    (1:00) The Welsh Government's funding landscape in the last few years and the Barnett formula.

    (5:31) Claims about the "largest ever settlement" and how meaningful those are

    (12:09) Differences in funding between Wales and England
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    27 mins