Promoting responsible spending is crucial in tight economic climate says Assembly committee
3 November 2010
The National Assembly for Wales’s Communities and Culture Committee has published a report (Wednesday 3 November) highlighting concerns about the availability and standard of financial education in schools and communities in Wales.
The report from the cross-party group of AMs states that while there are financial education initiatives in place in Wales, the Welsh Government must do more to ensure that they are cohesive, effective and protected from cuts in a tight economic climate.
It also highlights the importance of providing schoolchildren with adequate financial knowledge, recommending that the Welsh Government reviews the priority given to financial education in the PSE syllabus.
During its inquiry, the Committee heard evidence of some positive financial education initiatives in Wales, including one school working with a credit union to teach pupils about responsible spending and financial management.
To encourage more projects like this, the report urges the Welsh Government to establish a central hub of information for agencies and communities to quickly identify potential partners to develop links and collaborative projects.
It also recommends more engagement with the wider community, including public awareness-raising and protecting and developing the Wales Financial Education Unit – part of the Welsh Government’s Financial Inclusion strategy.
Committee Chair, Sandy Mewies AM, said: “Money worries can have a devastating impact on people’s lives and the importance of sustained and effective financial education, from a young age, must not be underestimated.
“During this inquiry we heard many positive examples of financial education being provided in schools, workplaces and communities in Wales.
“But we also heard that provision of financial education is inconsistent, with many people not taking it up because they fear they will be stigmatised for admitting they could manage their money better.
“We have also heard concerns that a number of existing programmes to provide financial education may be cancelled or scaled back in light of the current pressure on public funds.We urge the Welsh Government to do all it can to avoid such cuts, because the Committee considers financial education to be of pivotal importance in these tight financial times.”
Other recommendations of the committee include:
The Welsh Government should engage with local authorities across Wales to highlight the cross-cutting value of addressing financial inclusion and financial education as part of their existing statutory responsibilities. As part of this, the Welsh Government would encourage individual local authorities and housing associations to identify senior individuals to have an overarching responsibility for financial inclusion and financial education work, across the authority/association.
The Welsh Government should consider undertaking a sustained media campaign to help people understand the benefits of financial inclusion and education, and how they can access support and financial services (including basic bank accounts and home contents insurance) locally, working with stakeholders at local and national levels.
The Welsh Government should, through forums such as the financial inclusion steering group and in association with the UK Government, encourage financial organisations to provide funds for independent organisations to provide financial education programmes.
The Welsh Government should engage with both public and private sector employers to encourage them to facilitate the participation of their employees in workplace based financial education seminars, and in receiving financial education resources.