Welsh Government Lived Experience of Racism Repository

Evaluation of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014: expectations and experiences of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic service users and carers

Published on 27 April, 2022.

The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 sets out a vision to produce ‘transformative changes’ in social service public policy, regulations and delivery arrangements across Wales. It has 11 parts and is informed by five principles that set out a vision to produce transformative changes in public policy, regulations and service delivery. Aligned to it are structures, processes and codes of practice. In Autumn 2018, the Welsh Government commissioned a partnership of academics across four universities in Wales and expert advisers to deliver the evaluation of the Act. The independent national evaluation, known as the IMPACT study, examines the implementation and outcomes of the Act through its five principles:

1. wellbeing
2. prevention and early intervention
3. co-production
4. multi-agency working
5. voice and control The study does this by considering where the principles of the Act interact with the people or organisations for whom the Act should be having an impact; primarily, for individuals in need of care and support, for their carers and family members, and for the communities in which they live. As part of the overall evaluation, extensive research was undertaken with service users and carers on their expectations and experiences of the Act. Evaluation of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014: expectations and experiences This short report based on a sample of ten people contains a number of very powerful and challenging reflections on people’s experiences within the social care system. It is not possible to draw general conclusions based on these experiences, but it is important to recognise the heartfelt messages contained within the perspectives that now follow.[footnote 1] The aim of this document is to provide a focus on their lived experiences to ensure that their voices are heard within the overall study