The Welsh Affairs Committee in Westminster is to hold the first evidence session in their investigation into how the population of Wales is changing, and the effects that those changes are having on the economy and demographics of the country. On Wednesday 6 December at 9:30am the Committee will hear evidence from witnesses from different organizations regarding the changes in populations that are underway.
The hope of the Committee is to establish if there is a way of the UK Government to respond to any challenges that arise from population changes by means of specific policy interventions. The investigation was launched in July due to the fact that Wales has an older population than other parts of the UK, and there is a general concern regarding younger people leaving Wales, especially rural areas. Population growth also seems to be slowing down with the population growing 1.4% between 2011 and 2021 compared to 5.5% between 2001 and 2011.
The witnesses that will be giving evidence to the committee and answering their questions are:
- Emma Rourke, Deputy National Statistician and Director General for Health, Population and Methods, Office for National Statistics
- Jen Woolford, Director of Population Statistics, Office for National Statistics
- Professor Michael Woods, FAcSS, FLSW, Professor of Human Geography and Co-Director, Centre for Welsh Politics and Society, Aberystwyth University
- Meirion Thomas, Director – Wales, Industrial Communities Alliance
You will be able to watch the session in its entirety on parliament.tv which is Westminster’s broadcast channel.
