Influential Welsh think tank The Bevan Foundation has been announced winner of Prospect’s Think Tank of the Year ‘One to Watch’ Award 2021.

The annual awards, which celebrate experts doing cutting-edge research all over the world, are run by Prospect, a must-read title for those with a keen interest in politics, history, economics, philosophy, science, literature and the arts.

Announcing the win, Prospect Editor Alan Rusbridger said the award went to “a think tank whose work promises to yield exciting results”, and that the judges had praised the Bevan Foundation’s work for “filling gaps in our knowledge about the impact of devolution”.

Dr Victoria Winckler, Director of the Bevan Foundation, said

This is an incredible recognition of our innovative work on poverty and inequality, and particularly our success influencing Welsh Benefits policy.

“We were up against some excellent think tanks from around the world, so to win is a genuine honour.”

Speaking in a video ahead of the awards, which are now in their 20th year, Prospect Contributing Editor Tom Clark, explained how the categories have evolved to focus on the ‘multitude of virtues’ and dimensions of think tanks. Awarding the ‘One to Watch’ meant considering ‘Who’s got the sparky new ideas, is just a bit different?’, as well as demonstrating rigour of analysis, innovative solutions, and policy traction.

Speaking about the devolution work which led to the award, Dr Steffan Evans, Head of Policy (Poverty) at the Bevan Foundation, said:

We are delighted that the Welsh Government have already published a best practice tool-kit on how to simplify the application process for local authority benefits.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Welsh Government, local authorities and partners over the next few months to develop this further.”

The diversity of the Prospect Awards entrants was mirrored in the prestigious judging panel, which included journalists and academics as well as people who have been at the forefront of public policy, such as Simon Stevens, recently departed Chief Executive of the NHS, Cathy Ashton, former High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Michel Barnier, former European Commission Head of Task Force for Relations with the UK.

This award is a testament to our commitment to researching and advocating for new solutions to poverty and inequality in Wales, which despite a challenging couple of years has not wavered,” said Victoria.

“We are very grateful to Prospect magazine for organising these awards and to the sponsors Cast from Clay. We’re also grateful to the many individuals, organisations and Trusts and Foundations whose support enables us to have the impact we do.”