Poverty Truth Commissions seek to discover the answer to the question,
“What if people who struggled against poverty were involved in making decisions about tackling poverty?”
The commissioners for each Commission comprise two groups of people. Around half of the commissioners are people with a lived experience of the struggle against poverty. The other half are leaders within the city or region. Collectively they work to understand the nature of poverty and some of the underlying issues that create poverty, and explore creative ways of
addressing them.
The four phases of a Commission
The process of holding a Commission normally lasts for two and a half years. Within that time there are four phases:
Phase 1: The setting up of a startup group and recruitment of the facilitation team
Phase 2: Recruitment of grassroots and civic/business commissioners and launch
Phase 3: Full Commission meetings and task groups
Phase 4: Embedding the work of the Commission
Following the Salford Poverty Truth Commission’s final event in October 2017, appetite grew among both the voluntary and statutory sectors in Manchester to hold its own
Commission. In September 2018, a start-up group was assembled.
Manchester Poverty Truth Commission 2019-21 Key findings and impact report