5. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government’s strategy for tackling homelessness in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney? OAQ(5)0515(FM)

Well, yes. I mentioned earlier on the legislation and what we’re doing to monitor the legislation. We of course continue to work with all local authorities to ensure greater consistency and support to those who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness.

Thank you, First Minister. My concerns are similar to the ones that were raised by Jeremy Miles earlier on, but I want to focus on one specific point. I had the opportunity during January through to just this week of volunteering at the winter night shelter in Merthyr Tydfil that was provided by the council, and I’d probably like to place on record now my thanks to Merthyr Tydfil council for providing that night shelter and for the selfless volunteers who have worked throughout the whole of that period to support the residents there. But what I was probably moved by more than anything else was the total hopelessness of people who find themselves homeless now. There were lots of people there using the shelter who’d found themselves homeless for a number of reasons that you alluded to earlier on—health problems, and drug dependency, and so on. But I was also struck by the number that were there because of family breakdown in relationships. So, they didn’t have other issues, just literally nowhere else to live. And it was the kind of downward spiral—

You do need to come to a question.

[Continues.]—that those people face. The question, First Minister, came about from a discussion I had with two relatively young men who decided that they could best lift themselves out of homelessness by joining together to get a place to rent. They’d found a suitable place—

You really do need to get to your question.

I need to explain—

No, you’ve already explained your explanation, now get to your question, please.

Okay. They couldn’t find a guarantor, because they had no access to anybody who could guarantee the rental with the private landlord. So, could you, First Minister, give some indication of what the Welsh Government can do, possibly working in conjunction with local authorities and housing providers, to break down the barriers that make it difficult for the homeless to secure rented accommodation and possibly look at—

Can you please answer the question, First Minister? The question has been asked.

There are a number of issues that my friend the Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney has identified, and that is, quite often, people cannot get themselves out of the rut they find themselves in: they can’t get a job, because they haven’t got an address; they can’t look the part for a job, because they haven’t got any money; they find it difficult to access help for mental health problems or for addiction problems. There are pathways that people can follow that are provided by a number of third sector organisations, but getting people onto that pathway is often the difficult part. I suspect that, for many individuals, it’s a tailor-made approach to that individual that will work most effectively, but, of course, we also face a situation where people are homeless because they literally have nowhere to live and they can’t claim housing benefit because of their age. Because of that, they find themselves living on the streets as a result of that, and that is something that could have been prevented by the UK Government.

In October last year, the Conservative Government announced a £14 million programme to provide an innovative approach to tackling homelessness. This includes a number of initiatives to help individuals in danger of becoming homeless, to help rough sleepers to access employment and education opportunities, and to address the underlying issues of long-term rough sleepers, such as poor mental health or substance abuse. Will the First Minister agree to consider the UK Government’s programme to see what measures can be introduced to tackle homelessness in Merthyr Tydfil and other parts of south-east Wales?

First, there are lots of young people who are homeless because of the UK Government and the decisions it took with regard to supporting those who needed somewhere to live. They have nowhere else to live; they can’t get housing benefit; they find it difficult to get a job; so, they end up living on the streets as a result of that. That money could have been better targeted, I suggest to the Member, if it was used in that way.

The UK Government is playing catch up to us. Our Supporting People programme plays a very important part in preventing homelessness. We’ve protected that budget. We spent £124.4 million on that programme in 2017-18. We’ve also developed a number of distinct approaches to support those members of our community most at risk—for example, ex-service personnel, those who are ex-offenders—and a pathway to try to help young people avoid homelessness because of the actions of the UK Government. So, I would argue to him that, actually, the UK Government is trying to catch up with what we’re doing already.