Well, I think that there is a clear case for creating larger, more flexible funding streams that cut down on bureaucracy and support more strategic programme alignments to meet local needs, but, equally, I have to say that it is really important to recognise that no final decision has been taken. We do have the Pathfinder projects, which are looking at what that larger grant might look like in practice, and there is also the funding flexibility that Mark Isherwood referred to in other areas. What I will say is that I will make a decision when we have the results from the pathfinder project, and I won't be pushed into making a decision until I have the evidence before me and I am able to assess what's important. What's important to me is outcomes for vulnerable people.

The other £4 million will enable our homelessness prevention grant programme to build on the progress made to date, and, as we've discussed in this debate already, there'll be a further £10 million in 2019-20 for youth homelessness. This will back up our commitment to work with the End Youth Homelessness campaign. And I will say, in terms of how that money will be spent, there was a meeting between officials and stakeholders from the voluntary sector and local government this morning that gathered some very early views on how that funding might be spent, because of course it is funding for 2019-20. There were several ideas that came forward as a result of that meeting today, but I'm equally keen to listen personally to the views of young homeless people, as I did recently when I visited the Swansea youth homelessness project. So, I'm listening to good ideas wherever they will come from, and I know that Members within this Chamber will also have ideas as to what we must do to end youth homelessness. So, I'll be announcing further plans for my homelessness policy in early February, when I intend to make an oral statement, and I will give this Chamber my commitment that tackling homelessness is going to be a year-round priority for me, not just something that we talk about at Christmas, as has been said a couple of times in this debate. I would expect Members to hold me to that.

We continue to support front-line services, including outreach, night shelters, bond schemes, family mediation and housing advice, and, as I've said, we have sustained our investment in Supporting People because we do recognise the importance of it in preventing homelessness. We're investing record levels of funding in this term: £1.3 billion to support the housing sector and the additional 20,000 affordable homes that we will deliver, our increases in house building and ending the right to buy, investing in innovative housing, which meets some of the areas described by Caroline Jones in her contribution, and also working with the private rented sector will all help ensure that households have access to secure, quality housing right across the different types of tenures.

So, I think it's right that we can be proud of our progress, but we also recognise its limits, and we must now look at how we can provide further protection for those in need. That's why I welcome today's motion on priority need. I have real sympathy for its intention and I agree with the intention. I have proposed an amendment that commits to a full review of priority need because I do want to understand the implications and test for any unintended consequences, and this work will take full account of the potential benefits for vulnerable people as well as how any change could be managed within a realistic assessment of the available resources. Officials will be exploring the issue with their counterparts in Scotland and also with our local authorities here in Wales.

I don't support the Conservative amendment, although I do recognise the consensus that there has been on this issue in the Chamber today and on other occasions. The reason is the all-party commission would, I think, delay the work that the Welsh Government already has in hand. For example, we're already developing a national rough-sleeping action plan based on work with partners, and I intend to say more on this in the very near future.

Our commitment to tackling homelessness is underpinned by substantial funding and multi-agency, cross-sector expertise. Really, this practical partnership approach is the best way to drive forward the work that we all agree needs to be done. But, in the meantime, I would urge the Conservatives to join us in pressing the UK Government to halt the welfare changes that we know are driving much of the increase in homelessness.