6. Will the First Minister make a statement on the use of public space protection orders in Wales? OAQ51571

Well, public spaces protection orders are a matter for local authorities.  

Labour-controlled Newport City Council are seeking to amend their public space protection order to include a blanket 'no begging' restriction, as part of a crackdown on aggressive or intimidating begging. It's the view of homelessness charity Wallich that aggressive begging is already prohibited under the existing PSPO and that shifting begging off the streets will only make it harder to provide support for those people who need help with homelessness services. Although the hands of the Welsh Government are tied in terms of preventing local authorities from imposing these restrictions, can you please give us your view on such blanket bans on begging, and can you issue guidance to local authorities, urging them to seek a much more compassionate response?

One of the things I noticed in the late 1980s, when I first went to London, was that there were people begging on the streets—numbers of them. And I remember thinking, 'Oh, I wouldn't like to see this in Wales.' But it happened, in the 1990s, and it's still there now, as we know. At the end of the second world war, begging largely disappeared from the streets of the UK. It re-emerged under a Tory Government in the 1980s and 1990s.

From my perspective, I think there are two issues here: first of all, there is no doubt that many people find aggressive begging intimidating, but the answer is not simply to say, 'Well, just get rid of them and that's the end of it', because there has to be a twin-track approach. Yes, people don't want to—. Many people do feel that they don't want to see people begging on the street, but there has to be an alternative where people can go, where people don't feel they have to beg, where people get the support that they need, where they're given a roof over their heads and get that support. We're not in the days of the Vagrancy Act 1824, where people were effectively criminalised because they were homeless. It does need a compassionate approach, she is right, and that means ensuring that where there are plans to deal with the issue of begging on the streets there are places people can go in order that they feel they don't have to do that in the first place. 

First Minister, for the reasons that you have mentioned and others, we do have a worrying level of rough-sleeping and begging on our streets and I think that's been very visible and noticeable to all of us and the public in general. We do need constructive responses. So, I wonder if you would agree with me that Newport business investment district, representing city centre traders and businesses in Newport, together with partners such as Newport City Council, are providing that sort of thinking in looking at a diverted giving scheme, which is proposed at the moment, which would involve people donating to participating shops rather than giving to those begging on the streets, with that money then going to provide additional services and support. I wonder if you would join me in welcoming that proposed initiative in Newport as a way of dealing with the very practical issues and making sure that vulnerable people are better supported. 

Well, it is an example of what I was saying. I thank my friend for the question. It's an example of what I was saying earlier on. This is not a question of Newport saying, 'We're going to get rid of beggars', it's a question of saying, 'Look, is there a better way, a more humane way, of helping people?' That's exactly what you said: people donating money to organisations, I think such as the Wallich as well, to help people who are homeless to create a fund of money for organisations that can help individuals. That to me represents a very effective way of dealing with what can be public concerns—I've had them expressed to me—but also dealing with individuals who are at risk in a humane way.