1. What is the impact of the Welsh Government's policy to reduce rough sleeping in Wales? OAQ54119

Llywydd, nowhere is the impact of prolonged austerity more visible than in the rise of rough-sleeping. The impact of Welsh Government policies can be seen in prevention, in the provision of new services and in increased partnership working across Wales. 

First Minister, Wales has suffered UK Government austerity for some nine years now, and its cumulative impact on our communities and the public services we rely on is more and more damaging year on year. Queues at foodbanks and people sleeping rough in tents and doorways show the misery caused. Many of my constituents are shocked and angry that this is the state of the nation when the UK is still one of the biggest economies in the world. First Minister, in advance of a badly needed change of UK Government, and Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister, what more can Welsh Government do [Interruption.] to address increasingly entrenched rough-sleeping, involving people with complex diagnoses and support needs, who may already have been failed by the system?

Llywydd, I want to thank John Griffiths for that and to agree with him entirely at the shocking nature of the impacts that austerity now has in our communities. I reread at the weekend, Llywydd, the reports that John Griffiths's committee have produced in relation to homelessness, and they provide a telling level of detail about the impact that cuts to benefits and cuts to services are having in the lives of people across Wales. As a Government, we will take the advice of the action group that has been established, chaired by the chief executive officer of Crisis, to make sure that we have everything we can in place as we go into the second half of this year. We will continue to invest the additional £20 million that we have found within our ever-shrinking budgets to do more in the field of homelessness. We will promote Housing First as a model, which brings together the two aspects that John Griffiths highlighted in his supplementary question—the need for more accommodation, but, at the same time, for the support services that respond to the complex needs that many people who find themselves sleeping rough on our streets have accumulated during that incredibly difficult journey. All of those things will be done by this Welsh Government here in Wales in order to mitigate the impact of rough-sleeping across our nation. 

Thank you, First Minister, for the reply to John Griffiths regarding homelessness. You may be aware that I have raised this issue previously in this Chamber, on how homeless pods could reduce rough-sleeping in Wales. In February this year, pods to provide emergency overnight accommodation for the homeless were installed in Newport by the charity Amazing Grace Spaces. Since then, they have helped six homeless people off the streets and have been hailed as life savers. Do you agree, First Minister, that these pods provide an innovative solution that has helped to save lives in Newport, and they should be provided for those homeless people, who, for whatever reason, do not want to use hostels? We've got nearly 2,000 homeless people in Wales at the moment—under 2,000—so we have to do something to accommodate them, and I'm sure your Government will look to this Chamber rather than looking at the other side of the channel. 

I thank the Member for that, and I do indeed recognise that he has raised these matters before on the floor of the Assembly. As a Government, we are committed to innovative approaches to tackling the problem of homelessness, but the route of homelessness is the need to provide more permanent homes across Wales. And while innovative solutions may help in the here and now, a long-term answer to tackling the housing problems that we face across the nation are more permanent homes, investment in those new homes, protecting our social housing stock, and making sure that every family has a decent home in which they can thrive. 

First Minister, is it the Welsh Government's policy to take the worldly possessions away from homeless people, leaving them with absolutely nothing and exposed to the elements? And, if not, will you condemn your Labour Party colleagues in Cardiff Council for doing just that?

That's not the policy of this Government, Llywydd, nor is it the policy of Cardiff Council.