Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'd like to thank Jack Sargeant very much for raising this important issue in the Chamber today. I wholeheartedly agree that, for many people forced to sleep rough on the streets of our towns and cities, their dog or other animal is a crucial companion to help them cope with the situation they find themselves in. Their dog may be the only constant and dependable factor in their life. The dog will never have let them down, it's trusted and loved and offers comfort in a world where, for many, it can seem as if the world has ceased to care about them. As Jack said, pets can also make the difference between success and failure when a housing solution is found, helping to increase the chances of accommodation being sustained in the long term when they are welcomed in that accommodation. 

I absolutely agree that a person's dog should not be a barrier to them coming into services and it's completely unacceptable that this is sometimes the case. I am aware that, increasingly, many of our hostel emergency provisions across Wales do cater for companion pets. However, in the majority of cases, this also quite rightly includes a risk assessment and can be determined at the discretion of the landlord or on-site project manager. I appreciate that that risk assessment in itself is a deterrent to some people who need to access shelter and services. But an allowance must be made and flexibility must be provided to ensure we are meeting the needs of individuals, be that someone with a pet, a couple seeking joint accommodation, or someone keen to avoid contact with drink or drugs. 

However, we also need to recognise that emergency accommodation and hostels are not homes, as Jack also pointed out. We will not genuinely be meeting the needs of any individual until we find a long-term suitable housing option for them, regardless of how good our emergency accommodation might be. As I set out in my statement last week, and in my response to the homelessness action group's first report published yesterday, I'm very clear that our approach needs to be one of rapidly rehousing people into suitable long-term homes that meet their needs. Members will know that we're rolling out the Housing First approach in Wales, as Jack also referred. We've invested £1.6 million this year alone, which will provide support to over 100 complex rough-sleepers. These individuals will be supported into long-term accommodation—in some cases, their first home in a considerable number of years—and then offered the wraparound support they need to make a success of that new home.

A key principle of Housing First is choice and control for the individual. So, if someone who has a pet on which they rely as a trusted companion has been identified as needing support under the programme, they will be supported into sustainable accommodation that accepts their pet.

The Government’s strategic policy statement on homelessness sets out the policy principles on which our cross-Government work on tackling and preventing homelessness will be based. So, they are: the earliest and most effective prevention; ensuring tackling homelessness is a public services matter rather than merely housing; person-centred support; homelessness legislation being the last line of defence and not the first; and services and practice informed by co-production and ensuring those with lived experiences play a pivotal part in shaping our services.

Our ambition is clear: prevention should mean early, primary, and secondary prevention and that in the rare instances where homelessness cannot be prevented, it should be brief, with individuals and households supported back into accommodation quickly and in a way that is most likely to succeed. This is about ensuring we accommodate people in the right homes, in the right communities, with the right support—be that from friends and family or from more formal support services—to give them the best possible chance of success. And, of course, that right home may well mean one where their dog or other pet is also welcome. However, the right support might also involve mental health, substance misuse, primary care, community safety and housing services all working together—multidisciplinary teams supporting individuals to address their needs.

There is no absence of hard work, will and dedication across statutory services, third sector and charities to the cause of ending rough-sleeping. However, in the face of growing numbers and increasing challenges, I’m asking everyone to accept that we need to find a different way to tackle this issue and to overcome it once and for all. That’s why I've asked that action group to work independently and make recommendations against four key questions.

Their first report, which was published yesterday, looks specifically at rough-sleeping. The report makes a number of recommendations for immediate action and others for the longer term. I was clear in my response yesterday that I accept them all in principle. I was also at pains to ensure that, as a Government, we match the action group’s pace and commitment. I hope colleagues will agree that the actions we have set out in response to that first report demonstrate clearly our commitment to working differently, listening to experts and acting swiftly and decisively.

The report and our response are informed by research and lived experience. Assertive outreach will be at the heart of our response as will genuine collaboration across all organisations working in the sector, be they statutory, third sector or charity and church groups. The focus will be on finding routes to long-term sustainable housing outcomes for individuals.

We will invest in our national network of outreach workers to ensure that they are empowered and supported to be assertive, flexible, and innovative in the quest for long-term housing solutions for the people they engage. To assist them, we are also intent on facilitating and increasing local multi-agency networks. We intend to explore how a personalised budget approach might help to better meet the needs of individuals and enable front-line workers to respond quickly and flexibly.

We will be making additional funding available to those local authorities with the highest levels of rough-sleeping to support them in delivering against the action group's recommendations. There will also be funding to ensure emergency provisions of suitable quality and variety to meet the differing needs of rough-sleeping populations, including the issue about their pets. But this isn't about increasing the number of emergency beds available and needed, but about ensuring that emergency beds meet the needs of those approaching them. We're also committed to bringing together housing providers in those same areas in order to identify and maximise all of the available temporary and longer term housing. All housing providers must understand and embrace the role they need to play to help us tackle and prevent homelessness.

We sit here on the precipice of what may be a defining period in this country's history, the result of which may be an economic crisis that could push significant parts of our society even closer to the brink of homelessness. We must make supporting our most vulnerable members of society a priority not just in words, but in deeds. We must concentrate our efforts on long-term solutions for those who find themselves without a home, and at the same time on stemming the flow of families and individuals, who, for whatever reason, find themselves unable to sustain that home. Emergency and hostel accommodation are important, yes, but overall we need policies and practices that lead us to a future where they are not needed and where every single person and their pet has the home that they need longer term. Diolch.