This is a challenging area, Dirprwy Lywydd, and that's why I think we need a cross-party approach if we can achieve it. This area—in fact, I think housing in general, but particularly when we're looking at homelessness and rough-sleeping—is not about knockabout politics; it's about those practical measures that can achieve the objectives we all surely desire. And that's why I did try to draft the motion so that it wasn't too partisan and political, but sought instead to change the tone and, indeed, even in referring to 'More than a Refuge', we just say 'notes the action plan', so that those Members here that would find it a step too far to fully endorse Conservative policy don't need to do so. [Laughter.]

We know that there's going to be a difference in approach to how we address these issues in the Chamber, because we all have various ideas about homelessness, housing and rough-sleeping. But, in general, I think we're all going in the same direction and we want to make this a higher priority, and around that, and some other key policies that I do think are deeply consensual now, we can, I think, get much more pace of action into our efforts to tackle this overriding priority.

We are fully aware indeed, Dirprwy Lywydd, that this problem is not confined to Wales alone, and we will be supporting one of Plaid Cymru's amendments that draws attention to the rise in deaths of homeless people in England. That's a perfectly fair thing and balanced thing to do, and it certainly wasn't my intention in drafting the original motion to not pay due regard to that, but I did want to quote the Welsh figure.

But, as I said, we regrettably are failing to encourage a broad consensus on this occasion. In fact, we have one of the horrors of this Chamber: a Government amendment that deletes all. I do think a bit more generosity could have been offered, because I think around our motion could have been constructed an amended motion that we all agreed on. But I do hold out this approach for the future that we should combine and try to agree common approaches, and that's certainly the spirit in which I will be working in the months and years ahead. I do hope, however, that today's debate will be constructive, because I think the sector is frustrated at the lack of change and, certainly, the pace at which we're going. We still have far too many people falling through the cracks in the system, and some of them fall a very long way indeed.

If I can briefly speak to the action plan, Dirprwy Lywydd, as I said, there aren't easy answers to this problem, and we all know that. But we on this side of the Chamber recognise the need to start thinking radically, because, in many ways, since that documentary in the 1960s, and decade in, decade out since, under all administrations, it must be said, we've had a persistent problem with those at the sharper end of the homelessness crisis, and we do need a radical reappraisal of our policy formation and the priorities we put on this area of public policy. And it is true, up and down the United Kingdom, Governments and administrations in the devolved areas, but cities as well around England, of all political make-ups, are struggling to overcome the issue of homelessness in its various forms.

Our strategy has been the product of months of work from meetings with the sector to discuss ways in which our policy decisions could start to transform things for those most in need. I do welcome the contribution so enthusiastically given by our partners in civic society and they've really helped shape our thinking, and I know that they have a big impact on the Government's thinking and, no doubt, on other parties as well, and we should all pay tribute to the amount of policy work that the various charities do in this areas.

On Monday, I was delighted to visit the Pontypridd Home for Veterans, run by Alabaré charity, and that's just one example of an organisation that seems to come up with a really interesting model in terms of the care they provide there for veterans that have fallen on very bad times and get up to two years help in that home, and then they get supported in the succeeding tenancy by outreach workers from that charity, so that critical stage is also taken on board and they're given that help to sustain them in their progress.

Also, I think many of us went down and at least looked at the bikes that the Royal British Legion had in the Senedd to promote the poppy campaign, and I commend those that got on the bike and tried to cycle the 2 km or whatever in virtual reality, but what most interested me this afternoon was the fact that the Royal British Legion were publicising their best-practice guide for local authorities in terms of supporting the armed forces community with housing in Wales, and it's an excellent document, and I do commend it to Members but also to local authorities—the best-practice guide, the toolkit that it provides, and, again, an example of best practice in the voluntary sector.

Now, in the action plan, as I said, we've talked about the need for greater ambition in our social housing programme and the need for better and more comprehensive data collection. That's another key issue so that we can really map out the extent of the problem. We also touch upon the need to change our society's view of homelessness through greater education of the symptoms and the causes, and we also commit to working with our partners in Westminster to scrap the Vagrancy Act 1824, which is outdated, unpractical, and, for all intents and purposes, self-defeating regarding the very issue it was originally designed to prevent—in Georgian Britain, let's not forget.

One of the main outcomes of the work we did—and the discussions we had with the sector came from the likes of Crisis and Shelter Cymru—was that we need a more holistic approach, and, of course, housing first is probably the best example at scale now of a holistic approach, and that is one that we very much commend. It's not good enough to say that housing is simply the answer to homelessness, because it's a problem that spans across agencies, from health to education, housing to employment. So, we really do need a holistic cross-agency approach, and that is why we chose as the title of our policy 'More than a Refuge'. We reflected on the causes of homelessness, which are complex and overlapping, and I was impressed by the auditor general's analysis in his report earlier this year. He said, and I quote, it's 

'much more than putting a roof over people's heads.'

And I think that absolutely does drive to the heart of the problem.

Can I just conclude by saying—? Earlier, I did remark that for 40 to 50 years we've known of this modern scourge in society and we've never quite got to that level of policy response that we really desire, and I think all parties in this Chamber desire. And that's why one of the things we're calling for is a housing tsar—someone that will measure and monitor our progress and hold us accountable for what we're doing, and I think that homelessness tsar should ideally be someone who's had lived experience of homelessness. We've all met people that have been in that situation. They come from all walks of life and we've been really impressed by their skill sets and their potential once they got back into settled accommodation, and I'm sure there's someone in Wales that could be our partner and be an excellent housing tsar, so that we really do start to measure real progress and keep that pace up. So, that person, that tsar, being a champion for the vulnerable would be there urging Government on throughout the 2020s to achieve the targets that I have referred to. 

So, I do conclude by saying to the Government, despite what you've done in moving a 'delete all' amendment, we do want to be genuinely part of the national conversation that now is required, so that we can lead, perhaps, in Britain, in ending the scourge of homelessness in our country. Thank you.