That was 2007. As the young people in north Wales told us then, mediation and early intervention are needed at an earlier stage—we need to go into schools and work with families before people become homeless.

Several voluntary organisations, including Shelter Cymru, expressed concern then that many homeless or potentially homeless people were not being included in the homeless statistics. The committee then learned of increasing numbers of homeless applicants being deemed intentionally homeless then. My conclusion to that speech included,

‘The Assembly Government must review its policy for care leavers, address the problems of homelessness in rural areas, and work with the Department for Work and Pensions to address the anomalies in the benefits system that penalise homeless people’, in 2007.

Although bricks and mortar will not alone solve the problem, it will not be solved without an ambitious house building programme. In 1999, when Labour first came to power here, there was no housing supply crisis in Wales, but they slashed the social housing grant and cut the supply of new affordable homes by 71 per cent during their first three terms. During the second Assembly, the housing sector came together to warn the Welsh Government there would be a housing crisis if they didn’t listen—but they didn’t listen.

Jump forward, the latest available annualised figures for Wales show falls in new dwellings started, private sector completions, local authority completions and new affordable housing units. Although the latest published quarterly National House Building Council figures show the highest number of new UK homes registered for 12 years, up 12 per cent on the same period last year and up 14 per cent in England, they were only up 3 per cent in Wales. Only 3 per cent of these new homes registered were in Wales, despite having 5 per cent of the UK population and despite the scale of Labour’s homegrown housing crisis here.

Evidence on rough-sleeping to the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee last week from Dr Helen Taylor, Cardiff Metropolitan University, quoted evidence from respondents,

‘that just making someone a priority would not address the issues they are experiencing’.

One stated,

‘Itwon’t solve the problems by giving them somewhere to live, by giving them help; they have to want to do it.’

Respondents highlighted the relationship between homelessness legislation and the provision of other services, such as substance misuse services. Yet successive Welsh Governments have ignored the need for residential detoxification and rehabilitation services in Wales identified in successive independent reports, warning then that this was contributing, for example, to the homeless population and the prison population .

As the guide published on Monday to help housing professionals support autistic people stated, autistic people have consistently identified challenges in seeking appropriate housing services, help and support due to a lack of understanding of the condition and their individual needs. I get casework like that every day, still.

August’s 'End Youth Homelessness' report on LGBTQ+ youth homelessness recommended,

'that Welsh Government support the trial of an Upstream-style service, whereby schools work with youth homelessness specialists to identify young people at risk of homelessness.'

Déjà vu—remember that from 2007? At last week’s joint meeting of the cross-party groups on housing and on violence against women and children, we heard that housing and homelessness services are central to survivors of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence, and that priority need should include all forms of these. Déjà vu again.

In north Wales, young people have created Youth Shedz. When I visited this Grŵp Cynefin project in Denbigh, the young people told me that this provided a safe space for them to develop and prepare themselves for independent living. At the September 2017 Digartref Ynys Môn and Bangor University event here, we heard homeless young people themselves say that young people living in supported accommodation could have a host of issues to deal with and may struggle with this alongside studying.

I therefore urge support for our motion, which rightly commends the good practice found in the housing sector and notes the Welsh Conservatives' 10-point plan to tackle homelessness, ‘More than a Refuge’. We've waited too long already.