I welcome this debate. It’s hard out there when you've got nobody. I stand here today as a mum to a serving soldier in the British army and as someone who was homeless for short time as a young 15-year-old person. Due to a really bad home life, I needed somewhere to stay, so I lived in a caravan with friends in return for odd jobs with a travelling fair. Six week later, when I was assaulted and almost raped, I had no choice but to return home to further assaults from my stepmother. That went on and on. I was going round in circles for years. I didn't know where to turn, so I think I was what we call today a 'sofa surfer'. I felt under pressure, without foundations, very insecure and totally worthless. But due to my home situation, this appeared to be the best choice open to me at that point.

That experience has driven many of my decisions in life: to work hard, to support myself, and to keep a roof over my head and the heads of my children, beholden to nobody. My son is still a serving soldier and has seen active service, including various tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it is the thought of veterans in particular that has motivated me to speak today.

I know that the causes of homelessness are many, varied and complex, and that each person will have a different story to the next. Wales though is a very small nation with very complex layers of public and support services. Where do you go? Where do you start? I do know that there are pockets of good practice. Housing First, for example, has been identified, I believe, as best practice some years ago and it makes perfect sense to truly support someone to be able to manage their tenancy, rather than simply handing them the keys and leaving them to it. That’s a recipe for failure. So, I don't understand why Housing First and indeed any other area of good practice is not now rolled out across the whole of Wales. Sleep pods appear to have been ignored and discounted, and also container homes—flexible and moveable—appear not to have really taken off. I don't know why. 

I know that there is an action group advising the Minister. I welcome this, but Welsh Labour has had 20 years and more to do something, achieve something, horizon-scan and study demographics and population change. I'm deeply concerned that we appear to have sleepwalked into this current crisis where our people are literally dying on our streets. Action plans, action groups, strategies are lovely, but we are not seeing the results we would hope for for that young person or that veteran who really does need that support. And it looks like nobody’s listening, because they're all looking down at the computers and really not listening. This is reality out there, and none of you have been through that kind of stuff, so you really should listen. [Interruption.]

My view is that no party has a monopoly on good ideas and I welcome this thoughtful report by the Conservatives. But I would say that 'busy' does not mean effective, and it's time to really make a difference in this area. People need hope, people need safety, they need stability. And all people need a home.