Supporting Young People Living in Care

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:41 pm on 13 November 2019.

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Photo of David Rees David Rees Labour 2:41, 13 November 2019

Well, thank you for that answer, Minister, and there's no doubt that there are many good organisations out in the community that work with these young people to allow them to transition from the care setting into an independent living setting. Now, very often, we find that they move into one room or kitchenette in a house, where they have shared bathrooms, shared toilet facilities and maybe the access of a warden, who usually doesn't live on those premises, for support. Now, I've seen a bill for such accommodation and it works out at approximately £900 a month. Those young people, therefore, have to find their food, have to find their travel costs and their clothes costs, and they end up borrowing money as a consequence of trying to live normal lives. If they find work, they're then in a spiral because they can't get social housing because of debt. As a consequence, they are very much locked into that accommodation and they're still paying those high costs. Will you have discussions with organisations to ensure that they work with these young people to ensure that they are able to get out of that spiral and get into social housing? I saw a flat in my constituency—a one-bedroom flat. So, that will be one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen, one bathroom, all to themselves—not shared—for £400 a month. And they don't spend £400 a month on utilities, which is what the other cost would be. So, if we want to help these young people to become independent and to live independently in the community, get employment and become useful citizens, we need to work with those organisations to help them.