Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:20 pm on 3 March 2020.
First Minister, when it comes to tackling youth homelessness, surely we have to take an evidence-based approach. We know that, in Finland, the Housing First scheme has achieved tremendous results since it was launched over a decade ago, and the Scottish scheme, which was launched last year, has already housed 216 people. Now, that scheme can be particularly effective for care leavers when their support from social services drops off a cliff at 18. I'm aware that the Welsh Government has funded pilot schemes through fantastic organisations like Pobl group in Newport, in Ammanford and in Rhondda Cynon Taf. I hear from the sector that these schemes are achieving some brilliant results, as we would expect. But, First Minister, given that we already know that Housing First works, I would question whether we need to pilot it here. Shouldn't we go ahead and roll it out over Wales with sustainable funding so that we can support homeless people and those at risk of homelessness when they're young, and at all ages, all over the country to get into safe accommodation, not just those people who are fortunate enough to live within the current pilot scheme areas?