5. Statement by the Minister for Housing and Local Government: Housing, Poverty and Communities

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:53 pm on 15 September 2020.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 5:53, 15 September 2020

Diolch, Dawn. I'm very aware of the issue that you raise. It's an issue in a number of places and because, of course—you know, we were able to house a large number of people, but we did it with some speed and, as I said in response to Mike Hedges, it was possible because a number of places that were bed and breakfast and hotels and so on were available and they wouldn't have otherwise been available. So, obviously, in the phase 2 approach, what we're looking to do is get people out of those accommodations and into secure, permanent homes. So, each authority will have come forward with a scheme, and we'll have agreed with—I know we've agreed schemes in every authority in Wales—that authority what the best approach to the best stage is and what the best approach of moving those people who are housed in those kinds of accommodations on into their permanent home, or, in some cases, into another temporary home, but where they can get a better range of support services, so perhaps to a hub, where there's a range of support services around them.

I'm afraid I can't think of one off the top of my head in Merthyr, but I visited a brilliant scheme in Newport only a few weeks ago, where we had put a range of support services on the ground floor in conjunction with a third sector partner, a suite on the second floor for individual support services and then seven supported flats on the top. Now, people are not intended to stay in those flats for the rest of their lives, but they are intended to stay in those flats for two or three years while their issues are addressed and they're put back on their feet and then helped to find their final, forever home. So, that's the one step that I was talking to Delyth about, isn't it: from the emergency accommodation into the supported accommodation and then on to your forever home.

So, once I'm—. Dawn, if you want to write to me, I'm sure I'll be able to tell you what the scheme in Merthyr is; I'm sure officials would be happy to remind me what it is. But we have specifically asked local authorities to address the kinds of issues you're talking about, because people need to have their complex needs met, and those needs need to be met in a place that's sustainable and secure, and that's not likely to be in a town centre surrounded by people with similar complex needs. So, it's very much part of our phase 2.