4. What discussions has the Minister had with local authorities regarding the use of emergency accommodation for homeless persons during the pandemic? OQ56229

Thank you, Huw. We have been working closely with local authorities throughout the pandemic, with over 5,000 people supported into emergency accommodation since March 2020. We have provided significant additional funding for our inclusive, needs-led approach. Currently, an average of £1.6 million per month is being claimed for this.

Minister, thank you very much for that response, and also for the engagement you've had with me on queries from my local authorities, some of whom have traditionally used what we know as emergency night shelter accommodation, which, of its day, was an appropriate way forward. But, actually, when you're dealing with a pandemic situation, let alone an approach that really requires us not simply to lift people out of homelessness but also to wrap services and support around them, it's probably not the best way forward. But can I ask you, then, Minister, what success the approach that you're now taking has had, particularly during this time of the pandemic, when some local authorities, I think, have been really challenged with the resources and really challenged with having to respond to people who they've found in a crisis situation on the streets without many resources to actually throw at the issue?

Thank you, Huw. We've made our position extremely clear, as you know, from the correspondence we've had, to local authorities, that people who are sleeping rough should be provided with appropriate accommodation as a matter of urgency and, absolutely crucially, that they must be accommodated with the wraparound support that they so badly need in order to be able to sustain that accommodation.

We're really, really proud of what Wales has achieved during the pandemic in getting people in off the streets, and although there has been a slow drift of some people back onto the streets—that's 100 or so people; every single one of them is too many—but nevertheless, given that we've housed over 5,000 people, that's a pretty good record. And, of course, unlike over the border, we continue to offer accommodation to everyone who needs it through the pandemic.

There's a big culture shift here away from a system that was designed to ration accommodation and turn some people away into a system that's designed to assist everyone and to find out what their needs are, through a trauma-centred approach and to satisfy those needs. We've been really pleased to have worked really hard with, for example, mental health support services, substance abuse support services, and my colleague Eluned Morgan has recently been working very hard across the piece on bringing those things together, as we have done all the way through.

But to get local authorities to understand that they can spend their housing support grant on supporting people coming in to emergency accommodation has been a big culture shift. So, my officials have been consistent in saying, 'We do not support the use of night shelters', the evidence clearly shows that communal spaces present a high risk of transmission of COVID-19, apart from anything else. But also, night shelters are a way of sustaining people on the streets, and the whole purpose of this is to get people off the streets and into accommodation on our housing first model. And that's a conversation we've had with many authorities across Wales, and we will continue to do so.