Housing Needs Assessments

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:26 pm on 15 February 2022.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 2:26, 15 February 2022

Thank you, First Minister. The Housing (Wales) Act 2014 places a legal obligation and a statutory duty on local authorities in Wales to both assess and provide for residential and transit provision for Gypsy and Traveller communities, and yet nearly eight years later several local authorities have either no permanent sites or insufficient sites for Gypsy and Traveller communities, or inadequate transit stopping places when they are on their journey. So, year after year, local authorities have had funding earmarked by Welsh Government to enable them to make appropriate provision, and yet year after year, this money has been left lying on the table. So, what action will Welsh Government take to ensure that local authorities step up to the plate on their responsibilities to the Gypsy and Traveller communities, as the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, if passed, will criminalise anyone who stops at an unauthorised site?