5. Will the First Minister provide an update on policies to tackle youth homelessness? OQ57815

Amongst the ways in which our policies to tackle youth homelessness are being taken forward are practical actions to implement the recommendations from the homelessness action group, as set out in the co-operation agreement between our two parties.

Diolch. Last Wednesday in the Senedd Neuadd, End Youth Homelessness Cymru presented their road map to end youth homelessness. I'd like to thank Jane Hutt for sponsoring that event; it was incredibly insightful. One of the take-home messages for me was how we should listen to those young people who have experienced youth homelessness as we look to solve the issue. I was pleased to meet with both Dafydd and Ashleigh last night to discuss actions we can take as Members, and both Dafydd and Ashleigh helped put this question together for you today. Their message to us is that youth homelessness is everyone's business and a society-wide issue, not just a housing issue. First Minister, your predecessor committed to end youth homelessness by 2027. Is ending youth homelessness a priority for your Government, and are you confident that you can end youth homelessness by 2027?

I agree very much with what Luke Fletcher said about the importance of learning from young people and people who find themselves in these incredibly testing situations, so thank you to those young people for the question. The Welsh Government is entirely committed to ending youth homelessness. Many unforeseen events have happened since the commitment was originally made, including the astonishing efforts that have been made by our local authority and our third sector partners during the coronavirus crisis to bring people who were street homeless into stable and reliable accommodation.

I very much agree with the point that the young people made that youth homelessness is everybody's business and that it's not a housing issue by itself. A number of the projects that we fund as a result of our work with the coalition—20 projects operational across Wales—aim to do exactly that, to make housing the centre of a much wider range of services and joint work with young people to address those wider issues in their lives. I could offer you a long list of them, but shall I mention just one this afternoon? This is in north Wales, this is in Denbighshire County Council; it's a project between the county council, Llamau—an organisation that I've known throughout its history—and Viva, and that's Tŷ Pride. That is a housing-based service, but it is particularly aimed at making sure that the needs and circumstances of young people from the LGBTQ+ community are able to come together and get them that wider set of services that they need in just the way that the young people Luke Fletcher has spoken to were suggesting.