The discretionary housing payment budget can be used by local authorities to support those people most affected by the benefit cuts. But this year the Conservative Government saw fit to cut that budget by around £2.3 million, a 27 per cent cut, compared to last year, and this is on top of a previous cut of 18 per cent. Now, this is a huge reduction in funding, and it will exacerbate the plight of those already experiencing the cost-of-living crisis. Julie James has already called on the UK Government for the discretionary housing payment budget to be fully reinstated in her recent written statement, but there is no indication that the UK Government will heed those calls. The Minister has also emphasised that local housing allowance rates have not risen in three and a half years by March 2023 and therefore do not take account of some of the very significant increases in rent levels in some areas—another really clear example of how out of touch the UK Government is and how prepared they are to sit back and watch the crisis unfold.

Now, I was pretty staggered to hear Janet Finch-Saunders say she was shocked to hear of the gap between the housing allowance and the mean level of local rates. I mean, where has she been living? This has been consistently raised by non-governmental organisations and indeed by the Labour Party through the years of Tory Government-induced austerity. Jenny Rathbone catalogued what this means in practice in her constituency and the invidious choice it presents to people already on low incomes. But Janet Finch-Saunders makes it sound like a surprising phenomenon, something she's just happened to come across. It is deliberate. It has been a deliberate aim of UK Government policy, as Peredur Griffiths set out so carefully in his speech, and it is ideological. It is part of their agenda of demonising the poor and of scapegoating people who are in need of benefits. Now, I'm very pleased that Janet Finch-Saunders has finally clocked what's going on, and indeed is going to write to the UK Government, and I'm sure that the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP will read the letter with interest, but don't pretend, Janet, that the deepening housing crisis is an accidental phenomenon, it's a direct consequence of Tory housing policy.

In Wales we'll continue to do all we can, with the powers we have, to deliver for those most in need. In January we launched leasing scheme Wales, worth £30 million over five years, to improve access to longer term affordable housing in the private rental sector. It will deliver security for tenants and confidence for landlords. The scheme is designed to support the most disadvantaged individuals and households who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness. Tenants of the scheme will benefit from longer term security of tenure of between five and 20 years, at rents restricted to local housing allowance rates, and there will be additional funding to ensure that they receive the level of support they will expect in social housing.

Turing briefly to the End Youth Homelessness campaign highlighted in the motion, this campaign and the Welsh Government share a common goal—to end youth homelessness. This goal is a central element of everything we do to end homelessness in all its forms. We need to have one strategy to end homelessness—the overarching framework required to achieve this aim will meet the diverse needs of all groups. Within our action plan and overall strategic approach, there needs to be youth-focused housing and supporting actions, as well as those focused on other groups to capture this intersectionality. For young people in particular we're taking forward a suite of Government measures that provide a holistic response to addressing youth homelessness. Indeed, we're already funding many of the projects that form part of that important road map, including Housing First for Youth, supported lodgings, family mediation, tenancy support, training flats, Tai Ffres and Tŷ Pride, and LGBTQ+ supportive housing projects. We'll of course consider the recommendations set out in the road map, and indeed we considered an earlier version of it in our action plan. But our continuing focus is to implement the homelessness action recommendation together with Plaid Cymru to fundamentally reform homelessness services to ensure that homelessness is rare, brief and unrepeated, as set out in the co-operation agreement and the programme for government.

So, to conclude, Dirprwy Lywydd, we acknowledge the huge cost-of-living crisis faced by households in Wales, and we are and we will continue to do everything in our power, with the levers we have, to support people through this challenging time.