Statement in the Welsh Assembly on homelessness

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The Welsh Government is committed to preventing and addressing all forms of homelessness. 'Prosperity for All' sets out our vision for a Wales where everyone has a safe home that meets their needs and supports a healthy, successful and prosperous life. We are committed to working together, across the public and third sectors, to prevent homelessness and, where it cannot be prevented, to ensure it is rare, brief and un-repeated.190

Homelessness is about far more than just rough-sleeping. Figures from Crisis in 2016 showed that of those homeless in Wales, approximately 6 per cent were rough-sleeping, with another 94 per cent in other forms of homelessness, for example, temporary or unsuitable accommodation, sofa surfing or emergency hostels. Our own statistics show that demand on services is increasing, with over 10,000 households presenting to local authorities in 2018-19 as at risk of being homeless within 56 days, and 11,000 presenting as already homeless.191

We cannot and should not ignore the impact of austerity and welfare reform and the pressure that places on household budgets. Fundamentally, poverty is what causes homelessness. In recognition of the scale of the issue, Welsh Government is investing over £20 million this year alone to specifically prevent and relieve homelessness. However, homelessness remains at unacceptably high levels in Wales and the root causes show little sign of abating, particularly in view of the continued economic uncertainty we face.192

However, that is not to say we have not made considerable progress. We have taken significant strides forward in embedding a preventative approach. In large part, this has been delivered through the introduction and subsequent implementation of Part 2 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014. Implementation of the Act by local authorities across Wales has made a significant difference, with over 23,000 households prevented from falling into homelessness since 2015. Over that period, local authorities, who are at the forefront of our prevention agenda, have done an admirable job maintaining prevention rates in the face of increasing demand and wider budgetary constraints. However, whilst prevention rates remain high at 68 per cent in 2018-19, there are still far too many whose homelessness is not prevented and who are falling through the net.193

The fact is that, despite the new legislative framework and our significant financial and policy investment, we are fighting against a rising tide. Whilst we have introduced fresh, new evidence-based approaches such as Housing First, and are embracing them fully, we are still too heavily focused on acute interventions and crisis management. The statistics last week on homelessness deaths show the unacceptable and tragic consequences of failing to support those in the most vulnerable and acute situations, but, equally, we understand that unless we address homelessness in all its forms, we will not succeed in vanquishing rough-sleeping from our society.194

It is time to look afresh at our approach. The ethos of our legislation is prevention, but we all know true prevention starts far earlier than 56 days. True prevention requires a holistic approach from across the public sector: it is not simply a housing issue; it is a public services issue. True prevention means ensuring the homelessness legislation is seen, as it should be, as the final safety net when all other preventative actions have failed.195

We are absolutely committed to ending all forms of homelessness, but we must be clear what that means in practice. In those rare circumstances where it cannot be prevented, we will seek to minimise the damage it causes, focusing on rapid rehousing and ensuring homelessness is rare, brief and un-repeated. To achieve this, our approach has been to support those currently homeless into long-term, suitable accommodation, whilst also significantly reducing the flow of individuals and families falling into or becoming at risk of homelessness. This will involve shifting our effort and resources over time from temporary, emergency accommodation solutions to earlier preventative approaches and long-term housing solutions.196

The strategic policy statement that I am publishing today provides the policy framework for everyone working with us to deliver our ambition. The statement and the policy principles it sets out have been informed by discussion at the homelessness ministerial task and finish group, which includes expertise from the third sector, as well as senior public service officials from health, social services, public health, education and criminal justice agencies.197

The statement will be supported by an annual action plan, setting out the measures that will be taken across Government, working with partners, to address homelessness. The action plan will be refreshed annually and annual progress reports will be published against the preceding year’s plan. The first action plan will be informed by the work of the expert homelessness action group that I established in June this year.198

The group, which is chaired by Jon Sparkes, the chief executive of Crisis, has been tasked to provide advice and recommendations to Welsh Government on a number of key areas. The action group has already met four times and is working independently of Welsh Government, undertaking its work at pace over a nine-month period, reporting at key points between now and March next year. The group has already provided me with the first of their reports just yesterday. It looks in particular at actions they recommend we take to tackle rough-sleeping this winter. I will be responding quickly and positively to their report and recommendations reflecting the urgency needed to address this most acute and damaging form of homelessness.199

The strategic policy statement being published today sets out our ambition for homelessness to be a rarity. It is clear that when it does occur, it should be brief with individuals or households supported back into accommodation quickly with sufficient support to ensure they do not fall back into homelessness. It is vital we set up households to succeed, not to fail.200

For that to happen, we need to help people in crisis so they can quickly enter long-term accommodation and thrive there. It is high time we acknowledged the need to move away from the staircase earned-rewards model of service delivery. We are striving to re-shape services around a rapid rehousing approach, shifting the focus of our policy, practice and resources towards long-term housing-led solutions, away from the provision of emergency, temporary and hostel services. We have made a significant start with our Housing First programme, in which we are investing £1.6 million this year. However, Housing First is only one aspect of a rapid rehousing approach. We also need to take a whole-systems approach if we are to shift our model of service delivery. This is one of the areas where I can look forward to the advice of the action group to help set out how we can achieve this.201

So let me be clear, Deputy Presiding Officer: homelessness cannot be prevented through housing alone. A key aspect of a whole-system approach is the wraparound support for individuals, particularly in respect of health services. This requires alternative service delivery models jointly owned and funded by relevant public services, including mental health, substance misuse, primary care, community safety and housing, and specialist multidisciplinary teams to support individuals to address their needs and take a trauma-informed approach. A truly preventative approach begins before an individual or family ever becomes at risk of homelessness. It is about that whole-system approach and involves investing in primary and secondary prevention.202

Our approach to tackling homelessness amongst young people is taking exactly this approach. Primary approaches to prevention are well under way, supported through education reform in pursuit of the four purposes of our new curriculum and the introduction of the whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing. More targeted secondary prevention work, through the youth service and in collaboration with a range of partners, aims to identify and support young people who start to show some of the risk factors that can lead to homelessness. Investing in services at this early stage to support young people and their families will address issues before they escalate.203

All public services and the third sector have a role to play in delivering this vision, and I call on everyone here in this Chamber and all public service leaders across Wales to pledge to work in line with these policy principles. Deputy Presiding Officer, together we can and will prevent homelessness and we can and will end homelessness in Wales.204

I welcome this statement. It's World Homelessness Day on Thursday, and I also agree broadly with the approach, the references to Housing First, vanquishing rough-sleeping from society, ending all forms of homelessness and shifting away from emergency accommodation and a stepped or earned approach, and moving towards trauma-based practice. I really think that is a direction of travel that everyone in this Chamber will agree with.205

I'm also glad that the ministerial task and finish group will publish regular advice and will inform your action plan. I do want to know when you're going to publish the action plan, and then what sort of annual report you will be making on its progress, because I think the data that we get in that is really going to be important. I hope it's solidly evidence based, because that will definitely help us tackle this, amongst the very most pressing challenges in society.206

I was pleased that you referred to children and the particularly vulnerable, and I would say that looked-after children here are a really key group. Many of them become householders at the age of 18 and their tenancies often break down—they're not terribly appropriate, for whatever reason the support mechanisms don't work. Lots of reasons. But, you know, that is one group that needs careful monitoring, help and assistance.207

I also welcome the references to the role of the education sector. I welcome the approach in the new curriculum, which is broader and skills-based, including life skills and health and well-being. It’s a natural way to educate the older pupils anyway about the challenges they will be facing in terms of securing housing and eventually being householders.208

And finally, can I just say that something not mentioned in your statement today is that the quality of data still leaves a lot to be desired? We rely a lot on survey evidence, and I think we need to move to a system that, on a Welsh basis, we could be more confident about.209

Just for the Minister’s information, I'll make my mini statement. The Welsh Conservative group will very shortly publish its own homelessness agenda and strategy, and I think it will chime a lot with what you have talked about this afternoon, because I really think a cross-party approach on this issue is really important, because it will mark this Senedd and the Welsh Government as being really committed to the people of the Wales.210

Thank you very much for that contribution. I very much welcome the spirit in which you gave it. Just a couple of points, really. On the data, I agree with you completely. We've just taken on another data analyst to do justice, so we're having an analysis done of where the gaps are and what we need to do to get it. I must say that I've been quite startled by some of the things we don't know, so we're putting in place a whole series of things that we need to understand better, and one of the things that the action group is looking at is what data sets we need in order to be able to fill that in. So, I completely agree with the remarks you made on that.211

And in terms of youth homelessness and the care leavers issue in particular, I am working on a cross-public-sector pledge that I hope we will be able to deliver—it’s more helpful if it’s cross-party—where we agree across public services in Wales that no-one is ever evicted into homelessness. So, if we can pull that off, I think we will have made a big step forward in where we are.212

The homelessness picture, I think, is something that we should all be deeply ashamed of. More people have died on the streets of England and Wales in the last five years than the British army lost troops in both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Homelessness is a choice, it isn't an accident, and we can choose to do something about it, or we can choose not to.213

I'm pleased that the Welsh Government is finally working with Crisis to implement plans that aim to eradicate homelessness. Eliminating homelessness will save money. Implementing the Crisis report will cost Wales around £900 million over the next 20 years, but it will bring benefits of £1.5 billion. For the UK as a whole, those figures are even bigger, with spending of £40 billion needed to achieve benefits of £60 billion. So, I hope that the Minister will be implementing the recommendations of the homelessness action group and the Crisis report in full.214

There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to every homeless person—every person is an individual. Someone with severe substance misuse problems clearly requires a different approach and different accommodation and support to someone who is homeless because of domestic abuse, and they in turn will need different support to someone who is in employment and has been evicted.215

So, I'd like to see a clear action plan to do the following: first of all, replace priority need with a duty on local authorities to secure safe accommodation and support for everyone who is found to be homeless, alongside their duties to prevent homelessness; fund outreach programmes and emergency accommodation to get existing rough-sleepers off the streets; tackle the barriers that exist for people accessing shelters through reform of shelters and the environment that can exist in shelters; provide a range of different accommodation types that can be accessed by homeless people so there are safe places available for everyone; protect and increase funding for all shelters and refuges for those escaping abusive relationships; review and increase the support for the Supporting People budget, which helps to prevent homelessness; and support providers of housing first solutions for those homeless people with the most intense needs.216

I welcome that rough-sleeping in winter was addressed in your statement, as this issue has been described as a national tragedy by Crisis chief executive Jon Sparkes. You mentioned that you've received recommendations by experts from the homelessness action group yesterday on this particular problem, which you commit to taking on board urgently, and I hope these measures will help us see a decrease in the damaging impact of winter conditions on rough-sleepers this year.217

So, questions, Minister: how can you reassure me that you take yesterday's recommendations and any future recommendations from the homelessness action group seriously? And how will you monitor the success of the Government's implementation of the recommendations in the spring?218

A particularly pernicious piece of legislation in relation to rough-sleepers is the Vagrancy Act 1824, forcing rough-sleepers out of city centres. Criminalising homeless people for rough-sleeping and begging is archaic and it removes any dignity that a homeless person may retain. I, like many others, would like to see the Vagrancy Act abolished as it is in effect in Wales, but until then, I'd like to know what official discussions have been taking place with the police regarding the execution of this Act. Has the Welsh Government made representations to the police forces and local authorities in Wales to encourage and promote kinder methods of helping homeless people, rather that increased enforcement of the Vagrancy Act? They could, for example, decide not to operationally enforce the Vagrancy Act. Would you support such a course of action?219

Thank you very much for those points. Again, we're largely in agreement—on that very last one, absolutely. We are working on two things around the Vagrancy Act, first is how far we can go in Wales to disapply it—we can't repeal it, but how far we can go to disapply formally. And then, secondly, how far we can work with partners to ensure that it's not used, even where we haven't been able to formally do that. So, I can assure you that those are ongoing active discussions. I share your belief that it's archaic and a highly unsympathetic way of treating people in vulnerable position.220

As well as that, we're looking to roll out our trauma-informed approach to this right across public services as rapidly as we possibly can. So, getting the trauma-informed training out to the police who are on the sharp line and the range of teams in city centres and that kind of thing is also very much a part of that. So, I share your view on all of that.221

We will be publishing the action report early next week and I'll provide a written statement to the Assembly outlining the actions we will be taking in response to that at the same time. So, you'll have the report in writing, Deputy Presiding Officer, with a written statement from me saying what the initial actions are to take that forward. I very much want to have my own feet held to the flames on this, so we're going to publish the actions and the timelines, and then—I expect Assembly Members are all on the same page on this—to be sure that we are going as fast as we possibly can to end the scourge of rough-sleeping.222

Then, Leanne Wood's analysis around what we need to do I completely agree with. So, we currently have a piece of academic research going on about priority need replacement, the outreach programmes and so on. When you see the action group's report, you'll see that they're very much on the same page—no surprises there—and we will be looking at what temporary measures we can do to take away some of the barriers in the short term while we get the legislative framework in place to do it in the longer term.223

But the bottom line here is to get the hearts and minds of the people administering the system into the right place. The legalisation is only enough if everybody is on the same page. So, it is about working with local authority partners in particular, their homelessness groups, about what they perceive as the barriers and getting them into the right frame of mind, and, alongside my colleague Vaughan Gething, getting the mental health and substance abuse services lined up at the same time. Because, no surprises, Deputy Presiding Officer, if you find yourself homeless, you rapidly find that your mental health deteriorates, even if it is was perfectly fine in the first place. All of us occasionally have a glass of wine if we've had a bad day. People who can't afford that rapidly decend into other kinds of substance use in order to ameliorate what is an unacceptable situation that they find themselves in. Your heart can only go out to them. Together, we can wrap the services around them that they need to put their lives back on track.224

I very much welcome the Minister’s statement. Homelessness is complicated and is caused by a number of different events. A job loss coinciding with splitting up with a partner can quite easily make somebody homeless who never thought that was ever likely to happen to them.225

Whilst people often equate homelessness with rough-sleeping, many more homeless people sleep on sofas and floors of friends and family or are in temporary accommodation. The most important thing—and I agree with the Minister—is to stop people becoming homeless in the first place by early intervention—prevention, an emergency response and housing, accommodation and support, then the provision of housing and ongoing support as a means of moving people out of homelessness.226

For some homeless people, providing a house or flat will not solve their problems. Their problems are far greater than that, and all you’re doing is putting them up to fail. You move them into a house or a flat that they’re unable to cope with. I feel what the Minister said about 18-year-olds; at 18, I was not capable of looking after myself in any way whatsoever, and I think that to send them out, give them a flat and wish them luck is always going to end, or in very many cases, with a lot of failure.227

I think I'd like to add that there’s good work done by charities such as the Wallich, including their cross-border women’s project in Birchgrove, Swansea. But does the Minister agree that, until we start building more council houses, get empty houses back into use and until the supply of housing meets housing demand, then we are always going to have some form of homelessness, because what we’ve got is out of kilter at the moment? There is far more demand than there is supply. I know the Government puts money into the demand side of housing, but if we could put more money into the supply side so that we actually get sufficient housing, we could end up in a virtuous circle, rather than the vicious one we’re in now.228

Yes, I completely agree with that last point. Mike Hedges is very well aware that we've been putting an increased amount of money into the proper kind of supply. I recently visited a very good innovative housing project in his own constituency, which he has, I know, been very supportive of, with a view to us getting the supply of good-quality social housing to where it needs to be. And it's not about all-tenure housing, it is about the right kind of tenure housing and in the right place as well. So, I absolutely accept that point. Until we have the supply side sorted out, we will always be juggling with demand that can't be met. My colleague Lee Waters is also working with me on a series of innovative programmes around taking empty properties back into beneficial use as well, and I'm very keen to roll that out across Wales. And Mike Hedges will be delighted to know that Swansea Council is looking very positively at that scheme in his own patch—and my own patch, for that matter, as well.229

Last week, I had the real pleasure of going with the Wallich to one of their breakfast runs in Swansea to see for myself the good work that the third sector does on the ground for supporting people. And these are not necessarily people who are rough-sleeping, but they are people who have inadequate or insecure housing. And they are just as homeless, really, as the people who are on the street. So, we do need to have a whole-system approach to homelessness prevention, working across the Government, as I said earlier, with mental health, substance misuse, community safety and primary care to deliver a public service model that addresses the needs of everyone.230

Thank you for your statement, Minister. The fact that anyone is homeless in the twenty-first century in Britain is morally reprehensible. Successive Governments, both here and at Westminster, have failed to ensure sufficient high-quality housing to meet demand. And even though Governments now accept they need to do more, they are still not doing enough. Meeting demand requires forward planning, which is sadly lacking here, and words are not enough.231

In Wales, we're not building enough affordable housing to meet the Government's own targets, let alone meet the true demand. Of the households eligible for homelessness assistance in the past 12 months, only 80 per cent were positively supported. In some parts of Wales, only around half of the households receive the necessary support. I am pleased that you are working with Crisis, but note that the number of new dwellings that have started construction in the past 12 months as fallen, as has the number of dwellings completed.232

Far too many people are finding themselves forced into temporary accommodation or, worse, forced to sleep in shop doorways or tents on wasteland. Little children and other vulnerable people are suffering.233

Minister, I welcome your affirmation that homelessness should be a rarity. Of course, that shouldn't have to have a strategic policy statement. What difference do you envision that such a statement will make to services on the ground? You say in your statement that homelessness cannot be solved by housing alone, and that's true, especially when it comes to rough-sleepers. Most homeless people have complex needs.234

Minister, the vast majority of rough-sleepers in the UK are ex-forces. What is your Government doing in conjunction with the Ministry of Defence and forces charities to improve support for former armed forces personnel, because our veterans are committing suicide because of a lack of support, with housing being a huge issue? One can only imagine the ingratitude that these veterans feel after serving their country and coming home to having not even their basic human rights addressed.235

Finally, Minister, a large reason that a number of ex-offenders reoffend is because of a lack of housing and support services. There is no support mechanism for the majority who come out. During my time as a prison officer, I saw many young people—and not just young people, either—come through the prison doors because they had been sent out with their meagre possessions in black bags and nowhere to go. So, Minister, are you working with the Ministry of Justice to reduce homelessness in ex-offenders? Thank you again for your statement. I look forward to significant progress in tackling homelessness in the next 12 months. Diolch yn fawr.236

Well, I think that you've identified some of the issues that we're dealing with. I must say I disagree with some of the solutions that you've put forward. We are working very hard to get the pathways for ex-prisoners in place. The pathway is adequate. We've had it tested. What we need to do is make sure that everybody implements it in the right way. We've currently got a task and finish group working here in Cardiff to see what the barriers are to implementing the pathway, and as soon as that work is complete, I will be updating the Senedd accordingly, so that we do not release people from custody into homelessness. So, I agree with that much of it.237

In terms of the housing completion rates, they are down in the final quarter, but that's because we are entering a recession. We have had a number of small and medium-sized building firms go under and go into administration very recently, and I'm afraid that that's a direct result of Brexit and the fall in the rate of sterling. So, I find it very ironic that you're accusing me of having some part in that. Because if you speak to the SME firms, in particular, they're saying that they have a real problem with getting labour and with getting materials at the right prices. So, I think that that's very ironic indeed.238

In terms of the demand side, as I said in answer to Mike Hedges, we are building as many affordable homes that are for social rent as we possibly can. Just to be clear, our target of 20,000 affordable homes we have easily met. So, we are not failing our own targets. What we are doing is upping our target to meet the increased demand that we see. So, I just want to be very clear about that.239

There are issues around the armed forces covenant. The UK Government has put a commission in place that we're very anxious to work closely with. My colleague Hannah Blythyn has been working closely to ensure that we uphold our end of the covenant for armed forces personnel here in Wales. Wales contributes a higher proportion of its population to the armed forces than the benefit we get back from army investment, so we're very keen to make sure that we put that circle back in place.240

Deputy Presiding Officer, if I could just say—. I've been meaning to mention this a couple of times now as people have raised it: I couldn't agree more about 18-year-olds not being necessarily fit to maintain themselves in their accommodation. One of the things we want to work very hard on is what skills people need if they are placed in accommodation. I cannot emphasise enough that this not about not having sufficient places to put people. This is about not having sufficient skills, money, supplies and so on to keep them there. It's pointless me giving you a flat if it has no beds or crockery or curtains. You will not be able to stay there. But also, you have to have the skills to be able to pay the utilities bills and the rent and so on. So, clearly, as I said before, it's a whole-system approach to homelessness prevention.241

Can I thank the Minister for updating this Chamber on a very important issue—one that is a key priority for me. I fully agree with you that we all must be committed to ending homelessness in all its forms, so I welcome Members' contributions from across the Chamber, because cross-party support is certainly needed on this issue.242

Minister, as you said, mental health is one of the biggest issues that people who find themselves homeless face on a daily basis, and particularly in the winter, during those cold nights, they seriously do suffer. Now, whenever I've had a difficult week or am struggling with my own mental health, which is far too often these days, there are few better things than being welcomed home by Joseph. Now, for Members who don't know, Joey is my Lhasa Apso. So, I will be leading a short debate on this topic in the next few weeks, because it's actually really important for people who are homeless. I discussed this when I slept rough on the streets of Chester for one night last year, and, Members who are listening today, I would seriously encourage you to go and spend some time on the streets and you will then realise what these people are going through on a daily basis.243

Deputy Llywydd, for many, owning a dog is one of the only means of contact that they'll make and they're a source of strength to support them through that night and through other nights during the winter. Now, unfortunately, most accommodation providers in the UK still operate a 'no dogs, no pets' policy, meaning that homeless dog owners are denied access to the shelter and real support that they so desperately need. Now, the Hope Project works with hostels and temporary housing providers to encourage them to accept clients with dogs. So, Minister, ahead of my more detailed debate coming later this month, what can the Welsh Government actually do to support projects like the Hope Project, led by the Dogs Trust?

Yes, I completely agree with the points you've made there. We are aware that people will not go into temporary accommodation if it means leaving their beloved companion outside, and absolutely rightly so. So, we are working on making sure that we have provision for people who have a beloved pet that they're with. You quite rightly say that often they're their only companion, trusted companion, so it's absolutely right that we need to make sure that people can take that trusted companion with them into whatever accommodation they get. And that's where Housing First comes in, because we're not talking about temporary accommodation; we're talking about permanent, secure accommodation for people where their pet is welcome and can make its home as well. So, I absolutely agree with that. I'm looking forward to the short debate. We are working very hard to make sure that people understand what the pet signifies and why it's important to keep them together. 245

I would like to welcome your statement today, Minister, and, indeed, the publication of the strategy. As you are aware, rough-sleeping, and, indeed, the wider issue of homelessness, is a key concern for the equalities committee, which I chair, and I know that next week we will have the opportunity to ask you some more questions and put forward some more viewpoints with regard to these matters.246

But, as far as today's concerned, Minister, I would like to make a few observations and ask a few questions at this stage. Over the last few weeks, the committee has met with those with lived experience of rough-sleeping and homelessness and, indeed, key stakeholders concerned with these matters, and it was very powerful to hear from them their personal stories and that lived experience. They had lots of practical suggestions, actually, as to how things might be moved forward and I'm very pleased to say that many of those do chime with what you've outlined today. I'm sure that the composition of your working group and their input has been absolutely key, as far as that is concerned, with their on-the-ground experience.247

Two matters that we heard of particularly from our engagement over the last few weeks were intentionality and local connection and the barriers that they can erect to people and their ability or otherwise to access the support that they need in the place that they need it and at the time that they need it. So, I'd be interested to hear from you as to what action Welsh Government may take to address those particular matters, and, as you've said, it's clear that there needs to be a balance between immediate actions and, obviously, we're faced with a winter looming near on the horizon now and a longer-term, more preventative approach. So, I'd be interested to hear from you, really, how we get that balance between the long-term, more systemic changes that are needed to support services and the very pressing challenges of the winter that's almost with us. As well as that, Minister, I'd be grateful if you could address the sustainability issues, really, as part of that, because, obviously, we need sustainable change that can give some comfort to all of us, and particularly those who are homeless or rough-sleeping or at risk of those, that we will get to grips with this problem in a sustainable way that can prevent these problems reoccurring.248

Yes, I completely agree with that analysis. When the action plan is published next week from the group, you'll see that they address both intentionality and local connection, and they make some proposals for us to be able to deal with that in the short term and then in the longer term. And, as I said, we have a positive response to it. I only saw it yesterday, but I'll be putting a detailed response to that next week. I hope that's before I come to the committee so that we will see it, but, if not, I'll certainly be able to share it with the committee.249

I met with Jon Sparkes, who chairs that group, only yesterday to talk through what we can do, and he identified many of the things that you've just talked about there. We do need to have a whole-system approach, but there's no getting away from it: the fundamental difficulty here is people falling into poverty. So, we do need to do something about that as well, and there are major problems with the welfare system as it currently operates that are causing problems.250

One of the things we've been wrestling with is what we can do to shore that up in Wales, and we've been working very hard with the group to look at some of those issues, which I'm happy to explore with the committee also. So, there'll be three things to say, really: what we can do in the short term to make sure that we minimise rough-sleeping this Christmas—I'm not prepared to say that we can eradicate it until I'm sure, but we certainly want to minimise it as much as is humanly possible—what we can do to shift the temporary accommodation solutions away from things that we all find unacceptable into more acceptable things in that short term; and what we can do to remove some of the unintended legislative barriers in the short term and then in the longer term.251

But it's also important to put it in the context that we are in the process of implementing the renting homes Act. We've got the fees Act through this Senedd. We have radically changed the face of housing in Wales, and those changes, as they bed in, will also make a difference to prevent the slide into homelessness, because it's about the acute intervention, but it's also about prevention—so, stopping the slide. And, as I said during my statement, we have to address both ends of that at the same time or we will just be stemming an ever-increasing flow.