Shadow Housing Minister Mark Isherwood MS has this afternoon emphasised the vital role that services funded by the Housing Support Grant play in preventing homelessness and reducing costs, and has called for it to be increased.
Mr Isherwood raised the matter when questioning the Housing Minister in the Welsh Parliament this afternoon, highlighting the crucial work of homelessness and housing support workers throughout the pandemic.
He said:
“COVID has shown us just how important it is to properly fund services that take pressure away from statutory services. Services funded by the Housing Support Grant play a vital role in preventing homelessness and reducing costs, particularly to health and social services.
“Homelessness and housing support workers have been at the forefront of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, having helped over 4,000 people receive emergency accommodation and support, as well as continuing to support thousands of others to avoid homelessness. In order for this to be sustained, there needs to be a large increase in the Housing Support Grant in the Welsh Government's budget, taking account of the fact there has been no inflationary increase in this grant for 10 years. Are you able to tell us whether this will happen?”
He added:
“In your statement of 23rd November, you accepted in principle the recommendations in the third and final report of the Homelessness Action Group, including taking forward earlier intervention and preventative activity so that people do not become homeless in the first place. Evidence shows that nearly 50 per cent of single homeless people first became homeless before the age of 21, highlighting the need for earlier intervention and preventative activity focused on youth homelessness to significantly reduce the number of homeless people overall. The Homelessness Action Group’s report makes it clear that an increase in the Housing Support Grant is needed in order to set Wales on a path to end homelessness.
“Next week's budget is therefore an opportunity to turn that into reality. Frontline homelessness and housing support staff have been exceptional during this pandemic, but we know that reductions in real-term budgets mean that they are in desperate need of extra funding to ensure they get the recognition and the support they need.
“Given that the Housing Support Grant now goes to Local Authorities for distribution, what assurance at all can you provide that they will receive an increase at Local Authority level in the Grant, and will you encourage Local Authorities to commission services that provide this key recognition and support for staff working in such challenging circumstances?”
The Minister said she could not pre-empt the Welsh Government budget which will be published in draft on 21 December.