Commenting on the Labour Welsh Government’s latest announcement of plans to eliminate street homelessness, the Shadow Minister for Housing and Communities, Mark Isherwood MS, said:

“The COVID-19 pandemic presented the Welsh Labour Government with a wake-up call to end street homelessness once and for all. Today’s announcement – of £50 million to be used on support projects – could help to achieve this goal.

“Speaking in the Senedd in February, even before the pandemic, I highlighted the difficulty rough sleepers had in accessing integrated substance misuse and mental health services, and concerns about the level of integrated support for rough sleepers with co-occurring disorders, during the Debate on the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee’s follow-up report on ‘Rough sleeping’.

“And just last month, the Auditor General warned that up to £209 million is wasted annually reacting to but not solving rough sleeping. The report also found that services were not always joined up and people were not being helped when they needed it. As I said then, “The crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for public bodies to start addressing weaknesses in partnership working in order to tackle rough sleeping long-term - and they must not be allowed to waste it”.

“In addition, I urge the Labour Welsh Government to put party politics to the side and to complement today’s funding by implementing the Welsh Conservatives’ bold 10-point action plan to tackle homelessness in Wales – which includes legislating to make housing a basic human right.”

ENDS

More information on the Welsh Conservatives’ 10-point plan can be found here: https://bit.ly/2SixyeM