Inquiry into rough sleeping in Wales
Inquiry into rough sleeping in Wales
Inquiry5
In
December 2017, the Equality, Local
Government and Communities Committee agreed to
undertake a short inquiry into rough sleeping in Wales.
Terms of reference
The terms of reference for the inquiry were to
consider:
- the effectiveness of Part 2 of the
Housing (Wales) Act in preventing rough sleeping;
- the scale of rough sleeping in Wales and
the adequacy of data;
- the causes of rough sleeping and the
apparent recent increases in rough sleeping;
- the effectiveness and availability of
services including emergency accommodation; and
- the steps to prevent and tackle rough
sleeping in Wales.
Evidence
gathering
The
Committee received 22 written submissions and held six oral evidence sessions
with stakeholders and the Minister for Housing and Regeneration. The written
responses and a schedule of oral evidence can be viewed below.
Report
The Committee published its report: Life
on the streets: preventing and tackling rough sleeping in Wales in April
2018.
On
publication of the report, John
Griffiths MS, Chair of the Committee said:
“We
heard from a range of organisations who support rough sleepers and from experts
who have completed extensive research in this subject area. Perhaps more
importantly, we heard from people who have first-hand experience of life on the
streets but have since been supported into accommodation. They gave moving
accounts of how they ended up sleeping rough.”
The
Welsh Government laid its response
to the report in June 2018. The report
and government response was debated in Plenary on 13 June
2018.
Follow-up
work
Following
the publication of the Welsh Government’s Rough
Sleeping Action Plan in February 2018, the Committee held a follow-up scrutiny session
with the Minister for Housing and Local Government.
At
its meeting on 5 June 2019, the Committee agreed to undertake additional follow
up work into rough sleeping in Wales. Consequently, the Committee held a
stakeholder event and a follow up scrutiny
session with the Minister for Housing and Local Government.
On
Wednesday 13 November, following issues raised in previous meetings, the
Committee held an evidence
session looking at the services and support available to rough sleepers
with co-occurring disorders.
Following
this work, the Committee published a short report on mental
health and substance misuse in rough sleepers (PDF, 194KB) on Thursday 19
December.
On
publication of the report, John
Griffiths MS, Chair of the Committee said:
“There
is no question that we are facing a rough sleeping crisis and there is not
currently enough money in the system to deliver the significant shift needed to
tackle the problem. However, it’s also clear that there are many structural
problems across Wales preventing us from eradicating rough sleeping.
Homelessness cannot be prevented through housing alone, there is a role for all
public services in tackling the issue.”
The
Welsh Government laid their response
(PDF, 492KB) to the Committee’s report “Rough sleeping follow up: Mental health
and substance misuse services” on 5 February 2020.
A
debate on the report and response was held in Plenary
on 12 February 2020.
During
the coronavirus pandemic, the Committee held an evidence session on 14
July 2020 to see how the virus impacted homelessness and rough sleeping.
Keeping
in touch
If
you'd like to know more about the work of the Equality, Local Government and
Communities, please view its homepage,
follow its Twitter account or
contact the team that supports the Committee at SeneddCommunities@senedd.wales
Business type: Committee Inquiry
Reason considered: Senedd Business;
Status: Complete
First published: 05/01/2018
Documents
- Inquiry into rough sleeping in Wales
- Schedule of oral evidence PDF 112 KB View as HTML (2) 26 KB
- RS01 - Welsh Local Government Association PDF 117 KB View as HTML (3) 29 KB
- RS02 - Cardiff Council Response PDF 4 MB
- RS03 - Wallich PDF 198 KB View as HTML (5) 87 KB
- RS04 - Huggard PDF 552 KB
- RS05 - Llamau PDF 169 KB View as HTML (7) 14 KB
- RS06 - Shelter Cymru PDF 270 KB View as HTML (8) 25 KB
- RS07 - Crisis PDF 2 MB
- RS08 - South Wales Police PDF 54 KB View as HTML (10) 14 KB
- RS09 - Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service PDF 618 KB
- RS10 - Wales Community Rehabilitation Company PDF 115 KB
- RS11 - Dr Peter Mackie PDF 784 KB
- RS12 - Welsh Refugee Council PDF 888 KB
- RS13 - Cymorth Cymru PDF 863 KB
- RS14 - The Big Issue Cymru PDF 1018 KB
- RS15 - Salvation Army PDF 574 KB
- RS16 - Marie Curie PDF 720 KB
- RS17 - Chartered Institute of Housing PDF 305 KB View as HTML (19) 53 KB
- RS18 - Community Housing Cymru PDF 293 KB View as HTML (20) 50 KB
- RS19 - Pobl Group PDF 440 KB
- RS20 - Welsh Government PDF 619 KB
- RS21a - North Wales Police PDF 46 KB
- RS22a - Simon Inkson PDF 80 KB
- Rough Sleeping Action Plan
- Additional information from Powys County Council
- Additional information from South Wales Police
- Additional information from the Wales Community Rehabilitation Company
- Additional information from North Wales Police PDF 672 KB
- Additional information from the Welsh Local Government Association PDF 1 MB
- Additional information from Dr Peter Mackie
- Additional information from Shelter Cymru
- Additional information from the Salvation Army (25 January 2018 )
- Correspondence
- Letter from the Minister for Housing and Regeneration (9 January 2018)
- Letter from the Chair of the Petitions Committee (31 January 2018)
- Notes of Committee visits (1 February 2018)
- Letter from South Wales Police to Mick Antoniw AM (23 January 2018) PDF 890 KB
- Letter from the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee (19 February 2018)
- Note of visit to the Wallich
- Welsh Government response to the report (13 June 2018 )
- Letter to the Minister for Housing and Regeneration (21 June 2018) PDF 92 KB
- Letter from the Minister for Housing and Regeneration (18 July 2018)
- Follow-up letter to the Minister for Housing and Local Government (23 April 2019) PDF 92 KB
- Letter from the Minister for Housing and Local Government (22 May 2019) PDF 346 KB
- Letter from Llamau (10 October 2019) PDF 2 MB
- Letter to the Minister for Housing and Local Government (4 November 2019)
- Letter from the Minister for Housing and Local Government (29 November 2019) PDF 265 KB
- Letter from Arfon Jones, North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner regarding the Committee's report on mental health and substance misuse services for rough sleepers (13 January 2020) PDF 1 MB
- Letter from the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee (13 October 2020) PDF 109 KB
- Letter to the Minister for Housing and Local Government (22 January 2021) PDF 205 KB
- Letter from the Minister for Housing and Local Government (17 February 2021) PDF 322 KB