Ending homelessness: a high level action plan 2021 to 2026

The purpose of this consultation is to seek views on the draft Ending Homelessness Action Plan. The Action Plan aims to direct activity at a high level, for the work required by the Welsh Government and its partners to end homelessness in Wales. We want the Action Plan to be flexible tool that can be adapted to meet the changing circumstances which may affect homelessness prevention policy and practice. It will be relevant particularly to the current Welsh Government term, but we also want ongoing work to be built around it.

The Action Plan draws on the Welsh Government’s Strategy for Preventing and Ending Homelessness and the work of the expert Homelessness Action Group (HAG) and the three reports it produced. The HAG engaged extensively with a wide range of stakeholders, including people who have had personal experiences of homelessness. The Action Plan and the consultation on it is not therefore intended to revisit the well-considered recommendations of the HAG.

Ahead of this consultation, an early draft of the Action Plan has been shared with members of the Homelessness and Housing Support National Advisory Board, many of whose members participated on the work of the HAG.

The context for homelessness prevention work has changed since the beginning of the pandemic, with the ‘no-one left out’ approach resulting in over 12,400 people being supported into temporary accommodation since March 2020. The pandemic has therefore provided a much clearer picture of the scale of previously hidden homelessness in Wales, as well as the previously unmet support needs. This has led to increased investment from the Welsh Government, with over £185m invested in housing support and homelessness services – and a record £250m in social housing in this year alone.

Whilst the impact of the pandemic has significantly changed the landscape across all aspects of our lives in Wales, the strategic direction set out in our 2019 Strategy, and supported by the recommendations within the Homelessness Action Group reports, remains unchanged. The actions taken by the Welsh Government throughout the pandemic and the transformation we have begun in our homelessness services has been informed by the recommendations of the Action Group.

Added to the change of context brought about by the pandemic, which may have brought out more clearly the true numbers of people in Wales who are experiencing homelessness, is the direction given by the Welsh Ministers that there will be no return to the pre-pandemic approach to preventing homelessness. The drive to end homelessness in Wales is reflected through the Programme for Government commitment to fundamentally reform homelessness provision to focus on prevention and rapid rehousing. There is now an opportunity to meet this objective, given that so many people engaging with services either for the first time or on a more consistent basis due to the pandemic. Activity associated with the Action Plan will be done in partnership with local authorities and other key organisations who support people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

The high level nature of the Action Plan means it has been designed to prioritise a limited number of key steps, which will have the biggest possible impact on ending homelessness in Wales. There will be other work programmes and projects across Wales that will supplement the Action Plan and sit within each action. The views of stakeholders are needed to understand whether a fair and balanced approach is being taken through policy focus of the action plan and in the actions themselves.

Question 1

The Action Plan is split into four key areas of focus (Partnerships, Rare, Brief and Non-recurring). Do you agree that these are the right areas of focus / themes to focus the plan around?

[Yes, No, Partly]

Please explain why you consider the areas of focus / themes are right or if you think a different approach is needed?

Question 2

Do the actions in the Action Plan reflect the most effective high level steps that will enable the Welsh Government and its partners to end homelessness in Wales?

[Yes, No, Partly]

How can they be improved?

Question 3

Does the Action Plan align with other relevant areas of policy and practice?

[Yes, No, Partly]

Please explain why it aligns well or outline how it could be made better?

Question 4

We have developed a number of key actions and milestones. Do you feel these are the right ones?

[Yes, No, Partly]

Question 5

Do you think there are any key areas for action not captured by the high level actions? If so, what would they be?

Question 6

We would like to know your views on the effects that the Ending Homelessness Action Plan would have on the Welsh language, specifically on opportunities for people to use Welsh and on treating the Welsh language no less favourably than English. 

What effects do you think there would be? How could positive effects be increased, or negative effects be mitigated? 

Question 7

Please also explain how you believe the proposed plan could be formulated or changed so as to have positive effects or increased positive effects on opportunities for people to use the Welsh language and on treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language, and no adverse effects on opportunities for people to use the Welsh language and on treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language. 

Question 8

We have asked a number of specific questions. If you have any related issues which we have not specifically addressed, please use this space to report them

Responses to consultations are likely to be made public, on the internet or in a report. If you would prefer your response to remain anonymous, please tick here: £

The Welsh Government will be data controller for any personal data you provide as part of your response to the consultation. Welsh Ministers have statutory powers they will rely on to process this personal data which will enable them to make informed decisions about how they exercise their public functions. Any response you send us will be seen in full by Welsh Government staff dealing with the issues which this consultation is about or planning future consultations. Where the Welsh Government undertakes further analysis of consultation responses then this work may be commissioned to be carried out by an accredited third party (e.g. a research organisation or a consultancy company). Any such work will only be undertaken under contract. Welsh Government’s standard terms and conditions for such contracts set out strict requirements for the processing and safekeeping of personal data.

In order to show that the consultation was carried out properly, the Welsh Government intends to publish a summary of the responses to this document. We may also publish responses in full. Normally, the name and address (or part of the address) of the person or organisation who sent the response are published with the response. If you do not want your name or address published, please tell us this in writing when you send your response. We will then redact them before publishing.

You should also be aware of our responsibilities under Freedom of Information legislation

If your details are published as part of the consultation response then these published reports will be retained indefinitely. Any of your data held otherwise by Welsh Government will be kept for no more than three years.

Your rights

Under the data protection legislation, you have the right:

• to be informed of the personal data held about you and to access it
• to require us to rectify inaccuracies in that data
• to (in certain circumstances) object to or restrict processing
• for (in certain circumstances) your data to be ‘erased’
• to (in certain circumstances) data portability
• to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who is our independent regulator for data protection.

For further details about the information the Welsh Government holds and its use, or if you want to exercise your rights under the GDPR, please see contact details below:

Data Protection Officer:
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
CARDIFF
CF10 3NQ

e-mail: Data.ProtectionOfficer@gov.wales

The contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office are:

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Tel: 01625 545 745 or
0303 123 1113

Website: https://ico.org.uk/