Madam,

I would like to respond to Graham Hogg’s party political critique of my comments in a recent BBC Politics Live broadcast, which discussed homelessness (‘Wasted opportunity as MP embarked on point-scoring’, Letters, 3 January).

The programme provided a rare UK network opportunity to draw attention to how Labour say one thing in opposition in Westminster and do something completely different in Cardiff, where they have held power for almost 20 years.

Rough sleeping has increased by 63 per cent in Wales between 2012 and 2017. This is a lower rise than the increase of 120 per cent in England, but considerably higher than in Scotland, where rough sleeping numbers have actually fallen by six per cent.

Measures to combat homelessness are devolved. Scotland has the same powers as Wales but Scotland has more inclusive homelessness laws which guarantee a right to settled accommodation to all homeless people, including young single men. Under Labour in Wales, only those people in ‘priority need’ - such as families with dependent children - are offered housing.

Rising homelessness is a direct result of social security cuts and especially benefit sanctions, and also budget cuts to public services. In Westminster, Plaid Cymru, SNP, Labour and Green MPs are united against Tory austerity financial cuts. But Labour’s Housing (Wales) Act 2014 has contributed to an increase in homelessness.

Sleeping rough does not provide automatic priority need status and, in practice, rough sleepers are unlikely to be found in priority need.

The Welsh Government in its Rough Sleeping Action Plan has refused to commit to tackling this very visible problem. They have set out “to consider the case for modifying priority need groups by 2020”, i.e giving rough sleepers a clear priority need for housing. This lacks both vision and humanity, and could even mean two winters of rough sleepers being turned away by local authorities before any action is taken.

Some campaigners, including Shelter Cymru, are calling on the Welsh Government to follow the Scottish Government by abolishing priority need altogether and to pursue a “housing first” model in which being housed by local authorities is not attached to conditions or ranked.

One key deficiency of the 2014 Act was that it only required local authorities to assist those who actively seek assistance. Many rough sleepers and people at risk of rough sleeping will not seek out services, often because of mental health problems.

The 2014 Act provides that a local authority can end its homelessness duties towards an applicant if it is “satisfied that the applicant is unreasonably failing to co-operate with the authority”. This makes it easy for local authorities to wash their hands of more complicated cases.

Successive UK government welfare reforms will take over £1 billion annually out of the pockets of low-income households in Wales by 2020/21. They have a disproportionate impact in areas of Wales that have suffered from long-term industrial decline.

The Labour party in Wales has had every opportunity to recognise that our country suffers disproportionately from the Tories’ austerity agenda. But the very policies which Corbyn’s shadow cabinet promote in Westminster are scorned here where his party is in power. I think the people of Wales deserve the truth.

Yours etc,

Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru, Westminster Leader, Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Member of Parliament.

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