Oral Answers to Questions

Wayne David Excerpts

Monday 22nd January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paul Sweeney (Glasgow North East) (Lab/Co-op)]

13. What assessment he has made of trends in the number of homeless people sleeping rough between 2010 and 2016.

[Wayne David (Caerphilly) (Lab)]

17. What assessment he has made of trends in the number of homeless people sleeping rough between 2010 and 2016.

[Eleanor Smith (Wolverhampton South West) (Lab)]

22. What assessment he has made of trends in the number of homeless people sleeping rough between 2010 and 2016.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Wheeler]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, which rather seemed to be about a devolved matter. As the nation gets to grips with this issue, the rough sleeping advisory panel, which I will chair, will include key figures from local and central Government, as well as homelessness charities. The panel’s role will be to support the taskforce in developing a cross-Government strategy to halve rough sleeping by 2022, and to eliminate it altogether by 2027. The first meeting of the advisory panel will take place on 1 February.

[Wayne David]

Earlier this month, the Wales Audit Office produced a report stating its belief that the Government’s welfare policies were having a detrimental impact on homelessness in Wales. Does the Minister accept that what is true in Wales is also true in England?

[Mrs Wheeler]

I like truths across the whole UK. The interesting issue will be the amount of money and the packages that we can put in place to spread funding for affordable housing across the nation. That is something that we are determined to do.