As many of you will be aware, we have been working with Cymorth Cymru and other homelessness and housing charities to protect crucial funding from the Welsh Government’s budget for the next financial year.
We particularly focused on the Minister for Climate Change’s portfolio (where housing and homelessness currently sits).
Without an increase, it puts more strain on all homelessness services which ultimately leads to more pressure on other public services like the NHS and the police.
“The Welsh Government Draft Budget Statement is extremely worrying to charities like us, who are commissioned to provide homelessness and housing support services.
Whilst we recognise the difficult decisions the Welsh Government is facing, we at The Wallich and our partners in the sector, are facing the ever-increasing costs of running vital services for some of the most marginalised people in our communities. Funding is failing to meet the growing demand for our services.
By freezing the Housing Support Grant, which funds these services, the future remains bleak and uncertain for charities like ours and the people we support.
We share the Welsh Government’s ambition to end homelessness in Wales. However, without an increase to the HSG at least in line with inflation, we know that this ambition cannot be achieved and the people who need our support will ultimately suffer.
With a reduced and stretched homelessness sector, we believe that the rightful investment in other public services like the NHS will unfortunately be futile. As more people experience homelessness and vulnerable housing for longer, more pressure will come through the doors of public services.
We must ask the Welsh Government to reconsider its 2024 /25 draft budget. We urge you to think again and increase the Housing Support Grant in real terms.”