Clwyd West MS and Chair of the Senedd’s Cross Party Group on the Armed Forces and Cadets, Darren Millar, has called for Welsh Government action to ensure that homelessness for veterans can be addressed.
Following yesterday’s Statement by the Minister for Housing and Local Government on Homelessness, Darren expressed concern that the Welsh Government is not collecting data regarding those who've been rehomed during the pandemic, and what proportion of those are people from the veteran community, and said organisations who help the veteran community need to know where the need lies.
Speaking via ‘Zoom’ from his home in North Wales, Darren said:
“I am disappointed that the Welsh Government was not collecting data regarding those who've been rehomed during the pandemic and what proportion of those are people from the veteran community.
“You'll be aware that there's a great deal of good work being done by charities like Alabaré with their Homes for Veterans here in Wales. They have a home just down the road from me here in Colwyn Bay, and they're prepared to do even more, provided they know where the need actually lies.
“So, can I ask what work will you do with local authorities now in order to try to track what proportion of those who are currently in temporary accommodation are people from the veteran community so that you can engage further with the organisations like Alabaré that want to do more and are simply looking for the places in which they can develop more of these successful facilities in Wales?”
The Minister told Darren that “we don't centrally collect the data” but that she would be happy to investigate whether it's an easy thing for the Welsh Government to do.
She added: “I would be reluctant to divert resource into it, but if it's something that we could do relatively easily, I'm certainly happy to look into that.”