Senedd Cross Party Group on Housing

15^th May 2023

Attendees:

Name	Organisation	Name	Organisation
Mabon ap Gywnfor MS	Senedd Cymru (Chair)	Elizabeth Taylor	TPAS Cymru
Ruth Power	Shelter Cymru	Sara Burch	Monmouthshire Council
Jennie Bibbings	Shelter Cymru	Amy Lee Pierce	The Wallich
Matthew Palmer	Shelter Cymru	Kathryn Morgan	Shared Lives Plus
Wendy Dearden	Shelter Cymru	Lu Thomas	Gypsies & Travellers Wales
Elen Grantham	Shelter Cymru	Philipa Richards	Senedd
Ross Thomas	Tai Pawb	Mark Harris	House Builders Federation
Bill Rowlands	EYHC	Carolyn Thomas	Senedd
Matthew Dicks	CIH Cymru	Donna Oldfield	Gypsies & Travellers Wales
Cerys Clark	CIH Cymru	Faye Patton	Care and Repair Cymru
Cllr Alun Llewelyn	Neath Port Talbot Council	Cllr David Daniels	Torfaen Council
Ryland Doyle	Office of Mike Hedges MS	Gareth Lyn Montes	Welsh Refugee Council
Robert Smith	Cardiff University	Thomas Hollick	The Wallich
Tim Thomas	Property Mark	Natallie Thompson	Newport Council
Carys Fon Williams	Cyngor Sir Gwynedd	Carolyn Johnstone	Salvation Army
Becky Ricketts	Care and Repair Cymru	Bethany Howells	Cardiff University
Ceri Cryer	Age Cymru	Casey Edwards	Cwmpas
David Bithell	Wrexham County Council	Andy Thompson	Powys Council
Katie Dalton	Cymorth Cymru	Cllr Emily Owen	Conwy County Council
Manon Roberts	Public Health Wales	Cllr Shayne Cook	Caerphilly County Borough Council
Jasmine Harris	Crisis

Agenda Item	Notes
Chair’s Welcome	Mabon ap Gwynfor MS welcomed attendees to the meeting, outlined the agenda for the session and handed over to our presenters.
The Links Between Housing and Health	The presentations of each speaker are provided as separate documents. Presentation 1: The State of Older People’s Housing in Wales Becky Ricketts and Faye Patton, Care & Repair Cymru Report can be found here: https://careandrepair.org.uk/housing2023/ Care and Repair conduct Healthy Homes Checks in older people’s homes and have recently had 3 main services/project focuses: 1. Hospital to a Healthier Home 2. Managing Better 3. Is Your Home Warm Enough? There is a significant demand for Care & Repair services and the agency is increasingly seeing more complex needs and major disrepair issues. Home visits often uncover additional issues and multiple complex problems that are bigger than initially thought. Photographs of disrepair that were shared in the presentation were shocking. People learned to cope with living at home during the pandemic lockdowns and got used to managing and living with disrepair until it became normalised. The rising cost of materials and the lack of tradespeople available to do jobs are major issues for the agency and their clients. Presentation 2: Mental Health on Hold – the Impact of Poor Housing on Mental Health. Amy Lee Pierce and Thomas Hollick, The Wallich Report can be found here: https://thewallich.com/campaigns/mental-health-on-hold/ The presentation focused on the mental health crisis in homelessness. Through staff surveys, the Wallich identified that the process of accessing crisis mental health support was difficult, resulting in increased demand on emergency services. Methodology, key statistics and finding were shared. Between 219-2022 the Wallich dealt with a total 4,216 incidents that often resulted in a crisis situation. The reality is that there are countless barriers to people in mental health crisis being able to access services quickly. The Trauma Informed Framework for Wales should also be applied to mental health services.
Discussion Space	Reports Ross Thomas (Tai Pawb) - welcomed the reports. Housing is a determinant of health but this is not coming through in policy – there needs to be a focus on this. There is an accessible housing crisis on top of the housing crisis. The right to adequate housing should be embedded as a human right. Sarah Burch (Monmouthshire) – is there a role for equity release in home improvements?  Becky Ricketts – Care & Repair focus on improving homes without people having to forego them. Some may need the value of their homes at a later date to pay for care. Jennie Bibbings (Shelter Cymru) – We should remember that the suitability of housing impacts upon mental health. Thomas Hollick – Support needs to be integrated into Housing First plans.   Katie Dalton (Cymorth Cymru) – the responsibility of Rapid Rehousing is falling on teams that are already struggling. There needs to be capital investment and a buy in from across the board. Welsh Government Budget 2023/24 The budget was discussed at the last meeting and has now been settled. Issues were raised by letter with the Finance Minister, including: · Decarbonisation of housing stock funding – funding was increased · Housing Support Grant – not increased Katie Dalton – It is disappointing for the sector not to receive an increase in Housing Support Grant and there will inevitably be an impact on the sector, which is worrying. Support providers are now in negotiations with Local Authority Commissioners. The reality is likely to be reduced services at a time when demand already outstrips supply. It will also mean staff reductions. Suppliers cannot afford to run their services. ACTION: it was agreed that a follow up letter would be sent asking the government how they will assist the sector.
Close of Meeting	Mabon ap Gwynfor MS thanked attendees and speakers. Mabon reminded everyone that minutes will be made available by Shelter Cymru in due course and closed the meeting.
Date of the Next Meeting	Monday 2^nd October 2023, 9.30-10.30am via Teams