HOMELESS people and rough sleepers must be given top priority for housing, a Welsh Assembly report has said.

The report by the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee, which is chaired by Newport East AM John Griffiths, has called on the Welsh Government to abolish the ‘priority need’ factor in allocating housing. This is applied to people such as families with young children, pregnant women, teenagers, and anyone considered 'vulnerable' as a result of old age or mental or physical disability, as well as those fleeing domestic abuse and violence and gives them a higher priority on housing waiting lists.

Doing this, the committee said, would give all homeless people and rough sleepers equal rights to housing. Until then, the committee has called for ‘priority need’ to be applied to all homeless people and rough sleepers, pushing them up the waiting list for housing.

Labour AM Mr Griffiths said: “The number of people sleeping rough in Wales is growing.

"As a society, this is something we simply shouldn’t accept."

He added: “What our inquiry has found is that the criteria used to identify those who are in ‘priority need’ of accommodation is such that even the most vulnerable people within our communities are falling through the cracks.

“We want the Welsh Government to introduce a phased approach to abolishing priority need, which would start by ensuring that everyone sleeping rough is considered in priority need, and is entitled to support and housing.”

And, in his introduction to the report, Mr Griffiths said: “It is difficult, if not impossible, for most of us to imagine bedding down on the street at night – waking up on a cold pavement, with little more to shelter us from the elements than a sleeping bag or blanket.

“But that is the harsh reality for hundreds of people in Wales, with all the suffering, risks and dangers involved.

“This is an indictment of the way we organise and conduct ourselves as a society, country and state.

“It should not be a 21st century reality in the UK – the sixth biggest economy in the world.”

The most recent assessment found there are an estimated 345 rough sleepers on the streets of Wales. Of these, 22 are in Newport, 19 in Caerphilly and six in Monmouthshire. By far the greatest number are in Cardiff.

Welcoming the report, Major David Emery of the Salvation Army said: “Rough sleeping and homelessness are complicated issues.

“There are many reasons why people can find themselves in these situations including poverty, relationship and family breakdowns, unemployment and ill health, and, as such, there cannot be a one-size fits all approach to successfully tackling rough sleeping, homelessness and their causes."

He added rough sleepers are often "trapped in a vicious cycle".

“With rough sleeping on the increase, as indicated by the committee’s report, it is perhaps more important than ever now that we are able to provide people who are sleeping on the streets of Wales with the tailored support they need to break out of that cycle, to move off the streets and into settled accommodation," he said.

“While we will never be able to say that rough sleeping has been eradicated in Wales, or, indeed, elsewhere, it’s clear that the only way we will get close to achieving that goal is a multi-agency strategic approach involving the expertise of organisations including The Salvation Army and other homelessness service providers, the Welsh Government and local authorities across the country.”