, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Thank you very much, Chair. Well, this is very relevant to discussions we had and I fed back on with the families I met in September, and they asked us about a specific recommendation in the 'Anti-racist Wales Action Plan', which was to have a pilot programme…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Diolch yn fawr, Sioned. There shouldn't be, because, of course, this has come right back from the legislation that we passed in 2014. At that time, of course, it was very pioneering that we had that legislation in Wales. There wasn't anything like that that…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Diolch yn fawr, Jane. I've already mentioned the fact that I'm actively engaging with local authorities as a Minister. I think it's crucially important that it's Minister to cabinet member—in fact, I've met with leaders as well. We've got to address this. So…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
I think the staffing issues aren't just confined to the Welsh Government. There have been issues in terms of recruitment. I think the time has come where we stop saying that this is to do with the pandemic, because we've had plenty of time for us all to get…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Could I just acknowledge, as I did in my written statement, that there have been challenges in terms of staffing issues? But I think we have some very positive news, really, about the fact that the team has been strengthened and re-established and we've got a…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Thank you very much, Chair. I think you've come to the absolute priority, not just the priority in terms of what was laid down in legislation. Can I say, again, that I welcome the opportunity to give this update? In my written evidence to you as a committee…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
The provision of sites for Gypsy, Roma and Travellers - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Thank you very much. If I could introduce Amelia John, who's the director of communities and tackling poverty, and Stuart Evans, deputy director in the same division.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Thank you very much.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
It's a pressure—it's an absolute pressure. One of the positive things that we have done with the UK Government and Scottish Government is to engage in an English for speakers of other languages scheme, which you probably are aware of. In fact, I think I've…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
We would like to—. The tariff is a much better way of funding this initiative, which is a UK-wide initiative, in terms of our response to the plight of Ukrainian citizens. And, actually, of course, local authorities have been in a very difficult situation as…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Thank you very much, Vikki. And it's useful to have that feedback as well from the discussions that have been held in Finance Committee. I think it is useful just to clarify the funding that is going to local authorities. You mentioned the £8.2 million…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Well, I think it is a challenge. That's where, in a sense, we're entering wider policy areas in terms of the ways in which local authorities are working, and Ruth, taking the lead on this as director, looking at dispersal arrangements and schemes for refugees…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Right. So, do you want to say anything more about the ways in which local authorities have used this money, Jo?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Well, it was very important that we did move forward to find ways in which we could help Ukrainian guests who were in our welcome centres and initial accommodation for the next step, whether it was to be more permanent accommodation in the private rented…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
I think probably, Joel, you know our view on that, but I'll say seriously, first of all, we're no longer in contract with CTM, as has been said, but we would not use barges or vessels or ships. And, actually, this option was before us way back at the…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Yes, absolutely.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Well, we are aware of that FOI, and, obviously, you've drawn attention to it, but do you want to answer the question about what it's meant in terms of finances with that particular contractor?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
I think that's a really important point, because it is about timing, isn't it? I mean, one of the issues has been—and I think you said it, Jo—that some have remained in temporary accommodation because they've been hoping they'd be able to go back to Ukraine…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
I'll ask Ruth to answer specifically about those two named—. You've named two centres. I've been to one of them, in fact, myself, to visit. I've just given you the breakdown, that we've gone from 40 to 10, but this partly is to do with contracts and location…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Those are quite good—. I mean, they're not anecdotal, but there are obviously some quite good reasons that we can—. And I'm sure we'll get to the point where we can give something a bit more evidence based.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Well, it's the reasons. Are there any themes coming out? Could we look at this, or have you done so already, Jo?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Diolch yn fawr, Sioned. I think this is something where it hasn't needed to be used very much, so there are very small numbers. But I think it's something we could take back and perhaps we can look at that and come back to the committee. If we got to the…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
Fortunately, in a way, it's thanks to the local authorities—. Everybody has had a huge amount of casework engagement. Perhaps I could take the opportunity to thank all of those housing support officers on the front line—and you've all got them in all of your…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
We do have this refusal policy—it’s called the offers of accommodation refusals policy. We developed this earlier this year and piloted it with local authorities. This is something you don’t want to have to use. The pilot, I think, was very helpful. I can’t…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Housing Ukrainian Refugees - Evidence from the Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
I think what's been good is that some local authorities have been very active, and I'd like to pay tribute, not just to Cardiff and Vale, which helped with the Afghan refugees, but also Blaenau Gwent council, which had a welcome centre and was very successful…
