WIDER POLICIES
Welsh Advice and Support Policy

Key Policies:

• 2002 Homelessness Act
• Extending entitlement: supporting young people in Wales
• Youth Gateway

As in England, local authorities in Wales have a duty to provide advice and assistance to those officially recognised as homeless under the 2002 Homelessness Act, which also stipulates a minimum level of advice to be given (see English Advice and Support Policy section.

In addition, there is a specialist advice service for young adults (aged 16-19) which encompasses homelessness but no equivalent for older adults.

The Welsh Assembly is trying to promote good quality housing advice through the All-Wales advice forum, quality marks and through trying to promote independent housing advice services.

General housing/homelessness advice

The Welsh Assembly views advice and assistance as a critical part of homelessness prevention.   In addition to improving local authority advice services, the Assembly is keen to promote the availability of independent and informed advice and advocacy services.  Both local authority and independent providers are expected to aim towards the housing advice quality mark standard accredited by the Legal Services Commission.  Funding is made available on the basis of reaching quality standards.

The Welsh Assembly has also set up an All-Wales housing advice forum, with Shelter Cymru, LSC and Citizens Advice Cymru, which advises the Assembly on future developments, in particular how to improve housing advice.

Advice for young people

There is a youth policy in Wales which addresses a wide variety of need, including (in theory) homelessness.  The overarching policy - Extending entitlement: supporting young people in Wales - sets out ten key entitlements for young people aged between 16 and 25.  These are delivered by Young People's Partnerships, which operate at a local authority level.  A key group within the Young People's Partnerships is Careers Wales, which provides the ‘Youth Gateway' service (the nearest equivalent to Connexions).

Extending entitlement and a national priority on homelessness

The ethos of 'Extending entitlement' is one of guiding and encouraging young people aged between 11 and 25 to take up their entitlement.  It sets out ten entitlements, including advice on health, housing benefits and other issues provided in an accessible form.  The more recent ‘young people' friendly version emphasises the right to a safe, secure home.

Homelessness is likely to become one of the national priorities of Extending entitlement.  Once a national priority has been set, the delivery agents (Young People's Partnerships) are expected to shape their agenda around that priority.   They receive a small amount of extra funding for a pilot project on the priority, although the main aim is to direct the flow of existing resources.  Young People's Partnerships are then assessed on their performance. 

Young People's Partnerships

Extending entitlement is delivered through a mix of national and local initiatives.  The most significant of those are the Young People's Partnerships.  These consist of a board of stakeholders operating at a local authority level.  All groups with an interest in young people's issues are invited/expected to participate.

Since the national drive is not yet in place, and since the local delivery is supposed to be shaped to local needs, the support and advice given to homeless people is said to vary widely.  At best, young people's needs are addressed well only in certain areas, at worst, there are no links at all (as suggested by the Shelter review of The National Homelessness Strategy).  To some extent, even if a national priority is in place, provision and activity will depend on there being active local partners with a good understanding of homelessness. 

‘Youth Gateway'

‘Youth Gateway', run by Careers Wales, was established in 1999 following concern about the high number of young people in Wales who were not in education, employment or training.  It aims to address the barriers to non-participation, a major one being homelessness. 

The principle of Youth Gateway is similar to the English Connexions initiative - the young person gets access to a personal adviser, who addresses barriers to employment, education and training.  So the emphasis and ultimate outcome is intended to be the same.  However, there are some key differences that suggest Wales' approach may be more comprehensive.

• Youth Gateway is available to young adults aged 16-25.  This compares to 16-19 in Connexions.
• Youth Gateway staff consists of a partnership of personal advisers, careers advisers and youth workers to provide a number of ‘ways in' to the service.  Connexions advisers are all generalised personal advisers.
• Youth Gateway is represented on the Young People's Partnership, alongside other statutory and voluntary organisations working with young people.

Other Assembly funded initiatives to improve advice and support

Work in schools

Support through school is seen as a key prevention approach in Wales.  The Homelessness Commission, which reported to the Assembly in 2001, recommended that homelessness and housing be included in the national curriculum (in Personal and Social Education classes, for example).  This idea was picked up in part in the Learning Pathways, the new school curriculum for 14-19 year olds in Wales.  Although not explicitly on the curriculum, Learning Pathways includes provision for young people in need to have access to a personal adviser.

Shelter receives funding from the elsh Assembly to work across schools in Wales.  They have a national education officer working in schools, making links with co-ordinators in schools, and raising awareness of homelessness.

Advice for prison leavers

Statutory resettlement services are determined by the Home Office, rather than the Welsh Assembly.  In Wales, as in England, there has been an increase in statutory support and advice.  Improvements are directed through the Key Performance Targets, which relate to the housing situation of prison entrants and leavers.  They were introduced in April 2005.

It is widely known that prison leavers require advice above and beyond that provided by resettlement teams within prisons.  For this reason, prisons often contract specialist services.  In Wales, this has been done systematically, through Prison Link, which is funded by the Welsh Assembly through grants available under section 180 of the 1996 Housing Act for schemes whci tackle rough sleeping and homelessness.

Prison Link Cymru started in December 2004.  It is a national prison link service covering all of Wales and is a joint initiative between Shelter Cymru (covering the six northern authorities) and Tai Trothwy (covering the remainder of Wales).  The aim of the service is to interview all prisoners, while in custody, who have a local connection to Wales and are going to be homeless on discharge from prison.  This therefore covers some prisons outside Wales, primarily in the North West. 

The advisers interview prisoners and complete a Prison Link Cymru homeless assessment form, which includes details of support needs, this is then communicated to the relevant Local Authority, the idea being that they receive timely information on homeless prisoners due to be discharged to their area and to facilitate the provision of appropriate housing and support on release.

Page last modified on 20/06/2006 at 17:24