The Welsh Government has today published its Draft Budget for 2023/24. There is no increase to the Housing Support Grant budget, with funds the majority of homelessness and housing related support services in Wales. It remains at £166m for 2023/24.
You can access the budget documents on the Welsh Government website.
In response to the Welsh Government’s Draft Budget for 2023/24, Cymorth Cymru Director Katie Dalton said:
“We are very disappointed that the Housing Support Grant budget has not been increased, despite the significant number of people experiencing homelessness and the huge pressure on services. A cash flat budget is a real terms cut, and there is a risk that service delivery becomes unaffordable due to the impact of inflation and high energy costs.
“We are also very concerned about the impact on frontline workers; this budget is likely to prevent a desperately needed pay increase for these key workers, who are doing incredible work, but are being pushed further into poverty.
“Our research from earlier this year showed that 44% of frontline homelessness and housing support workers were struggling to pay their bills, 11% were struggling to pay rent, and ~80% were turning off heating, lighting and electrical appliances to make ends meet. These figures are likely to be significantly worse this winter.
“While we recognise this is a very difficult budget for Welsh Ministers, we urge them to reconsider this decision and increase the Housing Support Grant in their final budget.”
The statistics regarding frontline workers are taken from our report ‘Struggles from the Frontline’ which can be downloaded here.
