In advance of the the Welsh Government’s Draft Budget, Cymorth has been working hard to make sure that the voices of our members are heard by Ministers, officials and Members of the Senedd.
The Draft Budget will be published on 10 December, but we have been working hard to collect evidence and make the case for increased funding for homelessness, housing support and social care services in Wales.
- Surveys of members: A huge thank you to all of our members who responded to our surveys about the impact of the 2024/25 budget on your services, as well as your views on next year’s budget. This data has formed the basis of our representations to the Welsh Government, ensuring that they have had the data to use in internal disucssions with the Welsh Treasury. We have also used it in a range of reports and consultation responses to support Members of the Senedd to effectively scrutinise the budget.
- Evidence to Senedd Committees: We have submitted written evidence to the Senedd Finance Committee as part of their consultation on the Draft Budget. This evidence focuses on funding for homelessness and housing support services (Housing Support Grant) and funding for Learning Disability social care services. We have also sent more targeted version of this evidence to the Senedd Local Government and Housing Committee and the Senedd Health and Social Care Committee, to inform their scrutiny of the Draft Budget.
- Publication of Housing Matters report: Using the evidence we collected from our members delivering homelessness and housing support services, we published a new report that evidences the need to increase the Housing Support Grant in order to meet growing demand and complexity, pay frontline workers at least the Real Living Wage, and cover the costs of increased National Insurance contributions.
- Meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government: In October we met with Jayne Bryant MS in her capacity as Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government. This meeting was a chance to highlight the incredible work of our members and the main issues and concerns facing our sector, including the upcoming Welsh Government Budget. We shared emerging statistics from our members’ survey and made the case for increased HSG funding in the upcoming Welsh Government Draft Budget for 2025/26.
- Plaid Cymru conference: We held a fringe event alongside Community Housing Cymru which focused on the importance of the Housing Support Grant. It was chaired by Shadow Housing Minister, Sian Gwenllian MS, and attended by other MSs, local councillors and party activists. We presented on the purpose and impact of the HSG, the financial context of the last decade, and the pressures facing services. We also heard powerful accounts from three frontline homelessness workers from the Wallich and Pobl.
- Cross Party Group on Housing: We also presented on the HSG at the most recent meeting of the Cross Party Group on Housing, which focused on the upcoming Welsh budget. Our presentation was well received by attendees, and received supportive comments from several MSs and local authority cabinet members.
Increase in employer National Insurance contributions
One of the most pressing issues over the last few weeks has been the changes to employer National Insurance contributions outlined in the UK Government’s Autumn Budget. Cymorth has written to the UK Government and the Welsh Government about this issue – more details can be found here.
