EXTENSION OF ROUGH SLEEPERS INITIATIVE TO WALES

Early day motion 1214, tabled 7 April 1998 by Martin Caton (Labour). Signed by 70 members.

That this House notes that, since 1990, over £200 million has been committed to tackling rough sleeping in the towns and cities of England, with a further £73 million committed up to 1999; welcomes the extension of this initiative to Scotland in 1997, with £16 million funding for a three-year programme; applauds the success of the Rough Sleepers Initiative in tackling street homelessness by the provision of 100 per cent project costs funding; is concerned, however, that the RSI is not available in Wales, so that any action to deal with this problem receives comparatively less government support and, even then, requires a 25 per cent contribution from local authorities; recognises that, from the evidence of rough sleeping surveys undertaken in Wales in recent years, the problem is at least as prevalent as in English regional towns and cities already receiving RSI support; and calls upon the Government to extend the Rough Sleepers Initiative funding to Wales at a proportionate level to that of England and Scotland.

Signatures by party: Labour 62, Labour/Co-operative 3, Plaid Cymru 3, Conservative 1, Liberal Democrat 1.