Recent statistics indicate increases in the number of people presenting and being accepted as homeless by Welsh local authorities and there is major concern that this trend is likely to accelerate given the wider economic context, including the austerity measures. Therefore it is timely that the Welsh Government has commissioned a review of homelessness legislation in Wales in order to explore whether and how the existing legislative framework might be changed in order to minimise homelessness. The Welsh Government commissioned Cardiff University and partners to lead on this review which has been divided into three key stages:
Stage One: An assessment of the impacts of the existing legislative framework
Stage Two: Development of improved legislative framework options
Stage Three: Assessment of the impacts of improved legislative framework options
This report presents the findings of the first stage of the review: the assessment of the impacts of the existing legislative framework. The purpose of this early report is twofold: 1] to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the existing framework and 2] to provide a baseline against which any proposed changes can be compared.