Local authorities in Wales need to do more to tackle the ‘underlying causes’ of homelessness, auditors have said.
A new report from the Auditor General for Wales looking at the implementation of new homelessness duties concluded that councils were making progress - but still need to do more to deal with what makes people homeless in the first place.
The report found that the changes needed to reduce much of the demand for services and prevent homelessness were ‘not always happening’.
Auditors also found that, despite additional funding, some authorities have not reviewed their services to prevent homelessness.
More needs to be done to reduce overall demand by tailoring services to deal with people much earlier, especially in education and social care, the report concluded.
Auditor General, Huw Vaughan-Thomas, said: ‘My report today highlights that despite the positive intentions of the Welsh government to prevent homelessness, local authorities continue to focus on managing people in crisis rather than stopping them getting into crisis in the first place.
‘To truly prevent homelessness, public bodies need to take a long-term view and work with other organisations to really tackle the issues that cause homelessness.
‘This requires a focus on, for example, better educational attainment, access to employment, well planned transition when leaving care and access to welfare benefits.’
