We must do more to tackle homelessness

IT seems that since my recent letter the subject of homelessness in Wales and the UK generally has received more attention than usual. I take no credit for this, of course, but am nevertheless gratified by it...

An item in Wales on Sunday caught my eye, in which Cllr Lynda Thorne, cabinet member for housing and communities, seemed almost to be replying to points raised in my letter. I have the greatest admiration for the work carried out by her department in liaison with other agencies and I am sure Cardiff Council is doing all it can in this area.

However, more needs to be done, and we have also to look to the Welsh Government in Cardiff Bay to provide more support. It is to be hoped that a promise on homelessness made in Chancellor Hammond’s budget will be echoed by the Welsh Government. We are due to receive more funds from Westminster, after all. But it is right and proper that this Tory government should move to do something – in view of the fact that their policies, since they took power with the help of the Lib Dems in 2010, have continued, as always, to favour their sponsors – the rich, at the expense of the most vulnerable.

To return to Cllr Thorne’s remarks, however, following a report on the matter, how are people classified as “registered homeless”? Do they have to fill in a form, or what? As for “aggressive begging”, I have never been on the receiving end of this and I speak to people in shop doorways in town and in Canton most days. Roger Kendall Canton, Cardiff