The Green Party and Labour will launch an inquiry into the growing homelessness crisis after the Government rejected calls from MPs on the Social Services Select Committee to investigate the issue.
“The Government could’ve agreed to take the homelessness crisis seriously by supporting a cross-parliamentary inquiry, but unfortunately they’ve instead chosen to keep ignoring the issue,” said Green Party Social Housing spokesperson Marama Davidson.
“You only have to walk along Courtenay Place and Queen Street to see that homelessness is growing in this country and, as MPs, we can’t stand by and watch that happen.
“I have seen first-hand how serious the homelessness crisis is, but the Government is refusing to take any meaningful action, and people are hurting.
“The Green Party and Labour have now decided to launch an inquiry into homelessness, and work towards real solutions to the issue.
“We will focus on talking to people and organisations on the frontline of the homelessness crisis about what they need and how we can urgently fix this problem.
“We will be visiting centres around the country to get an accurate picture of what’s really happening, and will be asking for public input.
“With real political leadership and co-operation we can work towards getting our people off the streets, and into safe, secure housing,” said Ms Davidson.