9. Homelessness—Measurement and Government Measures to AddressPHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū) to the Minister for Social HousingHomelessness—Measurement and Government Measures to Address9. PHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū) to the Minister for Social Housing: Has she read the final report of the Cross-Party Inquiry on Homelessness Ending Homelessness in New Zealand"; if so will she implement its recommendations?Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Housing): Yes I have read the report; and of course I have already implemented most of its recommendations.Phil Twyford: Does she agree with the Prime Minister that people sleeping on their cousin's couch are not homeless; if so how can she possibly consider that a family trying to send its kids to school from a different family member's lounge each week has a home?Hon PAULA BENNETT: The Prime Minister would have been referring to the definition that used to be the true homelessness one which is "rough sleepers"—so those sleeping on the streets—and that is the argument. Obviously we are concerned about people who are couch surfing. We want them to have permanent homes. That is something that we are delivering on and it is something that we are focused on.Phil Twyford: Has she seen the estimate by Nevil Pierse of Otago University that keeping someone on the street costs around $65000 per person per year which with 4200 people currently without shelter means that the cost of inaction is over $250 million a year? If so would this not justify spending a lot more than the approximately $9 million she is currently spending on emergency housing?Hon PAULA BENNETT: I have had a look at the submission. Officials were unable to tell me how he has come up with that figure so there is no actual data behind it that I have seen. My point would be that actually to house them I think in the first instance—in the first 2 or 3 years—it would actually cost more. I think that is an investment worth making and it is one that we are actually doing.Phil Twyford: How many people will her $3 million of funding for Housing First house each year and will she consider a full roll-out of the Housing First approach to cover the 4200 homeless people without shelter?Hon PAULA BENNETT: Sorry I cannot quite remember how many people it was that the $3 million for Housing First would cover. I do not want to make the number up now. I cannot remember the exact number but it is hundreds. I have got a feeling it is up to 2000 but I would like to check that figure for the member. There is a lot involved in implementing it and it is of course about more than just what Housing First is doing; it is all of the services around it. So it is making sure that we have got the mental health services there and the addiction services and making sure that we are able to have longer-term solutions for those who are inside the houses. I think the three on top of the Housing First that is in Hamilton are really good ways. It is going to be quite different doing it in Auckland than it was in Hamilton because of some of the special challenges that are there. We are open to rolling it out further when we see the results coming through.Phil Twyford: Does she accept that the only way to ultimately house the 41000 homeless people is to provide permanent affordable housing for them; if so will she commit to increasing the State and community housing stock by the 15000 to 25000 houses needed and to implementing a nationwide strategy to end homelessness?Hon PAULA BENNETT: That strategy is already in place. We have got a comprehensive plan. We are rolling it out literally every single day and it is making a huge difference. We are housing 160 people in social housing each week when we used to house 140 for example. Another good example is just the massive rebuild programme that is going on. The Minister for Building and Housing has recently announced Northcote where you can see more State houses coming on board. The other is the recent announcement with community housing providers where we are now giving them access to up to 150 percent of the income-related rent—50 percent that they can use as part of that deposit and 100 percent income-related rent which we have opened up to them. There are literally thousands more permanent homes coming on board over the next 2 or 3 years.Marama Davidson: Does the Minister support providing New Zealanders who rent with some security about their tenancies so they can put down roots in their communities and have a secure home?Hon PAULA BENNETT: That is not work that we are currently looking at.Marama Davidson: In response to Phil Twyford's question earlier and for clarity how many actual people if any have been housed as a result of the $3 million invested in the Housing First initiative?Hon PAULA BENNETT: We have just chosen the providers for that and it is being rolled out.Marama Davidson: Given that Māori are overrepresented in homelessness will the Minister provide more and ongoing support for the services that are proven to have effect for our people such as those run from Te Puea and Manurewa Marae?Hon PAULA BENNETT: Yes."