10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
It's like most Government seasons, isn't it? So, then, the register of empties, where are things with that?
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
Okay. That's a euphemism of choice.
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
'Shortly'. That's a nice, flexible term, isn't it? [Laughter.]
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
Okay. That sounds very useful. When will that be reporting?
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
From a quick Google search, there was a contract in April this year for a review into the empty properties enforcement scheme—that's slightly different to the register of empties, though, isn't it?
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
I just wanted to ask about the progress on the register of empties, which I think was a programme for government commitment. How's that coming along?
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
And that's all manageable, is it? It's not causing particular headaches for the way that you deal with your budget.
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
It's an outlier, isn't it? I'm just interested, with outliers, in what's going on there. There may be a perfectly valid explanation. In terms of the budget spend, it's obviously a bit lumpy, as you've described, Sarah, the way these schemes come through the…
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
But this is an example of a council that has a premium, but hasn't signed up to the grant.
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
Is that right?
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
I think it would be useful for all of us to know, and for you to reflect on, how useful a lever this is—is there a threshold at which it becomes a very useful policy tool, or is it simply a way of raising extra revenue for local authorities. I think that…
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
Well, some of them have been in place for a number of years. Rhondda Cynon Taf had it in place from the beginning.
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
It would be interesting to hear your reflections on how some of the learning from the individual property grant and the empty homes scheme can be iterated, spread and scaled. So perhaps you can reflect on that. This was always meant to be a push-pull, where…
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
Okay. The Leasing Scheme Wales scheme, which I think is an excellent scheme, does seem to take quite a long time to get through the process—there are only 233 properties so far.
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
We're not asking about enforcement. This is not about enforcement, it's about accessing the grants.
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
I wanted to come on to that, because I wonder if there's a common theme with both Leasing Scheme Wales and the empty homes grant, and whether or not there's some kind of streamlining review that is worth doing, just to understand if these can be speeded up a…
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
Yes.
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
Okay. Can I just push on? There are a couple of things I wanted to touch on.
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
Sure. But I just wonder if, beyond information sharing, there's a role in understanding what are the pain points that are preventing those five from joining, and are there things that can be done at a co-ordinated level to remove those pain points.
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
And some of it will be about capacity, won't it? As you say, Emma, others will just have different priorities for the capacity that they have. So, it's good to hear about the handbook, but the approach that you were describing there seems a little disparate…
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
Sorry, Rhondda Cynon Taf. Quite right. So, in terms of the role they have in terms of working with local authorities who may have barriers, what do they do to try and help local authorities overcome any difficulties they may have?
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
Sure, I'll come back to the pipeline. First, just to better understand why quite a significant part of Wales is missing out on the scheme. As you say, these are local government choices, but it would be interesting if some work was done to tease out whether…
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
Thanks. I just want to go through the approach to empty homes and the various different schemes that you have. So, to begin with, the scheme that you have for individual home owners, the grant scheme. You obviously have a mix of grants and loans. Just in…
10 Hydref 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Sesiwn i graffu ar waith y Gweinidog—Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol a Thai
Today is World Mental Health Day.
9 Hydref 2024 , Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Effaith gostyngiadau cyllid ar ddiwylliant a chwaraeon: Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda Chomisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru (5)
Can I just finish specifically on that? Because you've mentioned, I think, the national museum and the Welsh Government—the national library, sorry, and the Welsh Government. Have you looked beyond those for sharing those?
