, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Annual Scrutiny - The Development Bank of Wales
Okay.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Annual Scrutiny - The Development Bank of Wales
You're talking about evergreen there. Just for those of us who perhaps sometimes find terms like this a pain, what do you mean by 'evergreen'?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Annual Scrutiny - The Development Bank of Wales
Okay, that's fine. With regard to the Wales flexible investment fund, the Minister has said that he wants that year-round availability. Are you making progress towards achieving that and where are you currently on that?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Annual Scrutiny - The Development Bank of Wales
Yes, can we just have some further detail on your relationship with the British Business Bank and whether there's likely to be overlaps of activity?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Food (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 7
Okay. I suspect if I go any further on that issue, I'll be overlapping into what Sarah Murphy might want to raise later, so I'll stop at that point.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Food (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 7
We're not going to hear the end of that now. [Laughter.] And finally, I'd like to ask about the Welsh food commission proposal. You said it overlaps with the Food Standards Agency, whereas Peter Fox has said that it doesn't, because the FSA is more about food…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Food (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 7
Was that before you were Minister, or—?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Food (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 7
That's a significant point, and I think there's a wider issue for all committees about the capacity of the civil service to deliver Welsh Government programmes. And the other question I had was just, below strategic level, how can we be confident without a…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Food (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 7
That's a very open answer, thank you very much. And just as the—. You mentioned your officials and the civil service capacity. That does sound concerning. Is there an element that the work going on on this food Bill is distracting from other things, the…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Food (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 7
And how—? If you started to change your mind as a result of this process and Stage 1 report, how would you envisage the process for developing a food strategy happening?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Food (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 7
Yes.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Food (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 7
Just to be clear, Minister: are you arguing that there should or shouldn't be a national food strategy?
, Petitions Committee
Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities
Thank you.
, Petitions Committee
Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities
I'd be more than happy to come back, at any time, if you'd find it useful.
, Petitions Committee
Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities
All right. The reason I know things about it is because I've been engaged with this for the last six years, and I'm involved with it day to day with residents. So, there's nothing better than getting your hands dirty and finding out what's going on in your…
, Petitions Committee
Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities
It's not one of those sexy visits to Brussels, but you could end up going to a housing estate in Ebbw Vale to meet residents and talk to them about what's happening there and see some of the green spaces. You're welcome to come to Ystrad Mynach and have a…
, Petitions Committee
Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities
Yes, as I've said, your first port of call, I think, is—. The first terms of reference you want to look at is what is meant by 'placing a duty on local authorities to adopt communal infrastructure in return for an appropriate payment from the developer.' I…
, Petitions Committee
Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities
No. No, that's not going to work. We did look at that. First of all, the council tax discount wouldn't be given to individuals, it would be done through a rebate scheme through a resident-run estate management group claiming for a rebate against the costs…
, Petitions Committee
Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities
Yes, I think, if you were to speak to your constituents on an estate with estate management charges, the first thing they would say would be, 'We want to get rid of these charges and we want the local authority to take over this land.' And there are ways…
, Petitions Committee
Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities
Never knowingly uncontroversial. [Laughter.] But I would say—. I would say that the UK Government are not going to do all the things that a Welsh Government would do, and that is on ideological grounds. The reason Barnet Council abandoned outsourcing is…
, Petitions Committee
Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities
Yes. There we are. That's a good argument against independence. [Laughter.]
, Petitions Committee
Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities
Not now, but, as the Chair said at the beginning of the meeting, I introduced my Member's legislative proposal in 2018. I didn't realise it was as far back as that. Time passes fast and we get old quickly, but I thought 2018 was the right time to act. We did…
, Petitions Committee
Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities
But that's a fundamental line in her letter. That's a really important line in her letter, and I don't think you can underestimate how important that is, because it wouldn't be in a letter from a UK Government Minister.
, Petitions Committee
Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities
I don't know. I don't know.
, Petitions Committee
Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities
Well, they've had—. In the estates that, in the past, have had the areas adopted, it's not an issue any more, because you wouldn't need an estate management company. The unintended consequences we've explored, I think, in quite a lot of depth there, but the…
