, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Russell. We're investing more than £30 million this year in the new Warm Homes Nest scheme to reduce the number of low-income households living in cold, damp homes. Eligible households will receive a bespoke package of measures to insulate and…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
We are in the early stages of the new Warm Homes programme, which is an ambitious programme to tackle fuel poverty and the climate emergency. Officials are undertaking a six-month review to ensure the scheme meets the requirements of Welsh householders.
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Natasha. Local authorities make decisions. They are accountable for their decisions, so I do agree that local authorities make those decisions and are accountable for them.
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Local authorities in Wales are democratically accountable bodies. Audit Wales, Estyn and Care Inspectorate Wales assess their performance. This includes consideration of their compliance with statutory requirements and guidance.
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Cefin, and thank you for raising the issues within rural communities. We do recognise that there are particular challenges in rural communities, associated with things like the cost of living and poverty, for example. We know that there are those…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Cefin. The Welsh Government will continue to protect local authority services as far as possible, including in rural areas. We're committed to continuing to use and maintain a fair and transparent funding formula for all local authorities, which is…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Altaf, and, as I said earlier, affordable housing is and should be a priority that we all support. We know that we can't solely continue to deliver homes in the traditional way, which is why innovative housing solutions have been mainstreamed into the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Mike, and getting John Lennon into a question is no mean feat, so thank you for that. It must be recognised that we do have different models in Wales when compared to some European countries, and our traditional social housing model is one where local…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Mike. We're committed to supporting the development of co-operative and community-led housing in Wales. We have increased funding through Cwmpas to £180,000 annually between 2022-23 and 2024-25. Cwmpas is prioritising support for 41 community-led…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Mark, and thank you—I know you've raised these sorts of issues over a number of years now—and for the work that you do with disabled people's groups as well. I know that you have a long-standing history of that. The Welsh Government does take a…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Mark. Local authorities are democratically accountable to their electorate. Responsibility for regulating and enforcing the Equality Act 2010 and the public sector equality duty falls to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Luke. I know of yours and Tom's, and, I know, the Deputy First Minister's, interest in this area. I think, from my perspective, it's hopeful and helpful to know about the new community liaison manager who answers queries from residents, and I think…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Tom, and, again, I'd just like to put on record that I recognise and understand the frustration of home owners in Caerau. I know this, as you say, has been a long-standing issue, and I know that residents are being kept informed of progress now. I…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Tom. Welsh Government has awarded £2.65 million of grant funding to Bridgend County Borough Council for remedial works on affected homes in Caerau. My officials recently met with BCBC and we will receive an update on progress to treat the affected…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
As I say, I do agree and I've seen where it's started to be done really well. Earlier this week I visited Torfaen County Borough Council, and just across from where they are they're redeveloping an empty property within Pontypool town centre, which will be…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Adam. I do very much understand the situation of our town centres, in particular, are facing, and when we see empty properties in those town centres I think we all look at them and think, 'Could they be used for businesses or accommodation?' I know of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Adam. Through our funding programmes, we're working with local authorities to redevelop empty properties, including empty commercial properties across Wales, with many of these disused properties being revitalised for mixed-use development, including…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I can certainly make sure that we write to you further on that, because this is something that I know local authorities are very concerned about. Again, I speak to them regularly, and social care is one of those challenges that comes up time and time again…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Peredur. HM Treasury have acknowledged that the change to employer national insurance contributions from April will increase costs for public sector employers, and they’ve said that they’ll provide funding to the public sector to support them with…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Peredur. You know, we have to remember here that we've got that £22 billion black hole from the previous UK Governments that the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, has started to have to fix. The position of the new UK Government that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Thank you, Mark. We do have a proud record of delivery in difficult circumstances here in Wales in terms of housing. We've provided record levels of funding to support the delivery of social housing in this Senedd term; it's more than £1.4 billion allocated…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Thank you, Mark, and I can assure you that I’ll be making that argument around the housing support grant around the Cabinet table. I’ve heard directly from people and organisations, as you’ve outlined in your question, and we know that the housing support…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Thank you, Mark. In terms of your point on affordable homes, I think affordable housing is, and really should be, a priority that we all support in this Chamber. In terms of the work we’re putting in on building more homes, we have—. Over the summer, I wrote…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Thank you, Gareth. As I said in response to Luke Fletcher, in our recently published White Paper, we are not currently proposing to take forward national rent control measures. As I said, the White Paper is looking to approve the affordability of the private…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Luke. The evidence from the Green Paper consultation, and evidence from the national rent cap in Scotland, indicates that rent control measures are unlikely to be effective and may have an adverse impact on the affordability and supply. Scotland have…
