, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Siân. So, we've been working to develop our approach to housing decarb that will form the basis of our policy package for the housing pathway for carbon budget 3. The work obviously builds on the heat strategy for Wales, which sets out our clear…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Oh, sorry. Yes, not the—
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Siân. We're aware that the UK Government has made that commitment. In Wales, social landlords have until 31 March 2030 to achieve the higher energy and efficiency standards set out in our Welsh Government quality standard 2023. Welsh social landlords…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Yes. No, no, that's absolutely fine, and we will take note of that report, Siân, and the subsequent ones that come out of that as well.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Siân. In terms of—. The Welsh language communities housing plan sits with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language. As you say, I have a very keen interest in it, but I think he's scheduled to make an oral statement on Welsh-speaking…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Siân. I don’t know if officials have any comments, but—
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Siân. We’ve got the pilot in Dwyfor, and the pilot is subject to an independent evaluation. There are three phases of evaluation. We’ve got the initial research, which is data mapping and fieldwork. That’s now concluding, with an interim report to be…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch, Siân. We have been making some progress in this area. Changes to the planning framework, or article 4, mean that, in future, residential properties will need planning permission to be changed to second homes, and I think that’s an important way to…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Yes, absolutely. When the First Minister did her listening exercise, one of the things that she said that had come up time and time again was around town centres. I think it is about how we feel about the place that we live in, so I think it is really…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
In terms of the enforcement and training, as Emma said in one of her responses, through our industry expert, more than 850 councillors and officials across all local authorities in Wales have been trained on using those enforcement measures to deal with empty…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
And, as you will know, being a former Minister as well, when you get 'shortly', you don't know what that time could be either, so until you see it yourself, you're not sure whether—
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
'Shortly' comes after I don't know what month, but—
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Shortly.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Oh, right, yes. Sorry.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
We commissioned that independent research, which will help us establish what small businesses would find most useful in terms of accessing empty town-centre properties. The survey and fieldwork have now been completed, and the first draft of the report is…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
We'll make sure we write to the committee. I think Sarah wants to come in on that.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Yes.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Yes. Absolutely. That is something that is important to do, because, again, getting down to some of that granular detail and understanding the reasons behind it will be really important to make sure that local authorities are able to access the funds that…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I think it's also how we work with local authorities on this. So, I'm sure that there are ways that we can look at how we can work better together in terms of making sure that that information is available and making sure that it's getting to the right…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
And being new in post, Lee, I'm really keen to understand—. You know, there are a number of grants in this area and different schemes and I'm keen to understand similar barriers or reasons why, perhaps, others aren't taking them up in the same way. And I…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Rhondda Cynon Taf.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
That is a very good question. I don't know the specifics of the other five, but perhaps Emma might know the detail.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
It is. Yes, absolutely.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
And that will become clear with that White Paper, which will be at the end of October, so you'll be able to see that shortly as well. But, yes, I'm going to start calling the other one the proposed Bill, because there are a couple of White Papers now, and…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Yes, that's the one that the White Paper—
