, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Thank you, Heledd. I don't have that specific detail, but I'm quite happy to write to you with it. But it is the responsibility of local authorities to provide, exactly as you say, a comprehensive service under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964. We've…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Diolch. Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. The Welsh Government provides funding to support the development of public libraries, including recent investment of over £900,000 for a shared…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Well, I don't think that's quite fair, to be honest. And as I said in answer to an earlier question, we never expected to build 4,000 each year; we always knew that we had to put interventions in in the first place that would accelerate the build, so we do…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Diolch, Llyr. The target to deliver 20,000 homes for rent in the social sector is extremely challenging. Nevertheless, we are committed to delivering more homes to meet people’s needs now and in the future. We have got record levels of investment already…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
I discuss various matters with my Cabinet Secretary colleagues all the time, Peter. I'm very addicted to listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 in the morning; it's perhaps an overshare, but I'm not a morning person at all, I do not like waking up early…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Diolch, Peter. Service demand and cost inflation have meant that authorities have made difficult decisions on services and council tax in setting their budgets. Our own budget position has meant we have not been able to meet all the pressures local…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Yes, certainly, Paul. So, in Pembrokeshire itself, we're helping Pembrokeshire put together something called placemaking plans. They're bringing forward placemaking plans for specific settlements across Pembrokeshire, and that includes Haverfordwest, Milford…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Diolch, Paul. Since January 2020 we have awarded almost £16 million of funding through our Transforming Towns programme to support regeneration projects in town centres across Pembrokeshire. This support is being driven by placemaking plans for each…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
I can't comment on ongoing planning applications, obviously, but on the planning application you're talking about, it's actually a redetermined, recovered appeal, and it's being actively considered by officials. The decision will be made when it's right to do…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Yes. We are committed to increasing housing supply, ensuring people have homes that meet their needs now and in the future. In 2022-23, 5,785 new homes were completed in Wales, up 10 per cent on the previous year; 1,450 of those were in Blaenau Gwent…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Well, Mark, I know you love a series of statistics, so let me give you some statistics as well, then. So, Lee Rowley made some remarks when he was housing Minister on a Radio 4 programme, and he was the sixteenth housing Minister since 2010, so it's always…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Diolch, Mabon. That's a very interesting idea. I think, actually, we very much hope that an incoming Labour Government will review the fiscal framework for Wales and actually put us onto a far better footing in terms of prudential borrowing than we are on at…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Thank you, Mabon. We remain committed to supporting the development of co-operative and community-led housing and to enabling people to take more control of their housing. For example, almost £900,000 has been awarded to Gŵyr Community Land Trust from the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
So, I end up doing this kind of thing, which is not good. So, huge apologies. I've lost my thread completely now. Oh yes, I know, the shared resources point. The answer to that is 'yes’. I think there are some resources that should be shared and could be…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
I have tried, Llywydd, many times, and I'm afraid they make me feel really ill.
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
I'm really sorry. I'll put my glasses on. Huge apologies. My problem is that I've arrived at that point in my life where I need two pairs of glasses, and I'm only carrying my reading glasses with me, so I'm afraid you're a bit of a blur in the distance, so…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
I'm so sorry. Shall I put my glasses on, would that help?
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Thank you, Cefin. The short answer is yes, I am supportive of it—
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Thanks, Cefin. I really appreciated the conversations we all had about what to do about council tax. Council tax is not a tax fit for purpose, I think we all agree. I can't quite remember where some of this fell, so forgive me, it might have been before or…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Well, I'm not going to indulge in that, Cefin; I'm really sorry that you've gone down that road. But what I would say is we really do believe in local government in Wales. We have never imposed a cap on council taxes here, because I think that local…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Yes. I'm not sure we'd call it a summit, but we've got something very similar going on. Again, I'm following a pattern that I had when I was last in this seat, really. I think, since you've got elected to this place, Peter, things have slightly changed. The…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
So, I've embarked on a sort of traditional tour of a new local government Minister around the local authorities. I met with nearly all of the local authorities in north Wales last week; I wasn't able to manage to set up a meeting with one of them. I also…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Thank you for that question, Peter. I mean, I completely agree with that, and I know you know that, because we worked very closely, as you say, during the COVID pandemic, when you were leader of Monmouthshire County Council and I was the local government…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Thank you, Jenny. So, there are some complexities around who has the responsibility to list what. So, the decision to list a building is, obviously, based on the special architectural or historic interest of the building, which is obvious. Where it's not…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Thank you for the question, Jenny. The current legislation, including the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023, and planning policy, which includes 'Future Wales: The National Plan 2040', 'Planning Policy Wales' and technical advice note, or TAN 24, on the…
