30 April 2024 , Plenary
Group 11: Referendum on the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024 (Amendments 37, 38)
Thank you. Just on the question of when a referendum is appropriate or not, and he cited the 2011 referendum, after that, the House of Lords Constitution Committee issued a very weighty report that said, in their view, that we should set the bar much higher…
30 April 2024 , Plenary
Group 4: Voting system at Senedd general elections and allocation of seats (Amendments 32, 33, 34, 39, 35, 36)
I'd like to make a brief intervention to respond to some of the points Darren Millar made. It was a fair and reasonable speech, and I'm sure we'll have sympathy for elements of it across the Chamber. But, of course, as we know, electoral systems are famously…
30 April 2024 , Plenary
Group 3: Disqualification from being a Member of the Senedd or a candidate: persons convicted of the offence of deception within the previous four years (Amendment 43)
I thank Adam Price for bringing this forward, and Jane Dodds as well for adding her support. I must say, when I heard Adam Price make the arguments the last time we debated this, I was sceptical, but I agreed to debate it with him further and to speak to the…
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Thank you.
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
And they're consistently doing that across Wales, are they?
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
And then, just finally, in terms of the scenario where a landlord sells, there's evidence we've had about sitting tenants wanting to be given the ability to buy that, or, potentially, I suppose, through the leasing scheme, the local authority, and they could…
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
So, just on that point, there's evidence the committee's had about the financial impact on tenants who are then forced to move, either because the landlord has decided to sell or they want to exercise their other rights, and it's something about a £1,700…
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
One of the other issues that came up—
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
But do they cover the quality of the property and the state of its maintenance?
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
So, another option that's come up in the evidence is the idea of audits, either a compulsory survey before a landlord puts a property on the market or a self-audit tool that could potentially be administered through Rent Smart Wales. Have you given…
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Okay. You mentioned incentives for current tenants to improve the quality themselves. What sort of consideration is there of ways of drawing in private finance—possibly a scheme that the Development Bank of Wales has, I know you've considered it on renewable…
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Okay. In terms of the call to the UK Government on the EPC, is this something you'll keep pressing?
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
But is there churn within that?
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Okay.
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Why do you think that is?
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Thanks. So, the committee's had evidence from Shelter that a quarter of the clients they see have an issue with damp and disrepair, and even though they already have the right to redress for this under their contracts, they're either not aware of it or are…
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Thank you, Chair.
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
And with the ones that haven't joined, is there a reluctance about capacity, because of the extra work it generates? And if so, is there thinking about the empty homes scheme, where one local authority took a lead to provide the service for others—is that…
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
In terms of the process for applying, anecdotally I've heard it's a bit of faff, it takes quite a long time: is there room for streamlining that, do you think?
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
I'm not sure of the etiquette of the committee, I'm new, so tell me off if this isn't cricket. But just on the Leasing Scheme Wales, the take-up has been not as you would have hoped it was: what do you think the main barriers are, and what can be done to…
24 April 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Private rented sector: Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning
Sorry, Chair, can I just jump in?
24 April 2024 , Plenary
Emergency Question: Incident in Ysgol Dyffryn Aman
Thank you. I'll also speak as a former pupil of the school and somebody who represents part of the catchment, and I just want to briefly add my thoughts with everybody involved and those who have responded. We all saw the pictures of parents rushing to the…
24 April 2024 , Plenary
Debate on the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee Report, 'Report on performance of Dŵr Cymru'
If I may just briefly, at the beginning, send our thoughts to the pupils, teachers and families in Ysgol Dyffryn Aman. A number of us in this Chamber are former pupils, and we're all concerned to see what's happening there this afternoon. I'm very pleased to…
20 March 2024 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
I think continually repeating misinformation, false information and lies in our democratic Chamber is lamentable, and that is something to be ashamed of. This is not a blanket policy. We have not banned road building. We are not shovelling money into…
20 March 2024 , Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Well, I'm afraid that is a highly debatable point. In my view, the tone and nature—[Interruption.] The tone and nature of the contributions contribute to a personalising of this debate, which then fuels online campaigns, which are fuelled by the…
