, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with local government representatives (8)
Thank you very much. How do funding reductions impact on the ability of culture and sports to contribute across the various policy areas? How does that reduction in funding mean that you can't, perhaps, contribute to the preventative agenda in the way that…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with local government representatives (8)
If you have any specific data, they would be very useful, or if any of the other witnesses do—.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with local government representatives (8)
Thank you very much. What's the situation with audiences for cultural events? There was a huge decrease during the lockdowns, of course, and that's been slow in being restored, as far as I understand it. So, where are we with audience levels as compared to…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Impact of funding reductions for culture and sport: Evidence session with local government representatives (8)
Yes, just following on from that point, could the answer be to acknowledge the important role of culture and sport in the preventative agenda and then, as a result, make those services statutory services?
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
Yes. Just to declare that a member of my family works in the culture department at Cyngor Gwynedd.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
The housing crisis is impacting every part of Wales. Homelessness and sleeping rough are the increasing and very visible results of this crisis. The number of rough-sleepers who have died has doubled over the past few years, which is appalling and…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
1. What is the First Minister doing to ensure that the Welsh Government is giving priority to resolving the housing crisis in Gwynedd? OQ61732
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Diolch.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I'm sure it was. There are other examples.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
But you will probably understand the frustration felt by communities that are today trying to acquire assets, for example Coed y Brenin, which is an asset that the community would wish to acquire, but, because the legislation doesn't enable them to have the…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Is the task and finish group going to be looking specifically on legislative changes that need to be made in Wales, so that we align better with what happens in England? Is that going to be a specific piece of work that this group is going to be doing now?…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
So, you'd started along the path of establishing a commission, and that was progressing very slowly, and then, all of a sudden, it was decided to take away that status of a commission from that work stream, and to set up a task and finish group that is far…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
There is no commission now looking at the issue of community assets, as I understand, which is a decision that strikes me as being very strange, because the members of the commission were announced just a few weeks ago. I've been asking written questions…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Thank you very much. Turning to community assets, I understand that there is now no commission looking at the issue of community assets, although the names of the members of the commission were announced just a few weeks ago. What exactly is the reason for…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Could you share the details of the route-map for decarbonising residential housing, and when is it likely to be published?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Okay.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
So, it looks likely that landlords in the private rented sector will have to conform with those regulations too, because, although housing is devolved, that aspect hasn't, perhaps, been devolved. Is that the situation?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I know that the work is happening in the social housing sector, but what will be happening to private rented properties in terms of the EPC standards that are required?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I'm talking about private rented properties in terms of EPC standards.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
So, the UK Government intends to raise minimum EPC standards that will apply to privately rented properties in Wales. Will that happen from a Welsh perspective also?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Yes, thank you, because some of the recommendations, some of the findings here, they're more than just about Welsh-speaking communities, they could be relevant to communities across Wales, so, it's important that we do have that national perspective on this…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
It's early days, I know.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Yes, there are two things, I think. There is the Welsh language communities plan, under the leadership of Jeremy Miles, but this is additional, the commission's work that has been published over the summer. So, I do encourage you to focus on the housing…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Ok, thank you very much. In the summer, this has been published, 'Empowering communities, strengthening the Welsh language', a report by the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities under the leadership of Dr Simon Brooks. It is a very substantial and…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Okay, and you're closely involved in that work.
