Julie James: Yes, so, national parks absolutely do need to respond to local people and their concerns and they must, of course, be representative of the communities they serve, but national parks also serve all of the people of Wales—they are, obviously, our 'national' parks, and it's very important that the national park authorities respond to both local and national needs. And so, we must make sure...
Julie James: Well, I wholeheartedly agree with you, Mike. I really would like to stress that we have no intention of following the UK Government in considering opening up development near national parks in our areas of outstanding natural beauty or our sites of special scientific interest. 'Future Wales' and 'Planning Policy Wales' provide a comprehensive framework of protection for our national parks and...
Julie James: Once again, Janet, asking me these questions in the complete absence of any understanding of the overall financial arrangements in the UK at the moment is just extraordinary. We are facing a cost-of-living crisis across the UK, entirely as a result of the idiotic decisions of the Conservative Government. We have a very difficult decision to make on setting the rent caps for Wales for social...
Julie James: Yet again, Janet, this is like trying to discuss the 1930s without reference to the depression. The idea that you can tell me that my target for phosphates is holding up house building, when you yourself go on about apparently believing in a climate and nature emergency, is just breathtaking, frankly. Our rivers are in a right mess. We need to do something about all of the people who are...
Julie James: Again, Janet, how do you think those people are paid for?
Julie James: I am answering the question. Those people are paid for from the rates support grant. Right? That has been cut successively by Conservative Governments over the last 10 years. Planners are the back-room staff so beloved of Conservative Governments for pillorying for being wasteful. This is the direct result of your austerity policies, with apparently yet more to come. If you think that there...
Julie James: Absolutely, Mabon, we have some practices growing up in the rental sector that are clearly putting barriers in place for people who want to get there. Obviously, what we'd really like to do is build social homes at pace and scale. I've just had a conversation with the benches opposite about the macroeconomic factors that are preventing us going as fast as we'd like, but I would like to just...
Julie James: I'm very interested indeed in trialling a right to adequate housing in this Senedd term, for sure. But one of the things we have to make sure is that we get the dominoes in a row first. Members will have heard me speak—my time sense is terrible—very recently in the Chamber about the homelessness legislation that we're about to bring forward. We see that as the first step in securing a...
Julie James: Permitted development rights are kept under review in consultation with local planning authorities, businesses and other organisations with an interest in development and the planning system. The latest changes help deliver flexibility to local authorities to manage second homes and short-term lets.
Julie James: Well, just to start off with, it's not a utility. It should be treated as one, but it isn't treated as one, and actually that brings a whole series of consequences. So one of the first things I'd suggest is that you actually ask the UK Government to make it a utility, which would solve quite a lot of why premises that are behind—[Interruption.]
Julie James: Yes, but I'm just saying to you that you said it was a utility and it isn't.
Julie James: It makes quite a big difference to how the planning system works, Darren. I'm just telling you, it makes a difference, and it's not a utility. I also don't know what the UK Government's contract with Openreach to do this piece of work looks like, but why on earth doesn't it involve them in having to utilise existing infrastructure? Ours did. Theirs ought to have done. So again, I'm not in...
Julie James: Certainly. On 7 October, I announced that 11 developers have signed up to the Welsh Government’s developers pact. Work is now under way to create the formal legal documentation that will underpin the pact, and I anticipate that a draft of the documentation will be shared with developers by the end of this month.
Julie James: It's very difficult to give you an update on each developer's timescale, for obvious reasons, Rhys, but we are working with them to understand what the schedule is for their buildings. Some buildings are in remediation now, I'm very pleased to say, and I'm hoping to visit a number of them over the next few weeks. We're delighted that buildings have gone into the remediation phase as the...
Julie James: With the greatest of pleasure. Our municipal recycling rate was a record 65.4 per cent in 2020-21, exceeding the 64 per cent target. This achievement, despite all the challenges that the pandemic brought, is testament to the hard work of our local authorities and particularly their front-line staff, who ensured that the people of Wales could continue to recycle, as they have become very...
Julie James: Yes, certainly, Tom. One of the issues there is, actually, the interaction of the planning system with the recycling system, as it happens. So, we are looking to see what we can do to ensure that that doesn't happen. We're also, as you know, about to go to a target of 70 per cent across Wales, and just in the Swansea area, we have three very high-performing councils, but Bridgend County...
Julie James: We are supporting the housing sector to continue to supply new homes in the context of current challenges. Our new local housing market assessment approach assists local authorities to plan a sustainable housing supply that will meet local need.
Julie James: Well, you know, Mark, what I would say is, again, the Conservatives' ability to quote statistics outside of the macroeconomic situation just beggars belief. So, this Government has set record levels of social housing grant funding through the budget, so that's £300 million, and indicative draft budget allocations of £330 million for next year and £325 million for the year after that,...
Julie James: Diolch, Rhianon. Our policies of supporting households, businesses and the public sector to reduce energy demand together with positive action to scale up the production of domestically produced renewable energy will enhance energy security in all areas of Wales.
Julie James: Thank you, Rhianon. The answer to this energy crisis is not to expand new extraction of fossil fuels. We do not support the UK Government's plans to expand new oil and gas licences in the North sea and open new fracking in England. Our policies will continue to oppose new extraction in Wales. Years—years—of regressive energy policy at UK level have left us really exposed to global price...
