David Melding: Can I start by noting the restrained tone of the Counsel General? I do welcome this as a sign that the Welsh Government is genuinely seeking agreement on these matters. I also think the decision by the UK Government to refer the matter to the Supreme Court should be viewed as an attempt to clarify the current legal position. The Scottish Presiding Officer, after all, considered their Bill to...
David Melding: I have to say, from my reading of recent events, it was the French Government that was insisting that a response to the use of chemical weapons was required and they were prepared to take unilateral action. That's where the force for this intervention came.
David Melding: 9. Will the First Minister make a statement on the importance of Welsh cities to the development of the economy? OAQ52034
David Melding: First Minister, I agree with what you've hinted at there—that our cities are a great resource with regional and national responsibilities. But, as you will know, under the Planning (Wales) Act 2015, no regional planning schemes have yet come forward on a voluntary basis. I'm glad that you're going to consult on this and whether we need to take firmer action. I wonder whether you could give...
David Melding: Leader of the house, I think you've had some indication of what I'm going to raise. You will know that a written statement was issued by the housing Minister on affordable housing and the assessment of future need, and therefore targets for supply. I do believe that something of such enormous significance should have been made to this Chamber as an oral statement. It opens the possibility of...
David Melding: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I am pleased that we seem to be moving in the right direction, though we have been slow off the mark. Nearly two years ago we were looking at the Government's outline programme for this Assembly, and I can't remember if there was no reference to air quality or it was just cursory, but they certainly weren't the sort of commitments that we've just...
David Melding: Before I speak to the first group of amendments on this Bill, can I firstly reiterate the fact that all of my amendments today, in one form or another, have derived from the recommendations of the sub-committee on this Bill or from the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee's report? Whilst this Bill's aims are unarguably in the public interest, given the judgment of the Office...
David Melding: One of the amendments that I brought forward with the support of Plaid Cymru at Stage 2 has, indeed, now been adapted by the Welsh Government and put into their own format, and this amendment is the basis of the discussion we're now having. So, I should welcome the fact that the Government has responded. They're not doing what they originally intended to do; they have responded to the...
David Melding: When we took evidence, and the Minister's already referred to this, we did have I think strong support from TPAS Cymru, the tenant organisation. I think that was very welcome in developing the thoughts of the sub-committee that looked at this and provided their report. I've not heard anything that dissuades me that those concerns were, in any way, inappropriate, and TPAS Cymru did frame...
David Melding: I move.
David Melding: I move.
David Melding: Diolch, Llywydd, I so move. The first two amendments in this group have arisen from the recommendations put forward by the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee's report—namely, recommendation 7. Amendments 5 and 13 put a requirement on Welsh Ministers to lay directions that are issued under section 5, those regarding constitutional and structural changes, and section 14,...
David Melding: Oh, lord. I mean, there are times when you think you're in Lewis Carroll's sort of wonderland. So, we heard from the Minister that post-legislative scrutiny is a good idea, but we shouldn't say so, certainly not in this Bill. She is quite happy for it to happen but is concerned about anything being made a legislative requirement because of the effect that would have on the future exercise of...
David Melding: Thank you once again, Llywydd. The three amendments in this third group, namely amendments 6, 11 and 12, ensure that a failure to comply with the regulatory framework and the associated performance standards is explicitly recognised on the face of the Bill as a failure to comply with a requirement imposed under an enactment. Again, this amendment arises from a recommendation of the...
David Melding: This one is for the purists. All I can say is that I've taken detailed advice from our advisers in terms of the legal requirements. It's often the case that the Government will say, 'Ah, if you emphasise this by putting it on the face of the Bill, it will cause ambiguity elsewhere where you've not done the same', and you'll have this massive Bill, all of a sudden, because you want to make...
David Melding: They do say they're satisfied, yes, so—
David Melding: But they've not gone through the issues that they raise and the issue of the distant sources of finance and there is no way you can verify whether they've had a full discussion, what that discussion was or what is the evidence on which they're basing their different view. It is a one-liner. The Minister wants me to read it, so I suppose I better had: 'Dear X'—X being the official—'I can...
David Melding: Thank you, Llywydd. The purpose of group 4's amendments is to ensure that any appointments made under section 6, the removal or appointment of an officer of a registered social landlord, and section 8, the appointment of a manager of a registered social landlord, end when the relevant requirement is complied with, or the relevant failure is remedied. Under these sections, an officer can be...
David Melding: I hold to the amendments being clearer and establishing a better policy for the future in terms of when interventions have to be made, and giving too extensive a power to the executive, which isn't defined more tightly, I think, is not best practice. However, as the Minister's put on record her full position in terms of how this would operate, and referred to ONS, and, in particular, as I'm...
David Melding: Formally.
