Julie James: I will run quickly through some of the services we provide in partnership with the prison service in Wales, which clearly demonstrate our commitment to the rehabilitation purpose of prison. The Welsh Government is working with local health boards in Wales to improve the health and well-being of prisoners in the Welsh prisons. Our priorities include mental health, substance abuse and medicines...
Julie James: We have developed a specific housing referral pathway to assist ex-service personnel and their families in transitioning back to civilian life. We remain committed to ensuring veterans have access to services that meet their needs, and are not disadvantaged as a result of their service.
Julie James: Registered social landlords make a positive contribution to the communities where they work including providing homes, employment and training opportunities. I will be meeting Community Housing Cymru, who represent registered social landlords, and will engage with RSL chief executives across Wales, to discuss the work they do with communities.
Julie James: As I set out in my recent oral statement, rough sleeping remains at a persistent and unacceptable level in Wales. We remain committed to tackling the issue, and early indications from policy initiatives such as Housing First show signs of success with some of our most complex rough sleepers.
Julie James: Our aim is to support people to live independently in their own home, regardless of whether they are disabled or have a reduced mobility. We are taking action across a broad front in support of this aim.
Julie James: The latest figures show that as at 31 March 2017 there were just over 1,300 empty social sector homes and around 25,200 private sector properties that had been vacant for six months or more across Wales.
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I very much welcome this debate, despite throwing my papers all over the floor in an unseemly fashion, so I apologise for that. [Laughter.] Thank you, Vaughan. We're absolutely committed, in the Welsh Government, to the provision of social housing by councils as well as by registered social landlords. We know there is an urgent need for additional homes...
Julie James: Absolutely, and in doing so, we can remove a number of other issues. As I said, we can remove health problems, mental health problems, we can remove fuel poverty issues, debt issues and so on by building housing of the right standard. And frankly, we can contribute to not killing our own planet by building houses that leak heat out into the air for no reason and so on. So, there are a number...
Julie James: It does. Second homes can bring wealth with them as well, but we also need to ensure that local people can have decent homes to live in. I'm very keen to work with you on a number of the things that were raised today—I won't go through all of them or the Deputy Presiding Officer's seriously going to lose patience with me. But, clearly, what this debate has shown is that there are a large...
Julie James: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Amendments 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10 have been tabled to address recommendation 6 made in the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee's report. They ensure that fees for exiting an occupation contract are prohibited. In particular, I'd wish to assure Members that the amendments prevent the type of check-out fees that tenants sometimes face when they...
Julie James: Thank you, Llywydd. Formally.
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Amendment 5 is a minor drafting change to the Bill to clarify section 2(3) to ensure that we capture the relevant contract for services. Our aim here is to avoid any restriction on a contract for services if those services are provided by someone who has a right to occupy a dwelling. Common examples here include a caretaker or a nanny. This is a minor...
Julie James: Formally.
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Amendments 55 and 57, brought by Leanne Wood, would place a duty on the criminal court, upon conviction of an offence under sections 2 and 3 of the Bill, requiring a prohibited payment, to order a landlord or agent to pay back the prohibited payment, or where there had been partial repayment, the outstanding amount, as she rightly said. Our view has not...
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I do object to amendments 56 and 58, which are the same as those brought forward on this matter at Stage 2. Our position is also the same—that the amendments inappropriately restrict the operation of the licensing authority. Removal of a licence under Part 1 of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 may not necessarily be the best solution, but that is a matter...
Julie James: Formally.
Julie James: Formally.
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Amendment 9 is a technical amendment. New subsection (3) of section 3 makes clear that a letting agent may enter into a contract for services with a landlord whereby the agent may provide lettings or property management work on the landlord's behalf, which would be required were a landlord not to be licensed by Rent Smart Wales to carry out such work. I...
Julie James: Formally.
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Evidence given by tenant organisations in respect of holding deposits showed that, at times, there's been a degree of misselling on the part of some letting agents or landlords, where the offer made when the holding deposit is taken from the prospective tenant can be different to what is subsequently set out in the written contract. To a degree, this may...
