Rebecca Evans: I thank you for those questions and your broad support for the Bill. I would completely agree with you that this is a much wider cultural issue that we are dealing with here and minimum unit pricing is only part of the answer. The answer lies in a much wider suite of measures that goes all the way from education through to supporting families in the home where there might be alcohol problems,...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, Llywydd. I move the motion. The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, which was commenced in April last year, brings together local authorities’ duties and functions in relation to improving the well-being of people who need care and support and carers who need support into a single Act. The regulations before you today seek to make minor technical amendments to...
Rebecca Evans: Long before I had the huge privilege of serving as Carl's deputy in Government, I worked for him here as his researcher while he was still on the back benches. Even back then, Carl put his own unique and colourful stamp on everything he did, and our office was no different. I'm quietly confident that our office was the first, and to this date the only, office to boast a fluffy white...
Rebecca Evans: Formally moved.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. I would like, at the start of my contribution, to acknowledge and pay tribute to Carl Sargeant for his leadership in introducing this Bill, and for his commitment and his hard work in seeing it through Stages 1 and 2. I'd also like to thank Assembly Members and, in particular, committee members, for their constructive scrutiny of the Bill during Stage 1 and Stage 2 proceedings,...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, Llywydd. The aim of this Bill is to abolish permanently the right to buy and the right to acquire in Wales. I'm afraid this amendment does cause the Government difficulty because it is complete abolition that provides a significant incentive for social landlords to invest in new properties, safe in the knowledge that they won’t be lost through the right to buy after a...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, Llywydd. This group of amendments relates to section 8, concerning the Welsh Ministers' duties to provide information to landlords. Of course I share David Melding’s wish to ensure that all relevant parties are aware of abolition, and I commit to make every effort to ensure all landlords are aware of their duty in this respect. Indeed, Government amendments at Stage 2 revised...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. This group of amendments relates to the requirements of landlords in respect of the provision of information for tenants and prospective tenants. These amendments ensure that landlords, in giving the information to their tenants, have regard to their needs and provide information in an appropriate way. I share Bethan Jenkins’s wish to ensure that tenants receive clear and...
Rebecca Evans: As we've heard, amendment 10 seeks to leave out the words 'or expedient' from section 9, which provides for the power to make consequential amendments. Section 9 confers powers on the Welsh Ministers to make consequential provision if they consider it necessary or expedient to do so, in consequence of a provision made by the Bill, or made under it. The word 'expedient' has its own meaning in...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. The notice period between Royal Assent and final abolition strikes the right balance between protecting social housing stock and giving tenants reasonable notice that the rights are ending. Provisions within the Bill ensure that tenants will receive information within two months of Royal Assent. This gives them a further 10 months before final abolition to submit an application to...
Rebecca Evans: I thank you for that question. As you'd imagine, tackling the issue of rough-sleeping is a priority for Welsh Government and a personal priority for me, especially at this particular time of year, as we're noticing the weather getting colder and we are actually seeing increased numbers of people sleeping on our streets. So, in 2016, Welsh Government improved the national rough-sleeper count,...
Rebecca Evans: I thank you for that question, and certainly we are expanding our approach to housing first, commissioning new housing first projects to help people into their own tenancies and increasing access to emergency accommodation. The previous Minister did provide some additional funding to improve and increase the capacity of emergency accommodation, particularly in the Cardiff area. But I agree...
Rebecca Evans: I'm absolutely open to looking at what more we can do to expand housing first. As you do, I completely see the sense and the benefit in terms of ensuring that people have that warm, safe home and that's the building block then around which they can then start to build a life and tackle issues such as substance misuse and so on. Because we know that many people with substance misuse...
Rebecca Evans: The UK Autumn Budget changes mean the introduction of Universal Credit full-service in Anglesey will now be June 2018. I have not yet had specific conversations with organisations in Anglesey, but we will continue to work closely with local authorities to help them prepare for the roll out of Universal Credit through the Universal Credit Advisory Group for Wales.
Rebecca Evans: Meeting the housing needs of everyone in Wales is a core theme of Prosperity for All, reflecting the importance we place on this issue. The Private Rented Sector is an important partner in meeting this challenge. Following the Welsh Government’s consultation on the issue, I will shortly be making a statement on our approach to fees charged to tenants in the Private Rented Sector.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. I formally move the motion. I am pleased to introduce the fourth and final stage of the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Bill before the Assembly today. I'd like to start by thanking Assembly Members for their robust scrutiny of the Bill and for their support, which has ensured its passage through to Stage 4. In particular, I'd like to...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. I've welcomed the opportunity to debate the Bill and I thank Members for their contributions. I always look to find common ground where there is some, and I think there is some in terms of the wider ambitions for housing. For example, there's no argument from Welsh Government on the importance of building homes, supporting people to buy a home, increasing affordable housing and...
Rebecca Evans: Formally.
Rebecca Evans: I'd like to thank Members for their contributions to the debate this afternoon. I'd like to be clear that we agree with much of the Plaid Cymru motion, differing only, as our amendment makes clear, over the practicability and the desirability of taking over the administrative responsibility for social security. As Members would expect, we reject the complacent amendment from the...
Rebecca Evans: I think history has taught us what happens when the UK Government devolves benefits to us, for example with the council tax benefit, when they top-sliced the budget. So, we're certainly once bitten, twice shy there. And, frankly, the responsibility for this does lie with the UK Government, and the UK Government needs to sort this out.
