Rebecca Evans: I thank you for raising this important issue, and I'm sorry to hear about the serious anti-social behaviour issues that your constituents have been facing. I met with police and crime commissioner Alun Michael earlier in the week, and his deputy, and they're working together to lead that piece of work, which is developing a resource for all social housing providers, hopefully, subject to the...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. I issued a written statement on 22 January 2018 regarding legal action concerning the regeneration investment fund for Wales. I can confirm that legal proceedings are under way for breach of contract and professional negligence against Amber Fund Management and Lambert Smith Hampton Group Ltd. It would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this stage in those proceedings.
Rebecca Evans: I thank you for those questions. I will say that in terms of the timescale involved, all matters to do with RIFW were looked at in a great deal of detail by both the Wales Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee. Those pieces of work in particular spanned several years, and the Welsh Government did accept all of the 17 recommendations made by PAC, and, actually, this legal action does...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, and I'm very grateful indeed to Members for bringing forward this cross-party debate today. As Mick Antoniw set out at the very start of the debate, leaseholders have a long history, but I think our debate today has really highlighted how, in recent years, an unscrupulous minority of developers and freeholders have sought to profit from questionable practices. I think that the...
Rebecca Evans: The leaseholder should always have the first opportunity to purchase that lease, but it is my concern that, often, the price of the leases are beyond what the leaseholder is able or the home owner is able to pay for that lease, and that's something that I would be looking to explore in the wider context of this debate. But I am really keen to be using all of the tools currently at my disposal...
Rebecca Evans: Commonhold is a model that I've been looking at, and I've been trying to understand why commonhold hasn't taken off in the past, what have been the barriers to it succeeding previously, and what could be done differently in future as part of that wider context of how to improve leasehold and so on, and freehold, within this particular sector. I'll be developing awareness-raising materials...
Rebecca Evans: We all need a decent home if we are to realise our potential and enjoy basic well-being. Thousands of households have avoided homelessness through the preventative approach required under our Housing (Wales) Act 2014 legislation, which is the envy of other countries. But we still have much to do. We have all seen people living on the streets, and, clearly, the numbers have grown. Talking to...
Rebecca Evans: I thank you very much for those questions and for your welcome of the housing first approach. I certainly recall it was the first question that you asked me about when I came into this portfolio, so I'm glad to be able to be making some progress on this, I think, very much shared agenda of promotion of housing first. We've approved funding for a number of projects and they are with local...
Rebecca Evans: I thank you for those questions. I do think it's important that we keep our eye, both on the preventative side of things but also on the sharp end of homelessness, if you like, in terms of tackling rough-sleeping. Our preventative approach has been very successful. Since the housing Act came into force fewer than two years ago, 13,000 families or 13,000 households have avoided homelessness as...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for those questions. Mike Hedges is completely right to point out to us that, actually, when we're talking about homelessness, we're not talking only about rough-sleeping, although that is the most visible part of it. Estimates suggest that there might be 30 people sofa surfing or in other kinds of temporary accommodation for every person who we see sleeping on the...
Rebecca Evans: I thank you for those questions, and I'm really encouraged that the committee is undertaking a piece of work into rough-sleeping in particular, and looking at homelessness more widely. That's really important because I hope I've been clear that both of the documents that have been published today are live documents. So, I'll be keen to be looking at the recommendations that the committee...
Rebecca Evans: I thank you very much for that. I am very, very pleased that the committee is taking a good look at this particular issue, and it is important, because, as we've probably seen through the statement, there are questions, and some of the questions we don't have the answers to yet. For example, that question as to why, even on the coldest of nights, there are empty bed spaces in some of our...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for that question. It’s good to hear the Welsh housing quality standard mentioned. All local authorities are working towards meeting the Welsh housing quality standard by 2020. All of them have confirmed that they are on track to do that, so I think that’s really positive. I suppose the challenge for Government will be to say, 'Well, what next?' You know, what will be...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, for the opportunity to present a legislative consent motion in relation to the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill. I'd like to thank the Children, Young People and Education Committee and the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee for their scrutiny of these issues in the original memorandum and supplementary memorandum, and I acknowledge...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'd like to begin by thanking the Chairs and members of the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee, the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee and the Finance Committee for their detailed scrutiny of the Bill throughout Stage 1. I'd also like to thank the stakeholders who provided written and oral evidence. The Regulation of...
Rebecca Evans: This Bill proposes only the changes necessary to address the Government controls identified by ONS to allow the classification decision to be reviewed, whilst maintaining robust and effective regulation of RSLs. Since the reclassification of RSLs in Wales in September 2016, all political parties have agreed that we need to act to enable ONS to review the classification, and this is also...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. I'd very much like to thank all Members who have participated in the debate today, and, as I said at the start of my contribution, in terms of the scrutiny of the Bill thus far, I think that engagement has been very, very constructive indeed. I think it's useful, perhaps, if I just set out some thoughts on what this Bill isn't about. There is nothing in this Bill that would, for...
Rebecca Evans: Yes, absolutely.
Rebecca Evans: Through the judgments and the standards that our registered social landlords have to adhere to in Wales, they're very clear on their purpose in terms of maintaining a strong focus on provision of social housing for the people who need it most—quality social housing. Also, through our framework of regulation, we have the opportunity to explore to what extent RSLs are investing their efforts...
Rebecca Evans: It was Mark first.
