Julie James: Will you take an intervention, just to be really clear?
Julie James: If there's an orphan building—that's what we call them—where the developer has gone bankrupt and we cannot trace a development company with liability or responsibility for that, then that will be paid for out of the Government's fund, which is considerably more than the consequential we were given.
Julie James: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (Amendment of Schedule 12 and Consequential Amendment) Regulations 2022 do three principal things. Firstly and most importantly, they amend the renting homes Act to improve security of tenure for current tenants. Tenants with a periodic assured shorthold tenancy that converts to a periodic standard occupation contract on 1 December...
Julie James: —[Inaudible.]—a few of the things—I'll do them in reverse order, if that's okay. In terms of the issues raised around the VAWDASV concerns that Women’s Aid have raised, obviously I’ve had them raised with me as well, and my officials have, and I’ve recently had a meeting with the Minister for Social Justice on this point. The Renting Homes (Wales) Act, just to remind everyone, is...
Julie James: Diolch, Deputy Llywydd. I move the motion.
Julie James: Yes.
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. Llywydd, last month, world leaders came together at COP27 to focus on the climate emergency. Following difficult negotiations, there was both hope and disappointment. Hope came from the agreement for developed nations to create a fund as early as next year to cover loss and damage. The fund will support the most vulnerable nations and communities in their battles with the...
Julie James: Thank you, Janet. I completely agree with you that much of what we've achieved, of course, is only possible with the people and the communities of Wales, and that means communities in a geographical sense but also communities of interest like, for example, our businesses, our industries, our agricultural sector and so on. So, I completely join with you in that—I'd do it more loudly, only,...
Julie James: Yes, thank you very much, Delyth, for that series of things. So, just going through them in order, yes, we absolutely bring up the grid issues every single time I meet anybody even remotely relevant to it in a ministerial group—we bring it up. I’m in the queue to see the new energy Minister. I hope he stays in post long enough for me to actually see this one—the last one left post...
Julie James: Thank you very much, Jenny. One of the things you'll see when we publish the plan by the end of this week is a very useful infographic, which, Deputy Llywydd, I happen to have a rush copy of in front of me. What that does is go through some of the statistics I was responding to Janet Finch-Saunders using. It sets out very neatly which indicators are red and amber and why, and what we need to...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. Turning first to amendments 11 and 12, tabled by Janet Finch-Saunders, both amendments aim to achieve the same goal, namely to align the definition of 'single-use' to that applied elsewhere, such as in Scotland. The amendments propose the addition of 'conceived' to the terms 'designed' and 'manufactured' currently in the Bill. We discussed these amendments in committee at...
Julie James: Amendment 9, proposed by Rhys ab Owen, would add disposable e-cigarettes to the Schedule, meaning that they would be banned. Amendments 6, 8 and 10 are consequential to this amendment. Of course we recognise that there's anecdotal evidence of an increased littering problem with single-use e-cigarettes, but this is a complex area, as Rhys himself has just set out, and requires much further...
Julie James: Formally.
Julie James: Turning to amendment 15, tabled by Janet Finch-Saunders, this amendment inserts a provision in section 2 of the Bill to set out how the exemptions contained in table 1 of the Schedule relating to single-use plastic straws should apply: specifically, how a supplier can be satisfied that they reasonably believe a person needs a straw for health or disability reasons. It is very important that...
Julie James: All amendments in this group deal with making it an offence to manufacture, as well as to supply or offer to supply, a single-use plastic product that is banned in the Schedule part of the Bill. During Stage 2, similar amendments regarding the manufacture of single-use products were put forward and rejected by the members of the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee. This...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. At Stage 2, I accepted an amendment tabled by Delyth Jewell to reduce the number of exemptions for plastic single-use carrier bags from the ban introduced by the Bill, specifically to remove the exemption that applies when a patient receives a plastic single-use carrier bag when dispensed with a prescribed medicine or medical device, defined as a 'listed appliance' in the...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. The intention of the Bill is to prohibit the supply and offer to supply for sale or for free the products listed in the Bill to consumers in Wales. Amendments 31, 32 and 33 tabled by Janet Finch-Saunders propose to amend Schedule 1 to the Bill to specifically exempt the use of single-use plastic cotton buds for forensic purposes, as relevant devices used for medical purposes...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd.
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. I will address amendment 34 first. Amendment 34 would remove oxo-degradable plastic products from the list of prohibited products in Schedule 1, as well as the definition of 'oxo-degradable plastic'. And Janet's quite right, I did note in earlier committee appearances and at Plenary that oxo-degradable plastic is a complex area that is still being researched. But, at this...
Julie James: Formally.
