Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for your welcome for the statement. When I said in the statement that I had given long and hard deliberation to this issue, then I was absolutely serious because this has been a very difficult issue in terms of gathering the information that we need, in terms of both evidence and the views of the sector, which are so polarised that it has been very difficult to find a way...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for those questions. During the consultation process, there were various issues that did come to light that were not directly related, necessarily, to the commission rates, but they were issues that local authorities need to be very much aware of in considering, as we move forward with this issue. Lack of information and understanding, even, about the mobile homes Act was...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for those questions. I'll start where you finished, in terms of the visibility of the requirement to pay the commission rate that people agree when they enter into their contract. Well, it is within the contract, but this goes back to the kind of issue I was talking about in response to Bethan Sayed, where there is no conveyancing. This is essentially laypeople, in most...
Rebecca Evans: I thank you very much for those points. I certainly know that you, for many years, have been a champion of the park home residents within your own constituency. I know we've had meetings to discuss the concerns that your constituents have been raising with you as well. I do hope that the fact that there is this backstop of the residential property tribunal will give some assurance to...
Rebecca Evans: Great. Thank you very much for those comments. Again, I know that we've met to discuss the concerns that you've heard from residents in Mid and West Wales, both from the perspective of the people who are park home owners, but also from the perspective of the people who own the sites as well. So, you've certainly, I know, heard both sides of the argument and recognised, as I do, that there...
Rebecca Evans: Formally.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much. I do welcome the debate today and the spirit in which it was brought forward by David Melding. I don't think I have enjoyed a debate as much as the one today for quite some time, because we have heard some really constructive and thoughtful contributions. 'Prosperity for All', our national strategy, makes it clear that communities are a national asset, and we will invest...
Rebecca Evans: Yes.
Rebecca Evans: The targeted regeneration investment programme is very much about locally led solutions for local regeneration. It's undertaken on a regional basis, but those discussions are undertaken amongst those local authorities within the region and it is for those local authorities to use their local knowledge to decide how to spend that £100 million. Welsh Government won't be directing how that...
Rebecca Evans: I agree that it has to be locally led and locally delivered, which is why it's important for areas that have the opportunity to become business improvement districts to look at the success that has been generated in other parts of Wales, where the local members and local businesses have decided to opt in. I can see that time is running out, so I will bring things to a close by talking very...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Llywydd. Yesterday, I laid the Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Bill, together with the explanatory memorandum, before the National Assembly for Wales. I am pleased to have this opportunity to make a statement about the Bill. Members will know that we are committed to removing barriers to entering and moving within the private rented sector. 'Prosperity for All', our national...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for those comments and questions and for your recognition right at the start of your contribution that, really, there is a public need for this legislation, which has been acknowledged across the UK, and certainly a public need to increase the transparency within the sector and to allow people to move into the sector and between different properties within the sector as...
Rebecca Evans: I thank you very much for those comments and also recognise that bringing in legislation to this effect was a Plaid Cymru manifesto commitment. As it's something that the Conservative Party are taking forward in England, and I know it's something that UKIP have spoken about in favour of before, I think that it's good that we have cross-party consensus on this particular piece of legislation,...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for those comments. It might be helpful if I returned to the issue of what we've learned from the Scottish legislation in terms of our approach here in Wales. It is a fact that rents did rise in the first 12 months following the introduction of the Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Act 2011. That amended the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984, which I previously referred to,...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for those comments and for the question as well. I thought the comparison with asking house buyers to pay the estate agent’s fees was quite an illuminating kind of comparison. Certainly, it puts it into perspective as well. And, as Mike Hedges perfectly correctly points out, these tenants' fees are fees that are paid by those who are usually least able to pay. And, as...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much. I really do welcome the opportunity to respond to this important debate and I'm very grateful to the committee for their examination of rough-sleeping. As I set out in my evidence to the committee, I do recognise that homelessness takes many forms and the majority of people who are homeless are not on the streets—they're staying with friends, family or in other...
Rebecca Evans: I think something that the committee heard evidence on was that the issue of local connection is not addressed in a way that is consistent and coherent across Wales. So, this is something that I'll certainly be ensuring that the independent assessment does take into account in terms of identifying the best way forward there, because I know that there was strong evidence heard by the committee...
Rebecca Evans: The Welsh Government is supporting credit unions to deliver school savers projects. These help teach children good savings habits and money management skills from a young age, whilst also enhancing numeracy and financial literacy.
Rebecca Evans: Diolch. The Welsh Government knows just how important secure, good quality housing is to the health and well-being of the communities we serve. We understand the considerable pressures on both health and social services, and we know that housing organisations and housing services have a vital contribution to make in responding to those pressures. Whilst housing and social care are both key...
Rebecca Evans: Whilst the fund is already beginning to support accommodation-led solutions to social care, alongside both housing and health capital programmes, I want to move towards developing a more scalable, strategic programme of capital investment, which has housing at its core. I want us to up our game with this fund and move away from delivering just smaller—but important—localised projects to...
