David Melding: Well, Minister, when this policy was introduced, it diverged from the option that they took in England. There, first-time buyers have a relief of up to £300,000, and, on properties that are priced at that level, there is no stamp duty at all. You quote the average house price—I thought you said £140,000; I think that is not accurate. The average price, I think, at the moment is £180,000...
David Melding: Well, relief is either helpful, or it isn't, so I think you need to make your mind up on that. And I wouldn't like to go out into the streets of Cardiff, or go to Monmouth or Anglesey, and tell the first-time buyers there, paying well over the odds of what they would pay if they were in England, that this extra tax is neither here nor there. I think that is a really bad message. The other...
David Melding: Cabinet Secretary, a little while ago, the ministerial advisory group on outcomes for children received a presentation from Lord Laming and his review into the youth criminal justice system and the alarming discovery that looked-after children were much more likely to come into contact with the youth justice system compared to their peers, often because those involved—the police, teachers...
David Melding: And what would have happened if the Labour Government had been returned in 2010 and Mr Darling's spending plans had been put into effect? How would that have affected your current spending?
David Melding: Deputy Presiding Officer, I'm unaccustomed to such a warm welcome. In the last 24 hours or so we've discussed the budget, we've discussed Brexit and we've just been discussing the Welsh Government's record, but now we have a calm interlude, and I want to turn to the Neolithic in the story of Wales—
David Melding: Boom boom. [Laughter.] There were great achievements in the Neolithic, as you're about to discover. In north-west Europe, where we find ourselves, the Neolithic ran from about 4,500 BC to 1,700 BC, although exactitude in these matters is not particularly helpful. No-one woke up one day and said, 'Ah, the Neolithic is over and the Bronze Age has begun', but we do like to use these categories....
David Melding: 'This is an aspect of the "personality" of Wales which can be overlooked if the country is seen as no more than part of the Highland Zone of Britain. Eastwards, Wales faces the lowlands of England, but it also faces the western waters, with their network of sea-routes. People and influences came from the one direction and the other, and the interplay between what came by land and what came...
David Melding: Cabinet Secretary, I do think this is an important area of public policy. Depending on how you count empty homes—whether they're empty after six months or a shorter period—there's somewhere between 23,000 and 43,000 empty properties in Wales. In my area, Rhondda Cynon Taf has nearly 500 properties that have been empty for five years—that's the worst of any authority apart from Swansea....
David Melding: 5. Will the Leader of the House make a statement on 5G connectivity in Cardiff? OAQ53095
David Melding: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for that answer. Indeed, EE announced that Cardiff was one of the six UK cities that would be the first to get 5G mobile networks. This promises to improve services, not just through personal devices, and that will be transformative, but to offer an integrated infrastructure for buildings, transport, public utilities, providing unprecedented benefits for...
David Melding: What action is the Welsh Government taking to eradicate missed appointments in the Welsh NHS?
David Melding: Paul Davies.
David Melding: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I commend the Member. I know she has a passionate interest in this area, and is amongst the most authentic and early voices, indeed, in urging better public policy. I completely agree with the basic concepts of the circular economy, and packaging, in particular, is a real challenge, and we need to rethink. I'm old enough to remember when you used to go to the fruit...
David Melding: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Can I just say that the remarks I'm going to make are in no way a reflection on the individual, whom I hold in very high esteem? But Jeremy Miles is listed on the Welsh Government's website as, I quote, 'the Counsel General designate and Brexit Minister'. His duties as a Minister, as far as I can work out, include chairing the Cabinet sub-committee on European...
David Melding: Minister, I too am concerned about learning loss, which has long been identified as an issue, particularly in deprived areas, where children who have made great progress in catching up on some key skills—for instance, numeracy and literacy—then lose out during the summer period. I know, when Cardiff University reviewed this programme in 2016, they said it was very important that there...
David Melding: Evangelist.
David Melding: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I'm delighted to open this debate and can I start with a very happy task and welcome the Minister for Housing and Local Government, Julie James, to her post? Quiet genuinely, it is a matter, I think, we can celebrate that we have again a Minister of Cabinet rank especially designated for housing—although also responsible for another department, but one closely...
David Melding: I'm going to open this debate with a quote from the previous chief executive of the Home Builders Federation, and I quote: 'All the signs are that, without effective action taken now, Wales is heading for a housing crisis equal to or possibly worse than in the rest of the UK…We are urging the Welsh Assembly that unless urgent action is taken, the country's housing crisis will have severe...
David Melding: Demand for housing has outstripped supply in Wales, as it has across the UK. For many, many years, this has been the case. The extra requirements for housing mainly came about as a result of the increase in the number of households, especially one-person households, which reflect more modern living, but also other factors, such as the rise in population. The Welsh Conservative Party has...
David Melding: We've had the debate about the right to buy and the Assembly's made its decision. What I think is crucial is to have mixed tenure. There's a lot of attention being given to this—that that's what's at the heart of sustainable communities. Just as we would favour, under conditions, the sale of council houses, we would favour, and this has been done a lot in the past, councils buying what's in...
