David Melding: I hope the Assembly will indulge me now as a former Chair of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee. I do think this is a very important part of the legislation, and when it comes to regulation-making powers, it's natural that other Members perhaps glass over a bit. But this really matters. The way this Bill, if it becomes an Act, will function and will be adapted is pretty much...
David Melding: Section 7, firstly, provides Welsh Ministers with the power to use the regulations to amend the list of permitted payments. The power is a Henry VIII power, as it will enable section 1 to be amended by subordinate legislation. The objective behind the regulation-making powers is to enable regulations to reflect any unforeseen changes in landlord behaviour and practice, and the Welsh Ministers...
David Melding: Can I just welcome these amendments, which will give Rent Smart Wales the power to issue fixed-penalty notices? I brought these amendments at Stage 2, and we were pleased to hear that the Government would bring in a more suitable version at Stage 3. I do believe that there's a need to give Rent Smart Wales additional powers to strengthen this legislation, as we're considering today, and...
David Melding: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm happy to move both of my amendments in this group, namely 43 and 44. Amendment 44 stems from the same one that I brought forward at Stage 2 and builds on the amendments that the Government has already put in place, increasing the fixed-penalty notice from £500 to £1,000. My version increases the fixed-penalty notice from £1,000 to £2,000. I do...
David Melding: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. You know, at certain points in Stage 3, we get to the heart of the matter, and this legislation, this Bill, is supposed to be about protecting tenants from unlawful payments. The one thing it doesn’t do efficiently is refund the illegal payment, and I just think that anyone watching this would be mystified. At least in England, whatever the deficiencies...
David Melding: I move.
David Melding: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The lead amendment in this group, amendment 45, places a duty on local authorities to notify Rent Smart Wales when a fixed penalty is paid. During the Committee Stage of this Bill we agreed with Rent Smart Wales that the process needs to be tightened to ensure that, when a fixed-penalty notice is paid, Rent Smart Wales is informed. This will help with...
David Melding: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I'm very happy to move both of the amendments in this group, which have been developed in close collaboration with the Minister and her team. And I know I've said a few sharp things, but I hope I've said many more constructive things about this legislation, and I do think it's a good sign when the Government gets behind an opposition-inspired...
David Melding: Move.
David Melding: I know that amendment 25 is key to the Government's central narrative and that, here in Wales, the ultimate deterrent for deviation from the law is that a landlord could lose their licence under Rent Smart Wales, and this is reflected in this amendment, specifically in relation to the failure to repay a prohibited payment. As I've said, I believe we've missed a trick in not ensuring that the...
David Melding: Move.
David Melding: Move.
David Melding: Move.
David Melding: Move.
David Melding: Move.
David Melding: Move.
David Melding: Move.
David Melding: What financial assistance has the Welsh Government given to local authorities to support fire safety improvements on high rise buildings?
David Melding: Minister, we know that in England there'll be a 25-year environmental plan, and the draft environment Bill includes proposals for an office of environmental protection, to which, presumably, citizens would have the right—and it might be analogous to the Commission taking up the citizen's cause, which of course is why that form of very quick legal access is so effective. You've decided on a...
David Melding: I am grateful to you, Presiding Officer. In England, they're looking at this as well, and you know that there's a proposal to increase the minimum tenancy period from six months to three years. However, the 1988 reform was designed to bring more properties onto the market, because at that stage there was, one could argue, quite severe over-regulation and the supply of properties to rent was...
