Julie James: Yes, I will be coming on to talk about innovative forms of tenure and different models of developing the housing supply. A large number of them, probably all of the things that Huw Irranca-Davies has just mentioned, are in that list. It is important to reiterate though that our fundamental policy on this side remains the delivery of additional social housing. So, whilst I don't take away from...
Julie James: Certainly.
Julie James: I think it would have been a better scheme if councils had always been allowed to reinvest the money that they got from the sale back into additional stock. Of course, that was prevented for the vast majority of the time that right to buy was in place. It had to be put against paying off debt and so on in an extremely non-beneficial way. I think that was a mistake. But, I actually...
Julie James: That bit I do agree with. I'm not sure we'd quite have the same path to it, but, absolutely, a sustainable mixed tenure or mixed social make-up society is what we need. One of the things I bitterly regret about what's happened in the council estates where my family mostly live is that it's no longer a mixed economy at all—they have become ghetto estates, really, with particular people with...
Julie James: I am bringing my remarks to a close—thank you, Llywydd. This is a debate that's been so very welcome. You can see from the complexity of the remarks around the Chamber how much we can bring to bear in this space. So, I want to conclude—I've got a lot more that I could say in terms of what we're doing at the moment, but I want to bring the debate to a conclusion in this way. I very much...
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It is my responsibility to present the 2019-20 local government settlement for the 22 unitary authorities in Wales to the Assembly. In undertaking this role, I follow a long line of local government Ministers who have addressed this Assembly. We've all the understanding that Wales and all its communities can only achieve their full potential when there is...
Julie James: I'll be coming on to that shortly.
Julie James: Turning to general capital funding, local authorities will have an additional £100 million in general capital grant over the next three years: £50 million in 2018-19, £30 million in 2019-20 and £20 million in 2020-21. The general capital funding for 2019-20 is therefore increased to £173 million. This provides clarity and certainty on future funding for authorities' own capital spending...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. I'd like to start by thanking Members for their contributions and for contributing to the debate. I first want to respond to the comments on the sufficiency of the settlement. This Government has recognised the priorities and pressures we and local government are facing through this settlement and the wider funding available to local government. Indeed, I went out of my way...
Julie James: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. First, my thanks to the committee for its very careful consideration of what is clearly a critical but also very complex subject. Following the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, which a number of Members have referred to, and the myriad issues that have surfaced since, the Welsh Government has also been very deeply engaged in these matters. Our...
Julie James: The report, to which I responded earlier this month—and, as David Melding said, was one of the first things I did when I took over this portfolio—is a very welcome addition to the body of knowledge that is developing as we take the steps to make sure that we can ensure that people are safe when they live in a high-rise building, right down to actually what a high-rise building is and what...
Julie James: Are you a UKIP sympathiser now, Janet?
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. With less than 70 days until the UK is due to leave the EU, and with the prospect of a 'no deal' Brexit still firmly on the table, we have a responsibility to take precautionary measures as part our Brexit preparations, and this includes our planning for civil contingencies. A civil contingencies response will normally deal with an event that threatens to damage human...
Julie James: The work to assess impacts and put mitigation in place is critical in minimising the need for a civil contingency response. For Brexit and for a 'no deal' Brexit, we are working through a range of partnerships, including the Wales resilience forum, the joint emergency services group and directly with the four local resilience forums across Wales. Specifically, we are building on our...
Julie James: Thank you for that series of comments. The Member will not be at all surprised to discover that I disagreed with almost all of the first third of his remarks. I'm always very astonished by how sure people are what people voted for exactly. So, I don't know how you're so sure that people didn't vote to stay in the customs union and the single market. I, personally, am not sure of that. I have...
Julie James: Well, I very much agree with the tenor and the content of the Member's remarks. In terms of far-right activity, I did say briefly in my statement that we are reinforcing the community cohesion arrangements that we have in place. We already fund the regional community cohesion co-ordinators. They're very much part of the resilience fora and the preparedness, for exactly the reason that she...
Julie James: The Member makes an important point. At the partnership council that I chaired very recently to discuss the possibility of a 'no deal' Brexit, this issue was very much a topic on the agenda, to ensure that, as I said in response to Leanne Wood, the supply chain is looked at in detail for the preparation of things like school meals or meals on wheels and those kinds of provisions—care homes,...
Julie James: Yes, the Member's absolutely right. We have put in place a range of engagement exercises with local authorities. It's a standing item on the partnership council, but in addition to that we've put in place a new engagement structure, the local government EU preparedness advisory panel, and we've also got an internal Welsh Government-local government EU co-ordination group. We agreed in...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. I move the motion. Following the consideration and passing of the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Act 2018 by the Assembly last year, and subsequently its commencement Order, we will see full abolition of the right to buy in Wales on 26 January 2019. The consequential amendments and savings provisions regulations before you today will ensure that...
Julie James: Thank you for that contribution. I often have much to agree on with David Melding, and I appreciate the sentiments he expressed there. I, for one, am absolutely delighted that we've stopped the right to buy, and it's a matter of some discourse between us, but I understand his sentiments on it. From our point of view, the Act was necessary to ensure the protection of our vital social housing...
