Julie James: Well, it's a national sport, really, in local government to argue about the costs or savings associated with any reorganisation. What is clear is that if you do a mass reorganisation, those authorities become inward looking as people look to see that their jobs and services are protected. We do not need inward-looking services. We need outward-looking, collaborative, efficient services. So,...
Julie James: Yes. So, the forthcoming Bill has a range of arrangements in it for collaborative joint working. It will have a device called a corporate joint committee that will allow a legal entity to be formed between local authorities who wish to work regionally together. There will be four mandatory areas on the face of the Bill as it's introduced, Deputy Presiding Officer, although, obviously, we are...
Julie James: We have a range of things that we're doing. A number of the questions that are coming up in this session are around what we're doing about building safety and regulation. But we are in a difficulty where some of the private sector landlords have not been able to step forward or, actually, in one really very difficult situation in my own constituency where a range of people have gone bankrupt...
Julie James: Just to say on that, actually—I should say that my colleague Vaughan Gething, in his Assembly Member capacity, is bringing some people to meet with me for exactly that purpose very shortly.
Julie James: That's obviously out of competence for the Assembly, but I certainly think that something needs to be done, in terms of remedial impact for some of the pieces of work that we've seen. Only today I met with house builders in Wales to discuss a way forward, and to set out our ambition for better homes, better space standards, better carbon design, better community planning, better placemaking,...
Julie James: So, we're very much in the space of encouraging all local authorities with plans that are more than five years old, which that sounds like it is, to be in the review process. The whole purpose of the plan-led process is to keep it up to date, so that, as new developments become apparent—zero-carbon building possibilities, air quality issues and so on—the plan takes those into account....
Julie James: I think it was a very good report, and, in fact, it gives me the opportunity to plug the public services summit that I and the First Minister will be addressing tomorrow, which runs over two days in the Liberty Stadium, down in Swansea, with the exact purpose of spreading good practice far and wide in Wales, along the theme of one public service for Wales. Academi Wales is actually an...
Julie James: Yes, I would entirely agree with you. There was a good report from the auditor on public services boards, and they're relatively new. They are taken into account in the regional working group that the WLGA has, which I mentioned in response to an earlier question. The WLGA is doing some good work alongside its colleagues in health around how we can spread good practice across the public...
Julie James: Yes, so, as I say, it's early days for the way that these two boards work together. It's early days for the public services boards. And, obviously, the regional partnership boards are even more recent in their inception. I'm not going to comment on the detail of that. We are aware of different practices across Wales, and one of the things that I said in answering your second point was that we...
Julie James: Local authorities are responsible for inspecting and regulating many different services, both devolved and non-devolved. The Welsh Government sets the statutory frameworks for those in devolved areas, and these are periodically reviewed.
Julie James: So, the Minister outlined in her earlier questions a whole range of measures that she has recently announced in this regard, and, of course, we're all deeply disturbed by the accounts of non-compliance in the BBC documentary. It was horrible—absolutely heartbreaking. My colleague Lesley Griffiths outlined a series of things that she's undertaking in this regard. It is always tempting to...
Julie James: Yes, and, as I said, Lesley Griffiths, in her earlier answers, set out a number of things. I know she's written to the Wales animal health and welfare framework group to accept their offer of help and request an urgent and immediate review of the dog breeding regulations. Perhaps, given the amount of interest across the Chamber, and the cross-portfolio thing—you've just put a written...
Julie James: Well, I've no idea of the detail of the cases that Janet Finch-Saunders is setting out. If you want to write in, that's fine. But, first of all, trading standards is a non-devolved service provided by our local authorities, and, secondly, it's very difficult to make a general statement about the efficacy or otherwise of a prosecution policy off the back of three cases that I've just heard...
Julie James: National planning policy for new housing has been completely revised to reflect the well-being of future generations Act. 'Planning Policy Wales' puts placemaking at the heart of the planning system and, rather than the building of isolated housing estates, focuses on creating sustainable places that positively contribute towards well-being.
Julie James: Yes. Well, as Hefin David knows, I'm unable to comment on the specifics of any given planning application, but, in general, I'm very happy to say that I agree with the future generations commissioner about the importance of access to green space for all our communities, particularly those who have less access, actually. And that very much enhances health and well-being, particularly in...
Julie James: Yes, I'm happy to agree with that. Actually, my colleague Ken Skates and I attended a meeting of the housing building federation—I can't remember the exact title; just to confuse poor Ministers, they all have almost identical names—but the housing building federation, only this morning, in which we undertook to work together with the leads for planning and highways in the WLGA to do...
Julie James: 'Planning Policy Wales' sets that out. 'Planning Policy Wales' is the extant planning policy for Wales, which is what should be taken into account when planning committees make their decisions. It's pretty straightforward stuff.
Julie James: Yes.
Julie James: I thought I'd said 'yes' to start with. The most recent policy is the one that should be considered.
Julie James: Sorry, Deputy Presiding Officer.
