Rebecca Evans: I thank you for the question. Having complete coverage of adopted local development plans across Wales is really crucial in terms of ensuring that the homes that Wales needs are delivered. For the South Wales East area, there are significant opportunities and challenges that are larger than any single local planning authority, and are certainly best addressed through local authorities working...
Rebecca Evans: The Welsh Government absolutely agrees that work should pay, which is why we have such severe concerns about universal credit, which actually means that in many cases work doesn't pay. People who are in employment, such as lone families, and families with disabled people who are in employment, some of them will actually see their income fall as a result of the impact of universal...
Rebecca Evans: I thank you very much for that question, and I share your deep concern about the impact that universal credit, particularly, but welfare reform and austerity in the wider sense, are having on our communities. It's a concern that's shared by the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services, who, today, actually, has met with the leader of Torfaen council, and part of the...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. Our research shows that the welfare changes from 2010-11 to 2015-16 have hit the south Wales Valleys hard. This includes Torfaen, which was the seventh worst affected local authority area in Wales, with average income losses above those for Wales as a whole. In terms of the welfare changes introduced since 2015-16, and those that are continuing to roll out over the next few years,...
Rebecca Evans: Yes.
Rebecca Evans: Well, I think that there is a clear case for creating larger, more flexible funding streams that cut down on bureaucracy and support more strategic programme alignments to meet local needs, but, equally, I have to say that it is really important to recognise that no final decision has been taken. We do have the Pathfinder projects, which are looking at what that larger grant might look like...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, and I very much welcome this debate today. We clearly all want to end homelessness, and we do know that prevention is the best way in which to achieve this. I think that Rhun ap Iorwerth really shared some strong evidence as to why the preventative approach as a priority does make sense. Our progressive approach focused on prevention has achieved a lot, but we are confronted with...
Rebecca Evans: Formally.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. I think this debate has been very useful and very positive, and I hope I'm able to respond in similarly useful and positive terms. I'm really glad to have this opportunity to talk about the exciting work that we're doing to find new and creative solutions to Wales's pressing housing needs. Our innovative housing programme is designed to test new ways of increasing the supply of...
Rebecca Evans: Formally.
Rebecca Evans: Well, Welsh Government, as you'll be more than aware, is committed to pursuing all avenues in order to create and build homes, particularly affordable homes, with our target of 20,000 over the course of this Assembly, but also homes for market sale as well. There are a number of ways in which we're doing that. We recognise the important role that the SME sector will play in terms of meeting...
Rebecca Evans: We have a long-term positive trend in house building in Wales, and the reality is that the number of new dwellings started in Wales increased by 2 per cent in 2016-17, compared to the previous year, and this is the second highest annual number recorded since the start of the recession in 2007.
Rebecca Evans: I'm winding up. I do not support the devolution of welfare or the administration of welfare to Wales. The devolution of welfare benefits to the Scottish Government has transferred the associated financial risk, with the demand for welfare benefits growing faster per head in Scotland than in England from the point of devolution. For Wales, this would pose a significant and unacceptable...
Rebecca Evans: I think history has taught us what happens when the UK Government devolves benefits to us, for example with the council tax benefit, when they top-sliced the budget. So, we're certainly once bitten, twice shy there. And, frankly, the responsibility for this does lie with the UK Government, and the UK Government needs to sort this out.
Rebecca Evans: Analysis—. Well, we've got our own responsibilities here that are devolved to us in the Welsh Government. Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies also shows that households in Wales will lose 1.6 per cent of their net income on average, or around £460 a year, from the UK Government's tax and benefit reforms introduced between 2015-16 and 2019-20. This is equivalent to around £600...
Rebecca Evans: I'd like to thank Members for their contributions to the debate this afternoon. I'd like to be clear that we agree with much of the Plaid Cymru motion, differing only, as our amendment makes clear, over the practicability and the desirability of taking over the administrative responsibility for social security. As Members would expect, we reject the complacent amendment from the...
Rebecca Evans: Formally.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. I've welcomed the opportunity to debate the Bill and I thank Members for their contributions. I always look to find common ground where there is some, and I think there is some in terms of the wider ambitions for housing. For example, there's no argument from Welsh Government on the importance of building homes, supporting people to buy a home, increasing affordable housing and...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. I formally move the motion. I am pleased to introduce the fourth and final stage of the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Bill before the Assembly today. I'd like to start by thanking Assembly Members for their robust scrutiny of the Bill and for their support, which has ensured its passage through to Stage 4. In particular, I'd like to...
Rebecca Evans: I'm absolutely open to looking at what more we can do to expand housing first. As you do, I completely see the sense and the benefit in terms of ensuring that people have that warm, safe home and that's the building block then around which they can then start to build a life and tackle issues such as substance misuse and so on. Because we know that many people with substance misuse...
