Carl Sargeant: I will.
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Presiding Officer. Members will be aware that Wales is a world leader in recycling and resource management. It was announced yesterday that we are now second in Europe and third in the world. This is thanks to a comprehensive package of Welsh Government policy and investment and the actions of local government and people across Wales. The policy of England and Wales has diverged...
Carl Sargeant: That’s a really interesting point that the Member raises, and what we’re saying here is that we’re not stopping people owning their own home. We are making sure that there are products available that will allow people to get into the housing market, and those are the schemes that I’ve talked about: the help to buy and the rent to own programmes that always are supporting the ability...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for her question. The policy that’s happened in England is a matter for the UK Government. I also agree with the Member that the housing White Paper and the issues around their promise on developing new homes is collapsing, but we’re not in England—yet. The fact is, we’ve got to concentrate on what we can do here. That’s why we’re making a very positive...
Carl Sargeant: Thank you for your question. I do remember vividly the visit to Kidwelly, back in 2013. From then I moved onto the environment division, and now I’m back, as they say in California. The issue in terms of the great scheme I saw in Kidwelly was something about local people investing in their communities and having the vision to do that. I congratulated the authority at that point in time....
Carl Sargeant: I think the Member is right to raise that issue of making sure that we are able to take this Bill forward and protecting the housing stock for the future. I’m really grateful to the finance Minister who recognises the very big challenge of providing 20,000 more new units in Wales. It’s not an easy challenge, and it can’t be on a light-switch moment; it has to be delivered early on, and...
Carl Sargeant: I’m grateful for the Member’s balanced comments, again. This was a manifesto commitment that we took through all the channels of the manifesto programme. We took it to the people and the people voted for it. We were privileged to be voted in as Government, and now we’re completing that manifesto promise as indicated. I’ll take the last point first, if I may, in terms of the ability to...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for her questions. She’s right to raise the issue: for every 20, nine have been sold off since 1981. Even more stats to add to that: we’ve sampled around eight authorities in Wales where we already know the ones that have been sold, so, of that 48 per cent of the ones that have been sold, 12 per cent of them have got into the private sector rental market, as well, so...
Carl Sargeant: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, again. There were a lot of questions there—lots of those questions will be resolved through the scrutiny of the Bill as it take passage through the Assembly, which I’d be happy to debate with Members and the Member who asked those questions earlier on. Look, I’m not saying that the right to buy was a bad theory that was introduced, but it was...
Carl Sargeant: The Member raises some fair points in terms of the information for future tenants and future positioning of support from Welsh Government. We do have a website already with links to the suite of financial support or information available for new tenants. That is available from the Government. Of course, I’ll congratulate my local authority—our local authority—it would be unwise not to...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for her contribution and I welcome her party’s commitment to support the Bill process, moving forward. The Member is right about the mix of communities, but we have to remember that 45 per cent of the stock has already been sold and has now gone into the private sector, so it’s very diverse from what it originally started out as in the first place. So, we must plan...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for his contribution. I was not expecting anything less, but I was hoping that the content in David Melding’s contribution would have extolled some more detail in the fact that I understand that there are political differences between the Conservative policy and the Labour policy in this space—and I wasn’t expecting any support in that field. But the Member suggested...
Carl Sargeant: Thank you, Llywydd. I was pleased yesterday to introduce the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Bill, together with the explanatory memorandum, to the National Assembly for Wales. Our supply of social housing is under considerable pressure. Between 1 April 1981 and 31 March 2016, 139,100 local authority and housing association homes—that is 45 per cent of the 1981...
Carl Sargeant: The responses from stakeholders, including Shelter Cymru, local authorities and housing associations, show clear support for the aims of the Bill. The Bill will protect the social housing stock for rent by people who are unable to buy or rent a home via the private market. This includes many vulnerable people who benefit greatly from the safe, secure and affordable homes that our social...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for the question. As always, she is very robust in her views on opencast mining. This Government takes very seriously the health implications and planning conditions presented in all our communities and takes that very seriously in the technical advice notes and planning guidance that we issue to planning authorities. What is really important is that any observation made by...
Carl Sargeant: I’m very aware of the emotive issues around opencast mining. The Ffos-y-fran site was granted permission in April of 2005. It was subject then to an environmental impact assessment. This meant that all relevant issues, including cumulative effects, and those relating to health, were taken into account as part of that decision-making process. The report the Member raises is being presented...
Carl Sargeant: The very short answer to your question is ‘yes’. We will continue to work with all of those parties. I am aware that the Minister did meet with the rapporteur, and it is certainly unique, his opinion. But if the Member has any concerns she would like to raise specifically about Ffos-y-fran, I’m sure the Minister accordingly would welcome a letter from the Member.
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for her question. Welsh Government met with the special rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances and waste on 24 January. His preliminary findings and recommendations were presented in an end-of-mission statement on 31 January, and the full report will be presented to the UN human rights council in September of this year.
Carl Sargeant: You don’t need to convince me on this argument. I am working with the Cabinet Secretary for Education to see how this is achievable and we will, hopefully, have something positive to say shortly.
Carl Sargeant: The Welsh Government is committed to working with all of its partners to tackle harassment against women in Wales. Violence against women is unacceptable in all of its forms. It is right that, on International Women’s Day, we raise awareness of the issues many women are still facing.
