Mike Hedges: Can I again stress the importance of building council houses to deal with the housing crisis facing Wales? Will the First Minister join me in sending congratulations to Swansea on their new council homes new being occupied and also those under construction? But what more can the Welsh Government do to overcome the constraints on councils building council dwellings in large numbers, which is...
Mike Hedges: 7. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's policy on council housing? OAQ53589
Mike Hedges: More recently, Nia Griffith, the MP for Llanelli, called in an adjournment debate for compulsory state registration, but that was rejected by the UK Government Ministers, who said registration would cost the industry £75 million. In November 2013, the matter was debated in the Senedd. Keith Davies, the former Member for Llanelli, brought it for one of these short debates. It was noted in the...
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Office. I've given a minute in this debate to Jack Sargeant and Joyce Watson. On Monday next week, I can register myself as a builder. On Tuesday, I can register as a hairdresser. On Wednesday, I can start a carpentry business. On Thursday, I can start a beautician business. On Friday, I can seek work as a solicitor or barrister. On Friday, the full force of the...
Mike Hedges: Can I thank you for that response? I believe high-quality social care is actually preventative spend because it stops people ending up in the final place of hospitals, which low-quality social care can mean, or no social care can mean, that they end up in. What is the Welsh Government's intention regarding social care being provided either directly by local authorities or via care co-operatives?
Mike Hedges: 3. Will the Minister make a statement on the provision of social care in Wales? OAQ53541
Mike Hedges: I welcome the Government's statement. I just can't understand why everybody else doesn't believe in the importance of forests, because I actually believe it's one of the most important things we have. I don't believe you can actually have too many trees, and it always pains me when I see a number of trees being chopped down. In Rebecca Evans's constituency, a giant redwood has been chopped...
Mike Hedges: Will the First Minister make a statement on the effectiveness of the help-to-buy scheme?
Mike Hedges: Thank you. All it really needs is for the Government to abolish small business rates relief on houses.
Mike Hedges: Housing is the great challenge facing all of Britain, including Wales. The post-war period in terms of housing can be broken down into two periods. First, the period of 1945 to 1980—during that period, we saw a huge growth in council estates and the building of a large number of new estates in urban areas. We also saw the growth of owner occupation and the start of the building of large...
Mike Hedges: First, can I welcome this debate? It's the second debate we've had on housing since Christmas. And can I just say how pleased I am to start talking about housing? Because I think it's one of the most important things. After food and drink, the next important thing for people's life is housing. So, I think it really is important that we get around to talking about this. Hopefully, the next...
Mike Hedges: Yes, thank you. Even if the 106 agreement is very good at the beginning, what you often or nearly always see is the developer coming back and saying, 'I'm not going to make enough money with this 106 agreement—can we change it? Can we reduce the number of houses that are affordable and can we not build these things, because we can't afford it, because our profit will probably be down to...
Mike Hedges: Can I associate myself with everything said by Dai Lloyd and David Rees? What I would like also to say, of course, is that the seventy-fifth biggest company in the SA region is the Ospreys. The eighty-fourth biggest company in the SA region is the Scarlets. We're talking about major employers. Many of my constituents have been worried, since it was talked about, that they would not have a...
Mike Hedges: What progress is being made in order to ensure that both the Welsh language and English language are treated equally?
Mike Hedges: Will the Minister provide an update on the innovate-to-save fund?
Mike Hedges: I have a number of comments to make on the second supplementary budget. It's always a disadvantage to follow Llyr Gryffudd and Nick Ramsay, who serve on the same committee as I do, because an awful lot of the things I was going to say, they've already said, and I don't think people want to hear them a second time. I'd like to reply to something Adam Price said about small and medium-sized...
Mike Hedges: Diolch, Llywydd. I'm speaking on behalf of the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee. The committee considered the LCM for the Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Bill at our meeting on 13 February. Our considerations focused on the Bill's policy objectives as set out in the memorandum. We found no reason to object to the Assembly agreeing the legislative consent motion before...
Mike Hedges: Can I return to job losses at Virgin Media in Swansea? In January, you said: 'The first tranche of those staff did leave in November, and there will be a further two phases planned for this year. Virgin Media's out-placement support team has taken on responsibility for providing staff with on-site access to key partners of our Welsh Government's taskforce, including Careers Wales, the DWP and...
Mike Hedges: Will the First Minister make a statement on the use of incineration as part of waste management?
Mike Hedges: Oh, sorry; I wasn't sure if you'd finished then. Whilst co-operative housing provides a substantial proportion of dwellings in places as diverse as New York, Vancouver and Scandinavia, it has failed to become a major provider of housing in Wales. Will the Minister set up a taskforce or take some action to identify what needs to be done to substantially increase co-operative housing in Wales?...
