Carl Sargeant: I certainly don’t welcome the universal credit roll-out as it is, and I’ve expressed that in a strong letter to the Minister in Westminster. This is having a devastating effect on families and children right across Wales. It needs stopping now and reassessing as to how that should be delivered for the future.
Carl Sargeant: I’m really grateful to the Member for raising that with me today. I have written to the UK Government to ask them to put a halt on the universal credit roll-out. The principle of the universal credit programme wasn’t wrong, but it’s not working right and people are being affected and traumatised in the way that they are living their lives. In fact, a six-week wait—. I read an article...
Carl Sargeant: I’m grateful for the Member’s question and deeply concerned by the devastating impact that the UK Government’s welfare reforms are having on low-income families, particularly those with children. Average annual losses are estimated to be around £600 per household in the sub-region the Member represents, compared with £300 per household in the least affected sub-regions of Wales.
Carl Sargeant: Well, the only person that’s confused here, it appears, is you. The lead delivery bodies are in regular contact and are encouraged to talk to my officials. If there are any questions or queries around the transition period or associated staffing issues, they’re more than happy to talk to my team in that process, but the Member has been misled in terms of her views today.
Carl Sargeant: I’m grateful to the Member for raising this, and many other Members have also done that. Thank you for that. I agree that one of the priorities is ensuring Communities First staff are supported through this transition period, and it’s an important one. I am aware that my officials have been working with lead delivery bodies to ensure correct procedures are being followed, including...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for her question. The Communities First transition team was established to support Communities First lead delivery bodies in planning and advising staff. There have been ongoing conversations with local authority staff, third sector staff and unions. Lead delivery bodies have transition plans in place to inform the delivery of the programme during 2017-18.
Carl Sargeant: The latest research indicates that Flying Start makes a difference to children’s lives, including developmental improvements. Outcomes for families in Flying Start areas may now be comparable with families in less disadvantaged areas. We are piloting a project to better understand the health and educational outcomes of Flying Start children.
Carl Sargeant: Almost 84,000 landlords are now registered with Rent Smart Wales, and over 90 per cent of all agents are now fully licensed. One hundred and twenty-five fixed penalty notices have been issued for non-compliance. There have also been three successful prosecutions for non-compliance.
Carl Sargeant: The Welsh Government is fully committed to the rights of children, as expressed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, including children’s right to know and, as far as possible, to have access to both parents.
Carl Sargeant: Well, that may be the case now, but I must say that that wasn’t the debate that was created during the Brexit programme that we all followed. Particularly, judging people by the colour of their skin or their language is certainly not appropriate in terms of moving forward. Llywydd, it is important to emphasise that there are differences of views in this Chamber, but this will not undermine...
Carl Sargeant: Thank you, Llywydd. A really useful discussion we’ve had, a debate within this Chamber, with many Members contributing today. Can I pick up on some of the amendments and then some of the comments that have been made first? Turning to the amendments, we’ll be supporting all amendments other than 4, 6 and 7. Amendment 4: the Government opposes the amendment on the basis we consider the...
Carl Sargeant: Thank you, Llywydd. I welcome the opportunity to talk about the work we and our partners are doing to tackle hate crime and intolerance across Wales. I’m sure that, as in previous years, this debate will demonstrate the fundamental unity of purpose in this Assembly in confronting these evils. This is, of course, National Hate Crime Awareness Week, which is a key time for our third sector...
Carl Sargeant: I think—again, thanking the Member for her support in the process of the Bill—the First Minister, in questions earlier on, alluded to the quality of social housing now compared to 10 or 15 years ago. We are well advanced in this procedure. It is about building for the future, and this is something that this will enable us to do with the clever solutions provided by RSLs and now some local...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for his contribution. He started saying that the Act was confusing, and then he said he hadn’t read it, which was even more confusing, on the basis to make an assumption like that—. First of all, the whole purpose of the Bill is to take this off the public borrowing sector because of the amount of money that is borrowed by housing associations. We would top our...
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for his comments and support. The Member is a long-standing member of having views on the planning policy in terms of developments in his own constituency. I agree with the Member that universal credit and other actions of the UK Government have damaged housing and are putting housing at risk and confidence within sectors. This Bill will go some way to redressing the issue...
Carl Sargeant: Thank you, Llywydd. Again, I’m grateful for the Member’s indication of in-principle support for the passage of the Bill, subject to the details. I think the Member’s final point was one of the important ones that she raises, about the fact that the consequences of not doing this have dramatic effects on the ability for RSLs or Government to deliver on social housing. The other details...
Carl Sargeant: I thank David Melding for his comments, and I thank him also for indicating that the principles of the Bill will be supported. First of all, on the couple of questions that the Member raised around tenants and tenants’ rights and disposal, the legislation technically does not affect the fundamental commitments made to tenants through our large-scale voluntary transfers, and will still have...
Carl Sargeant: Thank you, Llywydd, for the opportunity to make this statement on the Regulation of Registered Social Landlords (Wales) Bill, which I introduced yesterday. This Bill addresses issues as a result of a classification decision by the Office for National Statistics. The decision to reclassify registered social landlords as public non-financial corporations effectively brings RSL private borrowing...
Carl Sargeant: The alternative is to take action to enable ONS to reverse their classification decision, which will maintain the current funding arrangements and this is why I have introduced the Regulation of Registered Social Landlords (Wales) Bill. ONS has made similar decisions in respect of social landlords in other parts of the UK. The Scottish Government has already introduced compatible legislation,...
Carl Sargeant: Well, the Member clearly didn’t listen. You said earlier on that this isn’t about politicising this, which is exactly what you and your colleagues have started to do. This is—[Interruption.]
