Julie James: Well, thank you very much for that, Mike Hedges. I mean, I agree with a very large part of what you said, and just to emphasise that the housing support grant is based on a single strategic planning mechanism that builds on existing duties for local authorities to produce the homelessness strategy. And he's just pointed out the need for an integrated system to pick up people such as the...
Julie James: I'm very glad to see that you're supporting the issuing of the guidance. Today isn't actually about the quantum that we're putting into the support grant; it is around whether the guidance is the right guidance and whether it will achieve the right results. I don't disagree, of course, that we would like to put more money into the housing support grant. There are quite a lot of areas where...
Julie James: I thank David Melding for those comments. Today, we're very much launching the new guidance, which is around how the system works; it's not really about the funding amount. There's no doubt that, were there more money, I would like to be able to put it into this area, but I'm also very much aware that we have the homelessness action group, chaired by Jon Sparkes, working. Members will be...
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. A home of your own is at the heart of a happy and productive life. This Government believes everyone should have a warm and decent home, but for many this is not the reality. For many, homelessness and the threat of homelessness is very real. How to pay their rent, how to manage a benefit claim or simply how to find a bed for the night can be a source of...
Julie James: On that point, that's exactly why we're changing the regulations. At the moment, the regulations are not clear and actually any landlord can do that for a variety of reasons. We've had quite a lot of consultation responses back saying that actually that's a loophole. So, if you were looking to implement a no-fault eviction outside the thing you could just exclude the tenant for a number of...
Julie James: I think Caroline Jones contradicted herself quite a few times during her speech. On the one hand, she tells us that landlords like long tenancies, on the other hand, she tells us that they can't exist if they don't have six-month shorthold assured tenancies. So, you can't have both of those things. The renting homes Act, which is already enacted—it doesn't require to be enacted, it is...
Julie James: Thank you for that series of remarks and questions. I completely agree with you that the vast majority of landlords and tenants in Wales are perfectly reasonable people having a perfectly reasonable life in a perfectly good arrangement, one with the other. And you mentioned part of my own constituency, where you're absolutely right—we have very few problems that I'm aware of with the...
Julie James: There are some interesting issues around this. The whole issue of acquisition of a social home by registered social landlords or the local council is an interesting one, and, actually, we already encourage that. Councils and registered social landlords can use a variety of Welsh grant funding to do just that. The difficulty is where the home in question doesn't meet any of the standards. So,...
Julie James: Well, thank you for that. I think we're broadly in agreement; it's just about the best way to do it. So, we have tended to speak colloquially in terms of abolishing a no-fault eviction, but, actually, all the legislatures that have so-called abolished a no-fault eviction have simply substituted a whole series of arrangements in which a tenant can be evicted through no fault of their own. So,...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. Today, I am introducing the Renting Homes (Amendment) (Wales) Bill to the Senedd. This is an important Bill, and an unusual Bill in the sense that it will amend an Act of the Assembly, the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, that has not yet been brought into force. I will have more to say on that presently, but first, I want to take a few moments to explain what it is that this...
Julie James: I'm afraid I am objecting; we need to abstain.
Julie James: Yes, that's a very good point. We have looked at some innovative programmes. I know that the Minister for Economy and Transport's officials, for example, have been looking at whether it's possible to have slow charging lanes along trunk roads, so that you have—I don't understand the technology—some kind of induction looping so that if you drive your car along at x miles per hour it...
Julie James: Certainly.
Julie James: Sure.
Julie James: Yes, I'm in a very similar position myself. Actually, one of the things that I've yet to discuss, but I'm sure the Llywydd and Dirprwy Lywydd will welcome it, is whether we can introduce some electric charging points in this building for Members' cars. We do have some for Government cars, but if we can have a look at extending that, I think that would be very welcome to many Members on a...
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you all for the contributions made on this topic. I very much welcome the opportunity to discuss measures that have the potential to contribute meaningfully to the transformation of our transport sector and our environment, and which have so much obvious cross-party consensus. Clearly, this matter relates to transport, however I am responding to...
Julie James: I completely agree with you. We're not opposing that in any way. It is just about making sure that we get the right houses in the right places for the right people. But we must also guard against unintended consequences. I don't know if you are aware, but St Ives recently had the experience where they restricted the building of homes for out-of-town buyers and that resulted in no houses being...
Julie James: Siân Gwenllian, I hope, knows that I'm also very sympathetic to the problem, and I do absolutely recognise that that exists. We have had a look at things like trying to control it through the planning system, but when somebody is conducting the sale of a private house to a private individual or to a company, it would be very difficult at that point to say that that sale couldn't continue...
Julie James: I recognise that price and availability of homes for local people in parts of Wales are being impacted by second-home ownership. To understand this impact in their areas, local authorities are required to conduct local housing market assessments and apply strategies to meet the requirements of their communities.
Julie James: That's a reasonable analysis. Our analysis from all of the work that we've done on this is that the amount of letting is the right level, because tourism economies are very important across Wales in very small places. So, this is a balance, isn't it, between allowing properties to be used in our very vital tourism industry, and making sure that people are not taking advantage of some...
