Julie James: Certainly. Going backwards on that, in terms of a road map, what we're very keen to do is make sure that the analysis over the three years, as we go forward, is fed immediately back in to both the programme and to the main stream. So, as I said earlier, where we see that something has been built, it's being lived in, it's stood that test, so it's delivered what it set out to do—so, for...
Julie James: Thank you very much for that. We largely agree, really. On the modular point, I couldn't agree with you more. We encourage people always to think Huf Haus rather than prefab. Although, actually, the prefabs that people often decry are very sought after, particularly in my constituency. There are still people living in temporary prefab houses, which are lovely. I've seen some really great...
Julie James: Secondly, the quality of bids has been impressive. Selecting which schemes to recommend for funding has created a real headache for the independent panel. And finally, I've met many organisations across all of Wales since I launched this year's programme in February, all wanting to participate in the IHP programme. I've been struck by their flair, enthusiasm and sheer entrepreneurialism to...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. I'm very pleased to be able to brief Members on the third year of the innovative housing programme. We cannot ignore the scale of the housing challenges we are facing. We are not building enough homes, we are in the midst of a climate emergency we must act upon, our population is ageing, and the availability of traditional house building skills is in decline. The IHP...
Julie James: Well, I think we have a fundamental political disagreement about the role of the private rented sector just to start off. I think the solution to the housing crisis—for a crisis it is—is to build a lot more homes for social rent. That is a much better way of doing it, it's a much more secure route of doing it, and it provides people with the housing option that they actually want. So, we...
Julie James: I'll start in reverse order again. We will ensure it because of course we have Rent Smart Wales. So, in Wales, you also have to be a registered landlord. So, we have a much more regulated sector than we have elsewhere in the United Kingdom. So, it's, first of all, important to remember that. If you breach these rules—. So, the rented homes Act says that you have to give a written contract...
Julie James: So, on that last one, there were severe difficulties with the court's IT system, which we've been discussing with them. The proposal across England and Wales is that the whole of the IT system will be renewed. It was due to be renewed 'within two years' about three years ago, and we were waiting on that renewal. But we've decided not to wait and to actually implement the IT changes at our own...
Julie James: Well, I'm sorry that Leanne Wood has chosen to politicise it in quite the way that she has, because I think there's a fair amount of consensus across the Chamber about what we're trying to do here in Wales. She listed a number of issues, having made the political points that she chose to make, none of which are actually affected by the circumstances we're talking about here. She talked about...
Julie James: Well, I'm delighted to hear David Melding saying that he broadly is in line with the direction of travel. Obviously, we will be looking carefully to see what the responses say. I have had a brief overview of the responses, and they are largely what we expected, because we're in pretty constant touch with the sector anyway. But, of course, we will be looking at the policy in the light of those...
Julie James: In Scotland currently, and under the proposals being consulted on for England, there are grounds where tenants who are not at fault can still be evicted with only two months’ notice, such as when the landlord wishes to sell the property or move into it themselves. Under our proposals, in all circumstances, other than when the landlord is seeking possession for a specified breach of the...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. This statement provides an update on the Government’s proposals for extending the minimum notice period for no-fault evictions under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016. The consultation closed earlier this month and the responses are currently being considered, and I will, of course, update Members further in due course. Ahead of that, I want to make clear what is being...
Julie James: Yes, indeed, and of course it goes alongside our Renting Homes (Fees etc.) (Wales) Act 2019, which we've only very recently passed through the Assembly, which sets Rent Smart Wales out as the organisation that 'polices' it for Wales. We did of course look carefully at the experience in Scotland as well, and there is an issue about local authority capacity to police the systems there. But I'm...
Julie James: Well, neither of those options, because the Member has entirely forgotten that this Assembly has already passed into law the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016. It's a very radical Act, which I'm very proud of. We have not been in a position to implement that Act, unfortunately, because of some arcane issues, which I won't go into because of the time, around the IT systems in the courts, but we...
Julie James: We'll be implementing the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 during this term of Government, and I'm also consulting on proposals to extend the minimum notice period under section 173 of that Act.
Julie James: Yes, I very much welcome that approach, and we do have some very innovative schemes right across Wales, where local authorities have really worked very hard to keep services going in a range of different ways, through third sector and other organisations, local community organisations, town and community councils and so on. There's a range of very creative ways forward. The youth work...
Julie James: I do entirely agree with your analysis. The Member Mike Hedges is very aware that the Welsh Government has done its very best to protect local government in Wales from the worst of the budget cuts imposed by the UK Government. I'd just reiterate again, in case Members of the opposite benches are too bored with this, that the Welsh Government's resource budget this year is almost £1 billion...
Julie James: Yes. Local authority services play an important role in the lives of the people of Wales. The Welsh Government continues to protect funding for our local authorities so that those vital services, both statutory and non-statutory, can continue to be provided.
Julie James: So, a range of things there. In terms of broadening the list of statutory consultees, statutory consultees are expected to provide a substantive response to the local planning authority within 21 days when consulted on planning applications, and 28 days of a pre-application consultation. That can be a significant undertaking. We do need to be sure that the local health board would be in a...
Julie James: Yes. I'm delighted to be able to tell the Member that the local authority could already do that. We completely revised 'Planning Policy Wales' to reflect the goals and ways of working set out in the well-being of future generations Act just last December. And if the local authority wants to revise its LDP in the light of that new document, which has placemaking at the heart of the national...
Julie James: Yes, actually, already the local authority can take quite a bit of action in terms of what it says in its local development plan, so I would very much encourage the Member to ensure that his local planning authority takes cognisance of any of the things that are raised through his constituency office, and actually looks locally to make sure that it has all of the right provisions in its own...
