Julie James: Certainly. The future of the planning system will be based on the 'Planning Policy Wales' document, published last December, and the national development framework, which we will consult on over the summer. They align the planning system directly and systematically with the requirements of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
Julie James: No, I don't share those concerns. We know that some 6 per cent of all completions on Help to Buy were, in fact, by first-time buyers, and they have proved an important element of the additional 20,000 affordable homes, with many of them being at affordable rent. The number of purchases at the scheme's inception stood at 8,731, and we've got another 827 applications for loans in the pipeline,...
Julie James: It was.
Julie James: I am not able to make an announcement about the future of Help to Buy in Wales until there is clarity about the level of consequential we'll receive from the UK Government. I do hope that we will have that clarity in the autumn.
Julie James: Well, Llywydd, as the Minister for Local Government and Housing, I don't often get to comment on matters of these sorts, but I share Dai Lloyd's frustration at some of the things that the current Government of the United Kingdom is doing without sharing his concerns about the United Kingdom itself, and that is the essential difference between us. But I also don't share his constant running...
Julie James: Well, Llywydd, town councils are local democracy in action, and if they want to make declarations about a number of things that are outwith their powers, I'm not in any position to say one way or the other whether they should do so. The Welsh Government has always been very clear that we think that Wales's best interests are best protected as part of a well-functioning union. We've...
Julie James: The Welsh Government’s position on the question of independence is very clear: we believe Wales is best served by being part of the United Kingdom. But the union has to change to successfully meet the unprecedented challenges it faces. Local democracy will continue to play a vital role in this.
Julie James: As I say, we are about to review part L of the building regulations. A lot of things have changed in the last several years around the materials that are available in order to achieve energy efficiency, and there are other issues around the climate emergency, actually, that are really interesting, because one of the biggest issues for Welsh houses now is not heating, it's cooling. So,...
Julie James: Yes, well, I don't disagree with the sentiment behind that. There are more complex reasons behind it, and I don't want to comment on an individual planning application about which I know nothing, but there can be other complex issues. It's not always entirely carbon-neutral to remove an old building that is made of completely unrecyclable or unsustainable materials. And that can often create...
Julie James: The latest version of 'Planning Policy Wales' puts decarbonisation at the heart of our national planning policy. The forthcoming national development framework will have a similar focus. Our work on the energy efficiency of new homes through building regulations will also contribute to our response to the climate emergency.
Julie James: So, again, that's not particularly in my portfolio, so I'll have to ask the Deputy Minister to come back to you about the specifics of that particular programme, which I'm not familiar with, I'm afraid.FootnoteLink We have been, through my Deputy Minister, Hannah Blythyn, in communication with the UK Government on a range of issues to do with welfare. And can I say that I very much welcome...
Julie James: I do agree with that statement very much, and, actually, that specific piece of work is in the Deputy Minister's portfolio. I did have responsibility for it in my previous portfolio, so I'm very much aware of it. In terms of what we're trying to do with a broader fair work agenda—what we're trying to do is make sure that, through our social partnership working, we change the culture in...
Julie James: Yes, it's a very important point. I too have had the real pleasure of working with some of the young people who work with Leonard Cheshire, including last year, in my previous portfolio, meeting with a young man who I very seriously hope to see here amongst us very shortly, who told me that his ambition to be a politician was thwarted by his use of a wheelchair. And I went to some great...
Julie James: Certainly, and I completely agree with you about the excitement of a distributed energy system, and the ability of that to bring a social justice element into that system that the old centralised system would never have been able to achieve. And we're very excited to be able to do that. Tomorrow morning, I will be receiving the reports of the decarbonisation working group, and I've had some...
Julie James: I don't think there is an inconsistency. The planning process is not a science; it is a set of judgments based on a set of plans in a system that is plan-led. And so, you have to look at the system in the round, and each person who makes a decision, or each committee that makes a decision, will bring some human subjective judgment to how they see the plans. We put out guidance for that, but...
Julie James: We've recently written to planning authorities asking them to review some of the policies in the light of 'Planning Policy Wales', but it is a plan-led process and the plans have a lifetime of their own. So, we're asking through the Welsh Local Government Association and through local authority leads for them to review the local development plan process. And as you know, we're about to go out...
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you to Mick Antoniw for those remarks. It is important we ensure that those resettled in Wales under amendments to UK legislation are able to access housing and homelessness assistance if they need to do so, particularly where they have had to flee their home country and have been subject to the turmoil and stress of war and conflict. With regard...
Julie James: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move the motion. The European Union settlement scheme was introduced in January 2019 and became fully operational across the UK on 30 March 2019. The loophole created by the EU settlement scheme is relevant to individuals who are currently ineligible for housing assistance because they only have one of the rights to reside listed in regulation 6 of the...
Julie James: Well, it's interesting language, that's for sure. I understand the sentiment he expresses, and, as I said in response to Leanne Wood, we certainly will want to look very carefully at what we are putting public money into and what we're building with it. So, I appreciate the sentiment and I agree with the sentiment; I'm not sure I quite agree with the language. But, yes, we'll be looking...
Julie James: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I thank the Member for her contribution. I don't need you to forward me the research—I'm familiar with it already. We have been looking, as part of our regeneration work with Hannah Blythyn, at what we can do to green our developments in exactly the way that you mentioned. Joyce Watson has long talked about the need for porous surfaces and the...
