Thank you very much, Llywydd. I move the amendments. I also declare an interest as the mother of four young people who have paid a huge amount in letting fees over the years.

Plaid Cymru is pleased to support this motion to abolish fees charged by letting agents. As you know, we introduced amendments to that end during the debate on the renting homes Bill. At that time, we were supported by the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives during that debate. It’s clear from the motion before us today that UKIP too would have supported those very amendments, which means that the only party that hasn’t yet publicly committed to abolish letting agents’ fees is the Labour Party. But, the Government amendments do provide some hope, and I very much hope that, by the end of today, they too will be supporting abolishing these problematic fees. I look forward to seeing that happen this afternoon.

Amendment 1, therefore, regrets that the previous Assembly didn’t take the opportunity to ban these fees at an earlier stage The aim of our second amendment is to add to the motion and to call for consideration to be given to how extreme and unfair service charges could be abolished, or increases in services charges paid by the leaseholder. Therefore, the second amendment expands this field. These service charges are often similar to extreme letting fees in the sense that the client is already tied in to a long-term agreement without the ability to shop around, and will often have to pay a high price for a service, which, quite often, simply isn’t provided. Large increases in fees can also create difficulties in selling a flat or another property, which can mean that an individual cannot move as they would perhaps wish.

The final amendment relates to a story covered in the media a few weeks ago, where it was claimed that the Government had told its backbenchers that the reason they weren’t voting in favour of the Plaid Cymru amendment to ban letting agent fees was because there were legal questions surrounding competency. That’s not the case put forward publicly by the Government at the time, and one would need to ask the question as to why they didn’t make that case at that time. It was part of a more general pattern by the Government to oppose amendments and legislation and use technical arguments that many Members of the Assembly weren’t in the position to scrutinise or to question properly. We’re of the view, therefore, that if the Government wants to use legal arguments against any amendment or proposed Bill, rather than to make the case on a matter of principle, then that legal advice should be published beforehand. That would give adequate time for people who don’t necessarily agree with that view to actually bring together their case and to seek independent advice where necessary.

To be clear, Plaid Cymru is of the view that banning these fees is something that this Chamber can and should legislate on. I do hope that the Government now realises that they have made a major mistake in this area in the past. It is interesting to see that UKIP is turning to Scotland as an example of good practice. It does demonstrate, of course, that devolved Governments can be far more enlightened than the central state.