4. 3. Statement: The Legislative Programme

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:34 pm on 27 June 2017.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 3:34, 27 June 2017

I completely agree with the previous two speakers on many of these issues. I’d just like to remind Neil Hamilton that whilst we do not aspire to have Polish, Russian or Finnish levels of alcohol consumption, we are one of the highest consumers of alcohol in Europe. And I would invite him to come down to Cardiff city centre on any Saturday night, and he will see the consequences of young people consuming excessive levels of cheap alcohol, which is what the minimum unit pricing is designed to limit. Because there’s huge amount of research that shows that it’s by setting a minimum price that you prevent those who are least able to deal with the consequences of alcohol—. Too many young people in the city centre are consuming so much cheap alcohol that they absolutely have no idea where they are, or the consequences, or the risk to their safety. So, I completely support the Government’s legislation in this regard, and I welcome we’re bringing it forward now.

I was very surprised to hear Leanne Wood have this glass-half-empty attitude towards practically everything in the legislative statement, given that she must have been consulted in advance on what was in it. And, as she ought to know, childcare isn’t about warehousing children; it is about developing quality childcare and early education, and that takes time, to ensure that we’ve got the right people in place in the right facilities, in the interests of children.

Anyway—. Obviously, I am delighted that the Government is going to bring forward legislation to ban letting agency fees, because it’s perfectly clear to me that—. I was very surprised to hear Andrew R.T. Davies suggest that this was something that the English Government was seizing on, because I’ve yet to see whether or not this lame-duck UK Government is going to be capable of bringing forward such legislation. But anyway, I’m delighted that we’re pushing forward regardless on that, because it does cause a huge amount of harm to many of my constituents—it’s the letting agencies who are charging outrageous sums for often just changing three words in a contract.

But I also just wanted to raise one other matter, which is: we’re talking about the transparency of decision making, and I agree that is absolutely crucial. But, in light of the inadequacy of the current hands-off building regulations, exposed by the appalling fire in Grenfell Tower, it isn’t just about allowing contractors to stick firelighters on the side of high-rise buildings, which is supposedly to improve their energy efficiency. We have to, in my view, find legislative time for a wholesale review of the building regulations, to prevent developers dressing up shoddy building work as so-called luxury development. And there are countless examples of that in my constituency, and throughout the centre of Cardiff.

We have to restore the independent regulatory powers of local authorities to insist that their independent building inspectors sign off new construction, to ensure it is safe and compliant, before that work has been plastered over. Because it is impossible to see what has gone on behind, once the plaster has been sealed. We have to call a day on sick buildings being created all in the name of profit, and ensure that the buildings we are creating with our limited resources are fit for the future, and not just for the next few years.