Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:55 pm on 18 July 2017.
Thank you, Llywydd. I welcome the opportunity to have this debate on the Bill and the comments made by most of the Members today. Undoubtedly, there are points of detail that, as we progress through the scrutiny process, we will need to consider further. There are also commitments that I’ve made in areas that need development, and I thank the Chair and all of the committee for their constructive approach to the programme as we take that forward.
I repeat the comments I’ve made many times already, Llywydd, that I want to approach these reforms on a collaborative and cross-party basis, but it appears very clear that some of the opposition parties are clearly not in that space. Indeed, Gareth Bennett, during committee stages, was very promising in terms of his approach to the Bill and the supportive nature of that, but he said he formed an argument in the group that he took to the UKIP colleagues, and it’s clear to me that Neil Hamilton told him that he wouldn’t be supporting this Bill for no other reason than that.
The fact is that they’re statistically selective on all of the issues that they’ve raised today, including my great friend David Melding. I think his contribution was distorted in the figures that he used today. He seems to believe that the 20,000 units that we are pursuing from Government are the only homes that are ever going to be built in Wales. It’s our 20,000 contribution, plus the private sector, that will deliver the housing need for our communities. I will give way.