Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on current guidance for the management and removal of dangerous structures, following yesterday’s fatal building collapse in Splott? TAQ(5)0166(ERA)

Thank you. Local authorities may enforce action in relation to dangerous structures through the Building Act 1984. Section 77, ‘Dangerous building’, is used where there is the potential for a dangerous structure; section 78, ‘Dangerous building—emergency measures’, is used when immediate action is required to remove the danger.

I thank you for that answer. Can I express my sympathy, Presiding Officer, to the family of the man who was killed yesterday? I do think there’s a need to take prompt action when buildings are identified as high risk. We have quite a large number of Victorian public buildings that are not in regular use, as this building was not, and at risk of deterioration. I think particular care needs to be taken where buildings are a further risk to local neighbourhoods or adjacent infrastructure. I do hope that you will be able to use the planning system to emphasise the importance of these matters.

As I said, this is a responsibility for the local authority, and planning would not cover dangerous structures. The legislation is the Building Act 1984, which is England-and-Wales legislation. So, it’s England and Wales, so it’s not our legislation. We are hoping to see a transfer of powers via the Wales Act 2017, from next April, and it’s certainly something that we can look at. But I absolutely agree with you that prompt action should always be taken.

This isn’t a time for politics. A man has died, and our thoughts go out to his family and the community in Splott. I do think, though, that questions must be asked as to how it came to pass and if any other buildings in Cardiff are in a dangerous state. On behalf of my group, I would just like to offer the family our condolences again and offer any support that we may able to give, and that goes for the Cardiff council group as well.

I thank Neil McEvoy for those points, and we’ve certainly heard the leader of Cardiff city council say that there are questions to be asked. My officials have been in contact with Cardiff city council officials and, of course, we will do anything that is required of us. But, as I say, this needs to be looked at very carefully, obviously. The Health and Safety Executive are involved, so I don’t think it would be appropriate to say anything more.

Obviously, as it is the matter of a possible criminal investigation, we need to be very careful what we say here, but my understanding is that the building had already been identified by Natural Resources Wales as being in an unsafe state, and that is why the owner had been directed to demolish it. But, clearly, the issue that arises here is the quality of the risk assessment that needed to be carried out to ensure that the building was demolished safely. Obviously, that is one of the issues we need to await the inquiry for, but I don’t think there’s any reason to assume that just because a particular building has tragically collapsed that therefore other buildings are about to collapse. One doesn’t follow from the other.

I understand from press reports that a survey had been undertaken, I thought by Network Rail, in the area a couple of years ago. I think it’s really important that local authorities have resilience within their planning and building regulations department, and I think that’s a piece of work I can do with my colleague Mark Drakeford, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government. But, as I say, it is now with the Health and Safety Executive, so I don’t think it’s appropriate to make any further comments.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary.