Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement? Indeed, in the light of the Office for National Statistics’ reclassification of registered social landlords into the public sector, the Welsh Conservative Party does believe the general principles of this Bill should be supported. Obviously, we’ll pay close attention to the details in committee, but I think there is a general political consensus that this matter must be resolved. Indeed, I’ve called for an increase in house building and an increase in ambition in house building, especially for the affordable sector, and have made that clear over the past few years, and I welcome this Bill, therefore, as a way to simplify the current process and remove a barrier that has now been brought to our attention, however unexpectedly. Any limit placed on the borrowing of housing associations in Wales would risk the Government’s ability to deliver on its 20,000 affordable homes target, and that would have an adverse effect on the housing situation. So, there is a real requirement to move here.

I do hope that the Government will work closely with ONS throughout the Bill at its different stages. Indeed, we will, at some point this autumn or early winter, hear what the ONS review for England has decided and, of course, the Minister did read out a statement from ONS, but obviously until we know that what we’re doing is sufficient, I think we’re all going to be slightly nervous. So, I’m sure it’s going to be important for him and his department to closely monitor the progress of this Bill.

I think the Bill, obviously, needs to meet the concerns of ONS, so that reclassification is possible, while protecting the interests of stakeholders, especially tenants. I know the Minister has made reference to that in his statement, and I just want to follow up with a few more details that I hope he can respond to now, or when we debate the general principles. The first is the removal of requirement for disposal consent. I note that, when this requirement was actually sought in the purpose of the General Consent (Wales) Order 2009, the Government then said an application to the Welsh Ministers for disposal may be seen as a method of protecting tenants. So, I think it’s logical to ask you how they are now going to be protected if that requirement for the disposal consent is removed.

Then, if I could turn to regulatory powers and enforcement, a change in regulation needs to ensure that there is sufficient confidence, I think, for lenders and investors to provide the funding essential for the delivery of new social housing where central Government is unable to provide the funding itself. This factor was highlighted by the Council of Mortgage Lenders in the consultation, and they expressed concerns that an RSL would have had to have failed before any action was taken against it, which has the potential to damage the wider Welsh RSL sector by increasing perceptions of high risk amongst potential lenders. I’m sure the Minister’s already considered that consultation response carefully, and I think it would be useful if we could hear some of his views and his response to it.

And then, finally, the power introduce a new power to reduce local authority influence over RSLs in Wales. I do note that there’s overwhelming support for this; I think only one local authority said that they couldn’t support this measure. But again, this has been something of a protection for tenants—you know, perhaps the local authority members of housing association boards, and that. So, how is the balance going to be kept to protect the tenants’ interests? But in general, I’m sure none of these issues is insurmountable. We will pay careful attention to the practicalities, but we will offer every assistance for this legislation, if fit for purpose, to proceed.