Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Amendment 7's purpose—and I'd like to move amendment 7—is to incorporate the recommendations made in the report of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, namely that section 8 of the Bill makes provision for information to be provided to landlords and tenants about the effects of this Bill. This amendment imposes an absolute duty on the Welsh Ministers to notify all qualifying landlords in Wales. As currently drafted, the duty to do so is only a qualified one. Amendment 8 is a consequential amendment of amendment 7, which ensures that the substantive amendment is effective.

Llywydd, the purpose of this lead amendment is simple, and, I hope, less controversial—although perhaps that's a vain hope, we will have to see. I do believe that if there was one aspect throughout Stage 1 that got universal agreement with the committee, it was that information for tenants and prospective tenants needed to be in-depth and widely circulated. This was also the view of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, as shown in its recommendation, which I'm putting forward in this grouping. It's also the reason that I'll be supporting Bethan Jenkins's amendments in the next group.

I think it's crucially important that all tenants are made aware of the options that are available to them, along with the significant dates in the policy and the financial considerations that they need to be aware of, should they wish to purchase their property. I note in the Cabinet Secretary's evidence to the CLAC committee that he was unwilling to commit an absolute duty because there may be some landlords who are England based, and therefore operating with one or two tenancies in Wales that we're not aware of. This was an argument that indeed was reiterated at Stage 2 of the Bill.

But this argument is simply not convincing. This amendment proposes that an absolute duty is placed on the Welsh Government to inform all qualified landlords in Wales. The duty on Welsh Ministers for landlords outside Wales remains qualified, meaning that the Welsh Government must take all reasonable action to inform them. This means that if a couple of landlords outside Wales could not be found despite all reasonable measures, the Welsh Government cannot be deemed to have failed in its duty to inform under this amendment. 

The lack of a duty in this respect reduces any pressure on the Government to make it their absolute priority to ensure that all tenants in Wales are informed of the abolition and informed of the details within it. There's clearly an aim to water down any statutory duty with regard to their own responsibilities with regard to informing all of those tenants in Wales who will be affected by this Bill. This is a point that's been picked up by CLAC and it's something we echo on this side of the Chamber, and I do hope that Members will support this amendment. Thank you.