Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services – in the Senedd at 2:45 pm on 3 October 2018.

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Photo of Bethan Sayed Bethan Sayed Plaid Cymru 2:45, 3 October 2018

I look forward to hearing from that expert group, because I was sincerely disturbed by the fact that those council officers told us that they hadn't been out on site for 20 years, when they used to go out all the time. So, I would like for the message that you're giving here today to resonate throughout all the local councils here in Wales.

My third and final question is to do with the private sector. I've asked on many occasions what is happening in this regard. We know that you've given money to social housing—that's great and that's fair enough—but we know that leaseholders will be facing the bill, potentially, if they don't get support from Government. Some of these leaseholders may be on benefits, some of them have different roles and responsibilities in life, some of them just simply will not have the money to replace any cladding or any problems that emanate from those housing problems.

We've heard, again in committee, in evidence from Australia, that they have been able to get loans out and that they can pay that back through their council levy. That's happening in Australia at the moment. What schemes are you looking at so that we can help those people who are residents of Wales too? We cannot ignore the people who live in private housing who will need to be supported just as much as those people in social housing are.