Questions now from the party spokespeople. Conservative spokesperson—David Melding.

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Deputy Minister, you'll know that having a safe and affordable home is without any doubt a basic need, and stable surroundings can help maintain health and well-being. So, today, I'm sure you will welcome with me the initiative of Tai Pawb and the Chartered Institute of Housing to publish a report on mental health within the private rented sector. I think it's a very good area to focus on. It has found that almost a third of support organisations feel that tenants in the private sector never have enough support. Interestingly, nearly half of landlords feel there is never enough support and information for them to support tenants, particularly those with mental health problems. So, today, will you join me in welcoming this report, and will you help to disseminate its very important findings? 

I certainly join you in welcoming the report and the findings and the issues that it's raised today. I and the Minister for Housing and Local Government will, of course, go through those findings with a fine-tooth comb and respond in due course. And I think you're absolutely right to raise the point about support not only for tenants, in terms of their mental health, and the impact that has on somebody's ability to maintain and secure a decent and stable home, but, actually, the benefits and support for landlords and agencies as well, enabling them not only to support tenants, but, actually, so that they secure stability of tenancy as well. 

Well, I certainly welcome what you've said there, Deputy Minister, and your broad support. For tenants, the stress and worry of accruing rent arrears, for instance, can exacerbate existing mental health problems, and for some, of course, it can trigger those mental health problems. And the cognitive and behaviour changes that often accompany mental health problems can make it extremely difficult to prevent arrears in the first instance, or to resolve them once they've occurred. Now, social landlords pay a lot of attention to this phenomena, and on two of the main recommendations of the report—that the Welsh Government should provide comprehensive information for landlords and letting agents regarding local and national mental health support, and that Rent Smart Wales should require all private sector landlords to complete a module on mental health to improve their knowledge of how to access support for tenants with mental health problems—will you be supporting these very innovative ideas?

You're absolutely right that they're very innovative ideas, and they're the sort of ideas that we need as part of our discussion on the way that we work in collaboration within Wales to make a difference to our communities and those within our communities. The idea of doing work with Rent Smart Wales to do a module on mental health is definitely one worth considering, but as I am the super-sub today, I'd hate to put words into the Minister's mouth, but I'm sure it's something that she will look at with great interest as well. 

I welcome your full-match game today, as it were, as the super-sub—[Laughter.]—and I'm sure you are able to form your own judgments and urge the boss to move on this. It's really significant, I think, that there's unity in the sector, including the organisations that represent the private landlords. And it is an area that is growing—20 per cent or so of people now are in the private rented sector, and many of those are quite vulnerable, they may be on low incomes and they may have pre-existing health conditions. And so, this is an area, I think, of public policy that does need cross-party support and, I'd say, improvement or development to meet modern trends. And I believe that most private sector landlords would jump at the chance of receiving this type of help and advice and training, because it will enable them to sustain their long-term tenancies and their income streams. So, it really is, in the landlord's and landlady's, I suppose, interest, as well as the tenant. 

A further recommendation of today's report states that representatives of the private rented sector should be included in the governance structures of the Supporting People programme. Will you look at this recommendation, another innovative one, and act on it as soon as possible? And will you also commend the work undertaken by the Residential Landlords Association, and, indeed, highlighted in today's report, in their efforts to reduce inequality and discrimination in the private rented sector?

I'll certainly commend any efforts to tackle inequality and discrimination within the sector in Wales, and within the country as a whole. You're spot-on in terms of saying, like we said, that it's not only to take on board and look at the review and the innovative proposals contained within it, which will not only potentially bring benefits for the tenants, and particularly to address inequality and any discrimination that may be faced by a tenant because of their own mental health problems, but that it also gives that security and long-term, sustained tenancies for landlords and landladies as well. And just to reiterate, we will certainly take away and look at the findings of the review with great interest. 

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Dai Lloyd. 

Diolch, Llywydd. Given the costly and long-running farce in Caerphilly County Borough Council, what consideration is the Welsh Government giving to bringing in a nationally decided set of pay scales and terms and conditions to control senior and chief officer pay through a national framework?

May I thank the Member for his question? You raise a number of key points. Local workforce matters are matters for individual local authorities at present. Clearly, you raise a number of key issues there, and issues that can be looked at in terms of future legislation going forward.

Would you agree that having one pay scale throughout Wales would take out the variances that we see between chief executives and directors across Wales, put an end to the competition and form of internal market that we have at the moment, and put an end to situations such as that in Caerphilly happening again in the future?

In terms of creating—the Member raises a really interesting question; it was raised previously, in terms of the potential for one public service and central pay scales. And, clearly, anything of that sort needs to be done in partnership and in discussion with the trade union representatives in local government, as well as local government representatives. Things like—obviously, you raised the benefits, but they can also bring clear challenges as well, if there's any reorganisation of that sort, in terms of harmonisation of pay scales as well.

We have one pay scale for National Assembly staff, one pay scale for health board staff. Why not local government? What's holding you back?

I think the Member raises some really salient points, in terms of how we go forward, in terms of actually working with our hard-working workforce in local government, who we all depend on for those services that make a day-to-day difference to our lives. And it's certainly something the Member would like to take up with us further that we can consider further down the line.

The UKIP spokesperson, Gareth Bennett.

Diolch, Llywydd. Last time we had these questions in the Chamber, I was discussing with the Minister, Julie James, her thoughts on the planning system in Wales. Now, later in that session, a couple of Members raised specific issues over multiple applications for large-scale housing developments in their areas. This is an ongoing issue, of course, in many different parts of Wales, as I'm sure you're aware, Minister. Now, you've just come across from the environment portfolio, so you'll also be very aware of the environmental considerations. Do you think that the planning system takes enough consideration of environmental impacts?

The Member has picked up—as many Members will be familiar with from their own postbags—the need, when we're taking into account large-scale developments, to take into account, as part of that process, and as part of local development plans, that local infrastructure and also the impact on the environment. And we recently had a review of 'Planning Policy Wales', to broaden that context, and take things into a more holistic account.

Yes. And of course it wasn't long ago, so we do need to have a look at that further on down the line. But, clearly, there are, as you say, implications for infrastructure to these large-scale housing developments, to always put in place the infrastructure that's needed. Now, one specific point in relation to this issue is the use of section 106 agreements. These are conditions attached to planning applications, whereby the developer is obliged to provide certain community facilities, which could be a park, a library, a playground, or it could be some other part of the infrastructure. There have been complaints that many developers haven't fully provided the facilities that they said they would. Do you think that enforcement of section 106 agreements has been robust enough?

Clearly, 106 agreements offer an opportunity for local communities to gain broader benefits from large developments, or developments in their area. And, clearly, we recognise that when local people, as part of a proposal on the table, in its initial form, are given reassurances, it will come with various agreements and community development projects—it creates concerns when that doesn't happen. And it's certainly something we are looking at in terms of how we make sure that local people have the confidence that we work with local authorities, and through LDPs, to make sure that the full benefits of section 106 agreements are realised.

I'm glad that you see that that is an issue, and hopefully maybe we can get a statement on that later on, and see what your department's thoughts are on that, because I think it is something that does cause anxiety to existing communities when new large-scale developments are built and they don't have in place these things that were promised. Large-scale housing needs can prove challenging to the environment. We were talking earlier on, in response to a question from Mike Hedges, about small-scale developments. Mike was talking about self-build in particular. I don't want to task you with that specific issue, as we've tackled that, but how far should there be a presumption in general, going forward, in favour of brownfield developments? 

The Member raises the opportunities that we've talked about earlier in this Chamber for self-build and to enable more opportunities for self-build through our new programme, and also more opportunities for those smaller to medium-sized construction and building developers within Wales. The revised 'Planning Policy Wales' has been published, and that aims to address a number of the housing delivery issues that have been raised in the Chamber today by introducing more rigour and challenge in the planning-making process in terms of the allocation of housing sites.