5. Will the First Minister make a statement on the progress of the Cardiff capital region city deal? OAQ54105

I thank Hefin David for that. The Cardiff capital region city deal continues to make progress in key actions, such as its £30 million metro plus proposals in transport, a housing investment fund to help bring forward challenging stalled sites, and its innovative graduate scheme placing graduates in private businesses in growth areas.

In order to address the problems of speculative planning applications along the M4 belt on high-demand land, we've got to work together on a cross-party basis, and parties of all colours need to work together to try and resolve these issues. The first thing I did when I was elected in 2016 was call on the Welsh Government and local authorities to develop a strategic development plan for south-east Wales, and that was provided for in law by the Planning (Wales) Act 2015, which the Welsh Government had introduced in 2015.

It's got to be done on a cross-party basis, and I'm pleased to see the 10 local authorities of the capital region are now working together to produce that regional plan for south-east Wales that will enable local authorities to work across boundaries in Wales that local development plans simply do not allow. Would the First Minister provide an update on progress with the strategic development plan, and also outline what he and the Welsh Government are doing to target housing need in the areas that we need to build houses, not those of greatest demand, and what he's doing to take on the big developers that have no concern at all for local communities—the cartel developers, the likes of Redrow?

I thank the Member for that question, and he will, I know, be glad to have recognised the fact that the joint cabinet of the Cardiff capital city deal have now agreed to develop a strategic development plan for the region. And, Llywydd, that is a significant step ahead, because it does mean that each of the 10 contributing councils have individually agreed to delegate this responsibility to that regional level. The development of a strategic development plan was not part of the original joint agreement that established the city deal and I think it is genuinely a sign of the ambition that the leaders of the deal have that they have been able to come together in this way. So, I congratulate all those who have taken the lead in it, the Vale of Glamorgan and I think Caerphilly councils have been nominated to lead the process, and, of course, we will look forward to seeing the outcome of that here.

It will be part of that general effort that we are making as a Government to make sure that housing need as well as housing demand is recognised in the way that we discharge our responsibilities, in promoting building, as I said in answer to an earlier question, in the way that we protect tenants in the private rented sector, in the way that we have prevented the sale of council housing, which diminishes housing stock. All of those are measures that this Government is taking to put the emphasis on need as well as demand, and the action that is now being taken by the Cardiff capital cabinet will, I think, be a very important contribution to that in this part of Wales.

First Minister, I'm very grateful to listen to that answer and the more collaborative working model that does exist within the city deal concept. One thing that has changed is Government policy, quite considerably, in the last couple of weeks with the deceleration of a climate change emergency, various statement positions that obviously the Minister has made about clean air, for example, we've got carbon reduction this afternoon, and indications of future legislation that might come forward in the next two or three years. How does the Welsh Government work with the city deal board to make sure that the aims and ambitions of what the Welsh Government is seeking to achieve via its legislative proposals and its policy positions are informing the decisions at the city board deal level, which, obviously, will be charged with implementing much of this on the ground, especially when it comes to regeneration and renewal projects?

Llywydd, can I echo a point that both Hefin David and Andrew Davies have said about the importance of councils being able to work across not just geographical boundaries but political boundaries as well? I think that has been a strength of the Cardiff capital deal—that it has had parties of different political persuasions and none who have manged to come together on a common agenda. So, I agree with both contributions in emphasising the importance of that. The contribution that the deal can make in relation to climate change can be seen in a series of actions that it is already taking. I referred to the £30 million metro plus programme that the city deal have agreed, and that is about integrated transport as well as new forms of transport. It's making sure that people can make as easy use as possible of the public transport facilities that we as a Welsh Government and the different local authorities are supporting in their localities. It does, to go back to Hefin David's question, also mean a new focus on construction and construction standards in new development. We know that, as a Government and as a nation, we have a real challenge in relation to retrofitting housing that was built previously not to the correct standards and where, in order to achieve carbon neutrality, we have to go back and put new measures in there. We cannot afford to be building today the next generation of houses that will need retrofitting in the future. The work of the cabinet of the city deal in making sure that the work it does in housing and in planning is constructing houses that will last for the future and play their part in combating climate change is something that I'm sure they are very well apprised of.