Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:37 pm on 15 October 2019.
I thank the Member for those points. Of course, he is right that empty properties are not simply a wasted asset that could be put to good work, but they have an impact on all of those around them. It's why we decided to invest £10 million as a result of a Valleys taskforce work in bringing more empty homes back into use. And there are hundreds of empty houses in the Member's constituency that, potentially, will be able to benefit now from the scheme began in Rhondda Cynon Taf, and its success has allowed us to spread it elsewhere. The whole of the Valleys taskforce programme has been predicated on learning from the experience of local communities and taking the priorities that they put to us. There was a public engagement event held at Maesteg town hall, in the Member's constituency, at the start of the taskforce engagement, and empty properties were raised as one of the key themes by people who attended that event. Now, the taskforce has been back to the Ogmore, Llynfi and Garw valleys in recent times, and, once again, we were able to explain to people how the new grant will be available and could make a difference to an issue that they raised with us.
So, I completely agree with the point that Huw Irranca-Davies has made, about the need for local communities to be the eyes and ears of our efforts in this area. And I was reminded, Llywydd, in hearing the question, of a conversation that I had with Irish Republic officials about the operation of the vacant land tax in the Republic, where they had had an anxiety to begin with as to how vacant land would get onto the register that they had created, and in practice what has happened is that it is citizens who have turned out to be the eyes and ears of the register. People phone up the local authority, knowing now that there is a register to report to, to make sure that empty land is put on the register and can be put to better use. And I think using local communities and their intelligence on the ground, and their concern for empty properties, now that we have the new scheme, will be a vital source of information.