But, in this debate, and sitting amongst the many solutions, I want to highlight the opportunities for co-operative solutions to help meet the housing needs in our communities. And I'll focus on that now in this second section of my debate. Because I'm fortunate to have, in my constituency, an organisation called Merthyr Valleys Homes. And this association emerged from the stock transfer debate of earlier Assembly terms, and has become the largest tenant and employee mutual in the country.

Merthyr Valleys Homes was established in 2009, as a result of tenants voting to transfer their homes to a new not-for-profit organisation. They own and manage over 4,200 homes across the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil. In the first five years, Merthyr Valleys Homes were dedicated to achieving the promises that were made to tenants upon that transfer, and also achieving our Welsh housing quality standard targets. But, by 2014, they'd started to look at the future of the organisation and how they wanted the organisation to develop in the coming years. The board wanted to take a further step, and opted to develop a governance model that would empower tenants and employees by allowing them to become members. In turn, this would give them a real say, and they could play an important role in decision making and setting their own direction for Merthyr Valleys Homes. As a result, on 1 May 2016, Merthyr Valleys Homes transformed into a mutual housing association, and they are the first in Wales to allow both tenants and employees the opportunity to become a member and own a share in the organisation. So, Merthyr Valleys Homes is now a registered society, under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. Their purpose is to carry on business for the benefit of the community, which they shape through their vision, entitled 'Yfory', and I think we're shortly to see the updated version, 'Yfory 2'. [Laughter.]

I'm always impressed by their very core values as a mutual organisation and in their structure as a democratic body, board and members. They are continually looking for opportunities to build a circular local economy—for example, investing in local business and trades, providing skills and apprenticeship opportunities. This is putting values into practice. So, in all this work, can I give an acknowledgement to the former chief executive of Merthyr Valleys Homes, Mike Owen—now probably enjoying himself watching the rugby world cup, or sat in a pub in Cornwall—his successor, Michelle Reid and her team, and especially Katie Howells, who's been instrumental in supporting the progress made by my next example, which is the Taf Fechan Housing Co-operative in the constituency?

Given the history I've described, it is perhaps no surprise that Merthyr Valleys Homes also helped to nurture and help develop the Taf Fechan Housing Co-operative. For those who don't know the area, the Taf Fechan flats had, in truth, become undesirable, hard-to-let units, physically run down, vandalised, and suffering anti-social behaviour. Thankfully, through the vision of Merthyr Valleys Homes, and with support through cheap finance from the local authority, the option of a housing co-operative was identified as part of a brighter future for the 12 flats that are now in the co-operative on the Gellideg estate.

So, as the Gellideg estate was and is redeveloped, these flats were retained, refurbished, and the residents have formed a co-operative to run that block of flats. Those people who are now residents in the flats have to be members of the co-operative, and therefore share a responsibility in the running of their homes. The flats are leased to Taf Fechan by Merthyr Valleys Homes, and the members of the co-operative run their homes. Vitally, this means residents taking ownership of their future, making communal decisions about rent levels, maintaining their properties, and managing who moves into the flats. I recently visited the flats, and saw for myself the pride taken in their properties and the way in which they operate collectively to maintain them. In fact, they were just completing some improvements to their communal garden area, and had agreed, within the co-operative, the balance between the leisure space and those members who wanted the opportunity to grow their own vegetables and plants. But this co-operative approach has also seen them develop greater social bonds. So, better homes, a more cohesive community, and stronger social bonds is a win-win in any regeneration process—people taking more control of their lives and communities, and, in this case, having the benefit of the experience to draw from of Merthyr Valleys Homes itself.

These local examples, of course, sit in a wider context of co-operative action. As a Welsh Labour and Co-operative Assembly Member, I'm pleased that our Government supports mutual and co-operative solutions to some of the problems that we face. Indeed, such action formed part of the pledges that we made at the 2016 Assembly elections, and I hope that we build on this in the future. I do see strong links between co-operative and mutual policies, and our policies to drive forward the foundational economy in Wales. I note that the Confederation of Co-operative Housing, for instance, has recently published their findings about '1,001 co-operative and community-led homes' in the UK, and they point to the evidence that, across the country, people and communities are making their own housing and neighbourhood solutions, making sustainable and lasting homes, building resilient and confident local communities, developing skills that they never knew they had. Well, that is my local experience as well. 

So, the final section of my debate is to ask the question: is this the silver bullet to housing need in our communities? Well, the answer to that question, of course, is 'no'. But what I will argue is that supporting and developing a mutual and co-operative approach can be part of the solution—an important part because of some of the factors that I have identified in the debate. It does, however, sit within the set of actions that help to meet housing need in our communities. It sees people taking control of the management of their homes, without the spectre or burden of satisfying the profit need of shareholders. In my experience, it has seen the community strengthened, with both sustainable and caring values moving to the centre of housing solutions. And that's why I will commend such models to the Welsh Government, to this Assembly, and I hope to see mutual and co-operative housing solutions supported in the decade ahead.