6. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government: Supporting our Town Centres

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:23 pm on 28 January 2020.

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Photo of Hannah Blythyn Hannah Blythyn Labour 6:23, 28 January 2020

I thank the Member for his contribution. Working on the assumption—on your last point in terms of the difficulty in identifying owners—that you're referring perhaps to buildings or premises that perhaps have been left empty, or have not been rented out for some time, this is what we hope that this enforcement fighting fund, coupled with the industry expert that will be with us, going out across local authorities from next month, will actually help to address. We will bring in his expertise, share that, train up and resource up our local authority counterparts so that they have the confidence, the resource and the funding to be able to take that on. And, once one or two have been challenged, then, hopefully, that sends a message within a community that, actually, if you're not going to co-operate and if you're going to be difficult, then action will be taken. And I'm more than happy to share more details of that with the Member as this approach develops. 

You're right about the distinctive offer of a town or a community, because that's what makes it the place that it is, and I think, like I said before, it's not about trying to replicate that one-size-fits-all, but what works for a particular place and a particular community. And the point you make in terms of how we could use this to perhaps create something like a hub or a mechanism to provide that platform for people, who, as you said, wouldn't be able to afford the premises on their own, and have the resource to do that, is a very valid one. I know that some local authorities—and where I was yesterday, in Rhyl, they're looking at how they can use the old Queen's Market building there to bring in independent producers to link up with the local colleges and actually give an opportunity to students there to be able to have pop-up stalls, to develop business plans and get that experience, and to have that kind of step up to enable them, hopefully, and help them succeed, going forward. So perhaps that's one where we can go away and do some work on—how we can share these ideas and share these best practices, to see them replicated in towns and places right across Wales where they would be appropriate and most welcome.