5. Statement by the Minister for Housing and Local Government: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:50 pm on 29 April 2020.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 5:50, 29 April 2020

Thank you, Vikki. So, going in reverse order, we do expect RSLs to continue to meet all of their tenants' needs. We've been very clear that it would be very exceptional that an RSL should be furloughing staff, for example, and have been very clear with that, and, to be fair, Community Housing Cymru have been very clear about that as well. So, RSLs should be still carrying on all of the repairs and so on that they do. The only exceptions to that would be where it isn't safe to do so—so, where there's somebody in the house that they're trying to repair that is self-isolating or whatever and that makes it impossible. But, other than in those kinds of exceptions, they should be carrying on with essential maintenance and repairs. And, as I said, we're also encouraging them to bring voids back into use as fast as possible, so that we can get people out of unsuitable accommodation. If you want to highlight any of those cases to me so that I can take them up with particular RSLs, I'm very happy to do that. 

In terms of the hardship funds and the discretionary rate relief funds, I haven't had it highlighted to me that there's a particular issue, so, again, if you want to highlight any particular issues, I'm very happy to take that up with the particular local authority and see if we can assist them in the way that they're exercising their discretion. And, if it's something that's not currently covered, then—. Obviously, we've put all of these things in place very quickly; I'm very pleased with the local authorities and very grateful to their staff for the hard work that they've done, but it is already the new normal, and it's always important to remember how swiftly we have actually gone from where we were only a few weeks ago to here. So, it's not perfect and I'm very happy to look at any examples from across Members to see how we can refine it and make it better as we go forward.