Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:48 pm on 14 October 2020.

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Photo of Delyth Jewell Delyth Jewell Plaid Cymru 2:48, 14 October 2020

No, thank you for clarifying that, Minister. I don't think it did come across in that way, but it's obviously good to have that on the record. I don't doubt for a moment the complicated nature of this. I would urge you not to wait to take action on it because obviously we want to be able to give residents hope. But I am glad to hear that you are considering a range of these different options, and, as you say, not just options that will help future residents, but also trying to put the situation right for residents who are caught in this awful situation already.

Finally, Minister, I wanted to reflect on some of the remarks made by David Melding yesterday, where he blamed a lax regulatory regime in both England and Wales for allowing these scandals to happen in the first place. Again, this touches on some of what we've already covered, but it's not just the fire safety issues here—unfinished estates, the miss-selling of leaseholds, as we've touched on, and broken promises by developers, as we've spoken about, have become a hallmark of development over the past decade. The case for a windfall tax on the profit of large developers is very strong. Would you support that call?