6. What support is the Welsh Government making available to apartment complexes that have been identified as having fire safety issues across South Wales Central? OQ55671

Thank you, Andrew. We continue to work with local authorities and fire and rescue services to ensure residents are kept safe, with all possible measures in place to mitigate risks. We are exploring the scope for financial support to help fund remediation in a way that is fair to taxpayers and leaseholders.

Thank you, Minister, for that answer. In the 13 years that I've been an Assembly Member, I cannot think that I've had such heartbreaking stories brought to my regional office, and meetings with residents on this particular issue, where no fault at all is attributed to the residents, and a clear line of fault lies with the original builders of the sites and the implementation of the building regulations. The First Minister yesterday, in response to questioning on this, touched on the moral obligation that builders who erected these structures should have in putting the works right. What help can you afford residents, and offer to residents, when it comes to turning those words of moral obligations to real actions on the ground, so that residents aren't left in this state of limbo and, ultimately, end up picking up the tab themselves?

Andrew, I absolutely agree with you. There have been a range of stories that are just heartbreaking. The First Minister was absolutely right in saying that we need to re-emphasise on a continual basis the moral obligation on the people who build these buildings to such a poor standard. The directors of those companies really should be looking to themselves to put right those defects. But, as I was explaining in an earlier answer, we don't, unfortunately, have the means to compel them. Unfortunately, the contractual arrangements in each particular building are totally different. So, the way that the building was built, the management company that supports it, the often single-purpose vehicle that was put in place to do the development, the way that the management structures for the leaseholders work, and so on, are all very different in each of the buildings.

I would very much like to find a way to enable a fund to allow the leaseholders to be able to start those works. It's very difficult to do that without seeing how we can protect what, after all, is their investment in the property. I know that it is their home as well; I'm not trying to sound heartless about it. But, it's very difficult to see how a taxpayer can put right an investment that's gone wrong in that way—you know, to the financial improvement of the individual investor. So, we are trying to find a way that would balance out allowing people to keep some equity in their homes and allowing them to access a fund that would improve the structure of the building. As I said in my earlier answer, it's easy to say and very much more difficult to organise.

We are also keeping a weather eye on the UK Government fund, which is to remove the cladding but, as I understand it, not any of the other structural defects. Once you've taken the cladding off, there's often a range of other issues that need to be replaced. So, we're keeping a weather eye on that, and Andrew, if you have any more information that you can share with us on how that fund is working, I'm very happy to talk to you about it.