Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition (in respect of his 'law officer' responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:47 pm on 24 November 2020.
Following the Member debate, which I proposed in Plenary on 14 February 2018, I was pleased to see the report from the unadopted roads taskforce. However, one element disappoints me, and that relates to the lack of legal weight behind some of the recommendations. In particular, the taskforce's road adoption model guide states that if five or more properties are served by a road in a new housing development, highways authorities should serve an advanced payment code notice on developers, which essentially ensures a financial bond is in place to meet any future costs of bringing the road up to adoptable standard, as you will be aware. However, guidance and recommendation, I would suggest, is not strong enough, in my opinion, in this case. Will you, therefore, commit to holding further discussions with the Minister for transport to explore whether legislation should be introduced in this area so as to place a duty on local authorities to serve a notice on developers in such circumstances?