Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:42 pm on 10 March 2021.

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Photo of Delyth Jewell Delyth Jewell Plaid Cymru 2:42, 10 March 2021

Okay. Thank you for that, Minister. I'll await eagerly what the announcement will be on Friday. 

Turning to another area, the pandemic I think has brought home to all of us—not meaning for it to be a pun—how vital it is to feel safe in our homes. Too many people in Wales feel unsafe in the buildings where they live, often because cladding that the developer has refused to remove is causing them tremendous anxiety. These people are in many ways figuratively trapped in their homes, because they can't sell them, but they also don't feel safe and they face these huge costs in service charges, in bills, that they, frankly, shouldn't have to pay.

Plaid Cymru—I know that you'll know this—has, for years, espoused the need for a windfall tax on the profits of large developers to pay for correcting the problems that they caused, and I know from our previous exchanges that you're interested in this idea too. But, at present, it is probably outside the Senedd's powers to bring that in. So, until we have that power, Minister, do you think the next Welsh Government should finance the repair work with a view to getting the money back, perhaps, from a windfall tax or from other means? After all, these tenants surely can't be just abandoned to their plight.