2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:46 pm on 1 February 2022.

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Photo of Janet Finch-Saunders Janet Finch-Saunders Conservative 2:46, 1 February 2022

I would yet again like to endorse a request from Alun Davies MS and Huw Irranca-Davies for a statement on the lack of provision of dental services. Certainly, in my consistency of Aberconwy it's a big issue and I'm currently meeting with GPs and they're feeling the strain of people requesting appointments when they're in agonising pain. So, really, it's something that—. It's an urgent statement that is required from the Minister.

I also believe there's another statement overdue, and that's from the Minister for Climate Change on dangerous cladding removal in Wales. We have so many high-rise residential buildings. Here in Cardiff, Celestia Action Group, owners of Redrow properties in Cardiff Bay, are fighting to get their developer to put right such serious building defects. They undertook a protest outside the Senedd over the weekend and they spoke out last week at the lack of action by the Welsh Labour Government following the positive development that we've seen in England. Just two weeks ago, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, wrote to the residential property developer industry asking for clear commitments from developers, including that they agree to make financial contributions this year and in subsequent years to a dedicated fund to cover the full outstanding cost to remediate unsafe cladding on 11m to 18m-high buildings, and also he's asked them to fund and undertake all necessary remediation of buildings over 11m in which they have played a role in developing.

I actually agree with the Secretary of State that it is neither fair nor decent that innocent leaseholders, many of whom have worked hard and made sacrifices to get a foot on the housing ladder, should be landed with bills they simply cannot afford to fix problems they did not cause. So, could you please obtain an urgent statement from the Minister for Climate Change, making a statement to this Senedd clarifying whether she is going to take the same bold action as Michael Gove and actually make sure that Wales is not failing and will stay hanging behind on this issue? [Interruption.] It's too important an issue. And the heckling is actually, quite frankly, disgusting.