Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:38 pm on 24 May 2022.
If I can come back to the premise of the question, which was the regulation of estate management companies, these companies are not well regulated—in fact, they're barely regulated at all. The charges people face can have no cap, and, very often, the work is shoddy, and, where land is not adopted, it's sold to the estate management company, who then charge residents on top of their council tax. The charge in Cwm Calon in Ystrad Mynach is £162, which is higher than in Cardiff, for areas of green land that, really, the council could do. It's unacceptable. I had a meeting with the Minister Julie James and she said that she's waiting for the UK Government to act, and then will introduce a legislative consent motion to address the gaps that may be in that provision. We really need action here. Would the First Minister consider taking action through the Welsh Government's legislative powers if the UK Government fail to address this in good time?