Diolch, Llywydd. I move the motion. This is a UK Bill intended to reform the regulation of social housing providers in England. English social housing providers own or manage around 500 homes in Wales; therefore, the changes proposed by this Bill will have an impact on people who live in these homes, because the Bill will change the way that their landlords are regulated. The legislative consent of the Senedd is required where UK legislation makes provision for any purpose within the competence of the Senedd. Housing is a devolved matter and so, although the Bill impacts on a relatively small number of people who live in Wales, the requirement for consent is triggered. 

The legislative consent memoranda laid identify and explain why I believe consent is required. My general view is that the changes proposed to the English regime aim to ensure that landlords are more accountable to their tenants for their performance and, therefore, I recommend that legislative consent is given. It's important to note that consent to these provisions merely preserves the current position for those tenants in terms of how their landlords are regulated and to note that the Welsh Government has not asked for any of these changes to apply to Welsh social landlords.

The regulatory regime in Wales is framed around different statutory provisions and operates very differently to that in England. Although the nature of social landlords is also different in England and Wales, to some extent, they all provide similar services for some of the most disadvantaged people and communities and face similar challenges. Recognising some of those challenges, I launched a set of new regulatory standards and a revised regulatory framework for Wales in January 2022. I set challenging standards on the way landlords engage with and listen to tenants, make performance information available, achieve high levels of tenant satisfaction with the services they provide and learn from complaints. The absolute requirement to keep tenants safe in their home is also set out clearly in the standards, further reinforced by the fitness for human habitation duty set out in the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, which came into force in December.

In recommending consent to be given to this UK Bill, I can assure Members that the issues it sets out to address have been, and are always, under consideration here in Wales. I would thank the committees that have considered the memoranda on this Bill. I note the concerns in relation to provision of timely information and due scrutiny. Often this is out of the direct control of the Welsh Government and, whilst I will always attempt to provide information as promptly as possible, I must inform the Senedd that I'm now aware that further amendments were published just yesterday, which are being considered by officials and which may also trigger the requirement for consent. 

I intend to write to the relevant UK Minister to express my dissatisfaction with the late tabling of amendments and its impact on this Senedd's ability to effectively scrutinise the complete Bill. I know the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee have reported on the latest memorandum yesterday. They agree on all points save one. I maintain the position set out in the last LCM that consent is needed for the amendment to Schedule 5, which is in relation to data protection, which is Government amendment 35. I would, though, like to thank both committees that have considered this Bill and I'm pleased that there is agreement on most points relating to the requirement for consent and a majority recommendation that consent should be given.

So, Llywydd, to conclude, I recommend that Members support the legislative consent motion in respect of the Social Housing (Regulation) Bill. Diolch.