, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Relatively good.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Powys comes out well from the audit report, actually.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Yes, I know; I was referring to your official. I think that just underlines my concern, really, that this really isn't anywhere near top of the agenda, and we have now a series of evidence to show that performance is poor. Half of local authorities don't have…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I just think it's quite telling that you can't exactly recall whether or not it's been on the recent agenda of the partnership council.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
And do you ask them if they're doing that when you meet them? Is this an agenda item?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
There seems to be a parallel here—and this is true not just about you and your organisation; it's true about the NHS and elsewhere—where senior leaders seem to think of digital as a technical function, in a way that you wouldn’t think of procurement or audit…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
That's £5 million out of a budget of—
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Well, not really, in the grand scheme of things, because—. More than you were spending before, which was very little, but £4.2 million for the CDPS in this financial year, in the grand scheme of the local government budget, is not a considerable amount of…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
My slight concern is that, given the discussions that we’ve been having about the pressures on local authorities, both to reduce overheads but also to continue to provide first-rate services, it’s widely acknowledged that digital has an important role to…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
And do you think they've been recruiting at a sufficient level, because it's a very competitive field and skill set, particularly working in local government, which is a difficult context at the best of times? Do you think they're taking this sufficiently…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Okay.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Is there somebody in post in that role now?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Half, not some.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
The trouble is this report isn’t terribly flattering on what the sector is doing.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Yes.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
You say a number of local authorities have digital strategies—the report finds that half do not. And I must say I found it a pretty underwhelming report, with a pretty pedestrian landscape painted of the pace of change in local government. And the reason I’m…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Thank you. I suppose, a question, if I can start with, for Reg Kilpatrick. It’s about the most recent Audit Wales report, 'Digital by design?', a look at local government performance on digital. I just wondered if you’ve had a chance to look at it and what…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Okay. Thank you.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I know it's important. What I'm asking is whether, in terms of those grant schemes, there's a particular emphasis on getting those numbers up in town centres.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Okay. It's just in terms of town centres in particular. Obviously, there are a couple of different interventions you have there: there's the Transforming Towns loan, and then there's the transitional accommodation capital programme, which could be used by…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Can I just ask—
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Okay. Interesting. And in terms of training and supporting enforcement officers, which goes back, I guess, to the original question about that centre of excellence, best practice, support, what progress is there on that?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
It's like most Government seasons, isn't it? So, then, the register of empties, where are things with that?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Okay. That's a euphemism of choice.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
'Shortly'. That's a nice, flexible term, isn't it? [Laughter.]
