, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I'm sure it was. There are other examples.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
But you will probably understand the frustration felt by communities that are today trying to acquire assets, for example Coed y Brenin, which is an asset that the community would wish to acquire, but, because the legislation doesn't enable them to have the…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Is the task and finish group going to be looking specifically on legislative changes that need to be made in Wales, so that we align better with what happens in England? Is that going to be a specific piece of work that this group is going to be doing now?…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
So, you'd started along the path of establishing a commission, and that was progressing very slowly, and then, all of a sudden, it was decided to take away that status of a commission from that work stream, and to set up a task and finish group that is far…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
There is no commission now looking at the issue of community assets, as I understand, which is a decision that strikes me as being very strange, because the members of the commission were announced just a few weeks ago. I've been asking written questions…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Thank you very much. Turning to community assets, I understand that there is now no commission looking at the issue of community assets, although the names of the members of the commission were announced just a few weeks ago. What exactly is the reason for…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Could you share the details of the route-map for decarbonising residential housing, and when is it likely to be published?
, 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
So, it looks likely that landlords in the private rented sector will have to conform with those regulations too, because, although housing is devolved, that aspect hasn't, perhaps, been devolved. Is that the situation?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I know that the work is happening in the social housing sector, but what will be happening to private rented properties in terms of the EPC standards that are required?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I'm talking about private rented properties in terms of EPC standards.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
So, the UK Government intends to raise minimum EPC standards that will apply to privately rented properties in Wales. Will that happen from a Welsh perspective also?
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Yes, thank you, because some of the recommendations, some of the findings here, they're more than just about Welsh-speaking communities, they could be relevant to communities across Wales, so, it's important that we do have that national perspective on this…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
It's early days, I know.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Yes, there are two things, I think. There is the Welsh language communities plan, under the leadership of Jeremy Miles, but this is additional, the commission's work that has been published over the summer. So, I do encourage you to focus on the housing…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Ok, thank you very much. In the summer, this has been published, 'Empowering communities, strengthening the Welsh language', a report by the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities under the leadership of Dr Simon Brooks. It is a very substantial and…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Okay, and you're closely involved in that work.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
In terms of the national interventions, there are two other things that haven’t yet happened, which were a part of the co-operation agreement, which is work on local mortgages—I don’t know whether you can say anything about that—and then, also, the Bill for…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
So, at present, you’re not encouraging other local authorities to follow that path. But I understand your point around that. Cyngor Gwynedd has also been holding the Dwyfor pilot, which has different interventions in this area of housing. How much evaluation…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Thank you, Chair. Turning to second homes, there have been a number of national schemes started to try and tackle the problem of second homes, including council tax premiums, the new threshold for short-term holiday lets, and also the ability for local…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I don't know which one that is.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Torfaen haven't got a council tax premium.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Torfaen.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Just on that, anecdotally, I'm hearing that the process is very complicated and it needs simplifying, in terms of the local authorities themselves now. So, that's anecdotal, so we need the evidence, really, I suppose.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Ministerial scrutiny session—Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
Can I just—?
