, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
They have to be outcomes and outputs that trade off.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
Yes, and it's not that Swansea bay is indicating a wider shift to adopt this more often. If an authority or an investment area or an authority had a great idea for expansion, you're not looking to roll this out. This is—
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
One last point, Chair, if I could, and that was just—. We've heard that some councils are talking about retaining NDR rates, or a bigger portion of NDR rates, and especially those around city and growth deal areas. I wonder what your perspective might be on…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
So, it's that mix of all councils have got a fair crack at the whip of addressing their relative need. That's quite important.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
Yes, thanks for that. If we go back to that stark reality between those who have got and those who haven't got, obviously revenue to service prudential borrowing is going to be difficult. And I don't know what your assessment is on the current levels. Is that…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
Yes, I think we've covered an awful lot in an earlier session, but perhaps just to explore on capital, if we may, and our ability for borrowing and the like. I just wonder, Cabinet Secretary, if you could expand on the allocation of the £200 million in…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
I remember one year, Reg, when an extra element was put in for sparsity for a couple of years, and it made a dramatic effect and made it a lot fairer, just with that one little tweak around sparsity. So, there are many things that can happen.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
As a past leader of a group and the council, I always struggled with that willingness among certain groups. We couldn't quite get consensus, hence we didn't accelerate this too far.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
It's good the work is going on.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
Are we confident that, if that froze up, it may be needed? Because it looks like there is some tweaking that can be done. Are we confident that the forum would commission that work to go ahead? Because, obviously, it's done in partnership with the Government…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
Yes, and thanks for raising it, Carolyn, because one of the—. I'll just touch on that point first before we move on. Whilst we recognise the actual amount of money that is flowing through to authorities may not change through this adjustment, there clearly…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
Yes, I was going to—.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
Thanks. Just on that theme, we heard very clearly from Wrexham, I think, last week, how about 80 per cent of their domiciliary care is purchased from outside, and, ultimately, whilst their costs might be covered, they will end up picking up the cost of the…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
And from a biodiversity perspective, one way we could have helped was to have had a food Bill and local food plans to cut down the carbon footprint. [Laughter.] But that's a different story.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
Yes. I think it might be interesting.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
No, no, that's okay. I know that when building twenty-first century schools, BREEAM was a significant driver to reach targets, and I'm conscious that targets have moved on and expectations are greater and perhaps a new set of criteria comes alongside funding…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
I see.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Local Government)
Yes, just quickly, do the BREEAM standards still apply, or have you updated those for something that fits in to the aspirations for further carbon reduction and meeting the targets? I'm probably out of the loop a little bit on that now.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Housing)
Thank you.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Housing)
Just on that, and we welcome more money to adaptations, it's something that's so important, and an area of that, which I don't know has helped to drive some of your thinking about that, is the need for rapid response for motor neurone disease sufferers…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Housing)
Thank you for that. And the final one from me: looking more closely at building safety remediation and the costs relating to that, the funding for remediation works is unchanged from the baseline budget, despite the number of properties in the building safety…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Housing)
Thank you. Just a couple of questions left from me, on a really important area, around building safety. I was wondering when the Welsh Government is hoping to identify the cost implications of supporting implementation of the new building safety legislation…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Housing)
It's surprising the upper limit is relatively high, recognising that most first-time buyers would struggle to sustain a £300,000 house once they're in it—council tax and everything. I'm surprised we're not setting at a—. Or there has to be proof that they've…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Housing)
That's great—a good initiative. Just looking at Help to Buy—Wales, I just wondered what your views are, Cabinet Secretary, around the direction of travel for Help to Buy—Wales. A quarter of purchases in the scheme aren't first-time buyers, as we understand…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session with the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government (Housing)
So the empty homes grant, then, we're saying is actually working. It is encouraging people into the system.
