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Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee |
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Meeting Venue: |
Committee Room 2 - Senedd |
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Meeting date: |
Thursday, 12 December 2013 |
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Meeting time: |
09:30 - 12:00 |
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This meeting can be viewed on Senedd TV at:
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Concise Minutes: |
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Assembly Members: |
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Christine Chapman (Chair) Leighton Andrews Peter Black Jocelyn Davies Mike Hedges Mark Isherwood Gwyn R Price Jenny Rathbone |
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Witnesses: |
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Carl Sargeant, Minister for Housing and Regeneration Ceri Breeze, Head of Housing Directorate, Welsh Government Kath Palmer, Welsh Government Alyn Williams, Welsh Government Neil Buffin, Welsh Government John Davies, Legal Services, Welsh Government Patricia Gavigan, Welsh Government Geoff Marlow, Welsh Government Margaret Frith, Welsh Government Chrishan Kamalan, Welsh Government |
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Committee Staff: |
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Sarah Beasley (Clerk) Leanne Hatcher (Deputy Clerk) Jonathan Baxter (Researcher) |
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Transcript
View the meeting transcript.
1 Committee Forward Work Programme
1.1 The Committee discussed the Committee’s Forward Work Programme
2 Consideration of draft letter : Public Services Ombudsman for Wales Annual Report 2012/2013
2.1 The Committee discussed the draft letter.
3 Introductions, apologies and substitutions
3.1 The Chair welcomed Members and members of the public.
3.2 Apologies received from Rhodri Glyn Thomas and Janet Finch-Saunders.
4 Housing (Wales) Bill - Stage 1 Consideration of General Principles
4.1 The Committee took evidence from Carl Sargeant, Minister for Housing and Regeneration.
4.2 The Minister agreed to provide the following:
·
information on the differences between the existing registration
and licensing scheme for the private rented sector in Scotland and
the proposed scheme for Wales provided for in the Bill;
·
a note on electrical safety standards for the private rented sector
to be included in the Code of Practice provided for in section
28;
·
a copy of the report by Cardiff University (which provided evidence
that the duration which a person is considered threatened with
homelessness should be increased to 56 days);
·
a note on how the cost of enforcing the proposed registration and
licensing scheme would be met, in light of the ruling by the
Court of Appeal on the case of Hemming & Others v
Westminster City Council;
·
clarity on the meaning of ‘vulnerable’ in section
55(1)(j) in relation to people who have served a custodial
sentence;
·
clarity on why the category for priority need in section
55(1)(c)(i) does not include reference to mental illness, given
that it is included in the existing categories set out in the
Housing Act 1996;
·
clarity on the existing regulation and inspection regime for
homeless hostels;
·
clarity on the legal meaning and/or effect of the term
‘for example’ in section 55(1)(c)(i);
· a note on reciprocal arrangements between local authorities for housing homeless people; and
· a local authority breakdown of the housing-related borrowing limit to include existing borrowing and the new debt to fund the buy-out from the Housing Revenue Account Subsidy Scheme.
4.3The Committee requested a legal briefing on the definition of vulnerability.
5 Papers to note
5.1 Papers to note.