Agenda and minutes

View the meeting transcript.

1.1.      The Chair welcomed Members and members of the public to the meeting.

1.2.      Apologies were received from Mike Hedges AM. Mick Antoniw AM acted as a substitute.

Carl Sargeant AM, Minister for Housing and Regeneration

John Howells, Director of Housing and Regeneration

Kath Palmer, Deputy Director Homes and Places

2.1. The Committee received evidence from Carl Sargeant AM, Minister for Housing and Regeneration, and his officials.

2.2. During the session, the Minister agreed to provide the following to the Committee:

• a clarification of the technical definition of ‘affordable housing’, as it is referred to in relation to targets, and a note on the differences between the use of the term “affordable” by the Welsh Government and the UK Government;
• a note including a breakdown of each local authorities’ status in relation to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) target completion date, including information of any which authority may not meet the target;
• a detailed breakdown of the figures for the shared equity ‘help to buy’ scheme, by each county in Wales;
• a note on the business plans and projects, relevant to the Minister’s portfolio, in relation to the intermediate care fund, and the outcomes expected;
• details of the Section 180 review of the Homelessness Grant Programme, when it is available;
• the outcome of the changes to the ‘supporting people’ programme, following the £5million cut that was raised during budget scrutiny 14/15 in November of last year.

3.1. The Committee agreed the Motion.

4.1. The Committee discussed the draft letter to the Minister for Local Government and Government Business, in relation to Human Trafficking.

5.1. The Committee discussed the correspondence from the Business Committee.

6.1. The Committee discussed the correspondence from Darren Millar AM, in relation to the Holiday Caravan Sites (Wales) Bill.

Jeff Cuthbert AM, Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty

Kate Cassidy, Director Communities and Tackling Poverty

Eleanor Marks, Deputy Director of Communities Division

7.1. The Committee received evidence from Jeff Cuthbert AM, Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, and his officials.

7.2. During the session, the Minister agreed to provide the following to the Committee:

• the guidance which is provided to local authorities for their scrutiny of Communities First grants recipients;
• the figures for increases in Credit Union membership figures, following the marketing campaign.

8.1. The Committee noted the paper.

9.1. The Committee agreed the Motion.

10.1. The Committee discussed the evidence received and agreed to write to the Minister for Housing and Regeneration on the points that were raised.

11.1. The Committee discussed the evidence received and agreed to write to the Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty on the points that were raised.