Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal Democrats

Peter Black: I agree that some communities have seen improvements. However, as of March of last year, over £342 million had been spent on Communities First, with no discernable reduction in poverty across most of the 155 areas that it supports. I have another example in the county of Bridgend, which is also in my region. Look at some of the Communities First areas there and their relative positions in terms of the index of multiple deprivation. Bettws and Brackla 3 are more deprived now than they were in 2005. Caerau 1 and 2 are now in the bottom 2%, having dropped from thirty-fifth and sixty-sixth to eighth and thirty-eighth respectively. Clearly, there are issues in many of the communities where Communities First is in place of not achieving the objectives of eliminating poverty, raising people up, helping them to get back on their feet or delivering the fundamental change that Communities First was first intended to address. I have concerns that, despite the many changes that have been put in place, we have not yet got a scheme that is going to deliver what we need it to deliver.

5.45 p.m.

We have already referred to the Wales Audit Office and its view, as well as that of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which said that, between 2001 and 2008, some conditions have improved in first-generation Communities First areas and that, on average, population and house prices have increased and economic inactivity has declined. However, it said that, in comparison to similar neighbourhoods, the gains that have been made in the first-generation Communities First areas have been relatively marginal. What we want from this new scheme is to go above the marginal. We need to start introducing a step change in the way that communities are empowered and improved. The latest incarnation has a great deal to prove to deliver on that.

Peter Black: I welcome this statement, and in particular the Minister's positive response to the signing of the compact by local government. I also welcome this commitment to shelve, for the time being, the local government collaborative measures Bill, as it would have proved controversial in this Chamber. Certainly, the positive response by local government to this agenda, not just in the signing of this compact, but through a range of different measures, justifies the Minister's not proceeding with that Bill.

Peter Black: Minister, on Saturday morning, I stood and watched as a grade II listed chapel near my home was, effectively, destroyed, first by fire and then by demolition experts seeking to make it safe. The chapel had been empty for the best part of a decade and had been subject to vandalism and to the elements. However, it still made a major contribution to the architecture and history of the community in which it stood. Its loss is not only sad, but tragic for those who value the heritage that we all enjoy, but which is rapidly vanishing from communities around us because such buildings are neglected or, in the case of the Customs House and Royal Buildings, which Bethan Jenkins mentioned, are deliberately demolished because the people responsible for them do not see their value. I would hope, therefore, that the Bill that you have promised us will start to address some of those problems. It is important that we re-evaluate the value of community buildings, look at how they can be preserved and seek new uses for them. Nobody is really doing that at the moment. Local authorities have some responsibility, but they do not have the resources, or, in many instances, the will to go about doing that. Cadw seems to be focused on the more historic buildings and sites such as castles, many of which were referred to in your statement. There does not seem to be any body that has a proactive role in going out and taking charge of those few remaining community assets and trying to bring them back into use, albeit perhaps a different use than that for which they were originally built.

'We will continue to allocate grants to support conservation, but the focus of our grant giving will be action to help with assets that are at risk. Grants will also be directed to projects, which provide wider benefit, such as providing housing or community regeneration benefits.'

Peter Black: I start by welcoming this statement and the level of consensus that the Deputy Minister has gathered around this Bill. It is important that you have the agreement not only of Members across the Chamber, but of the Welsh Local Government Association to the vast majority of it-not everything, but the vast majority-as well as that of ADSS and a number of other bodies. That augurs well for the Bill when it comes in October. I particularly welcome the commitment in the statement to extending the range of services for which people will have the right to a direct payment. That is something that the Welsh Liberal Democrats have been pressing for for some time, and I am pleased that the Deputy Minister has listened to that. I also welcome the strengthening of the complaints procedure and the extension of the public service ombudsman's powers to consider complaints. That is essential, particularly given some of the casework that I have come across, as I am sure have other Members, in terms of social services departments.

The big issue that I have come across in terms of my own casework as an Assembly Member is the turnover of social workers in some social service departments, which can have a huge impact on the level of care available, particularly for vulnerable children, but also for vulnerable adults. I welcome the commitment to further professionalise social work and to offer support to social workers as part of that. We certainly need to find ways to stabilise that profession, and I hope that you will be able to bring forward proposals to help social services departments to manage that situation.

The process for serious case reviews, which are charged to those safeguarding boards, is eminently unsatisfactory and cumbersome at present. It does little to protect children in a timely manner; it certainly protects them over the long term, but a number of cases have arisen that required a timely response, yet the response took several years to come. That needs to be looked at as well

I thank all those who have taken part in this debate; it has been a good and constructive discussion, which highlights the importance of broadband with regard to Wales's economic prosperity and also to how people's daily lives can be affected by having good access or not having any access at all. That is underlined by some surveys. One in particular found that 73% of its respondents in Wales stated that they had made savings through activities such as buying something online rather than in shops. In fact, 71% compared prices online and 58% booked their travel online. Users in Wales are as likely as those in the UK as a whole to have experience of saving money through any of the online activities that were asked about and are more likely to have saved by buying goods online or by booking travel online. Therefore, with regard to people's daily lives and the transactions that they undertake-for example those for their daily shop, their holidays and, as has been pointed out, those regarding fuel tariffs-purchasing things online is crucial in getting value for money and in ensuring that people's stretched budgets can meet the demands that are made upon them.

Broadband take-up in Wales currently stands at 64% compared with a UK average of 71%. Broadband take-up in rural areas is higher, at 69%, than in urban areas, where it is 62%. That is despite the fact that people in rural Wales are less likely to have a choice of supplier, 3G signal or superfast connections. Those statistics underline the importance of this debate.

Kirsty makes a strong case regarding market failure in providing broadband and mobile services in her constituency. A good example of this is, of course, in Hay-on-Wye, where, once a year, half of middle England and a huge chunk of Welsh society decamp for the Hay festival, only to find that they cannot connect to mobile services. Never mind 4G, you cannot get 1G there. That is a clear market failure, which undermines the festival and people's willingness to return, which is something that I would hope that the market picks up and deals with.

It is important to remember that it is not just the Home Office or the Welsh Government that help to improve community safety. Local councils, in particular, work very closely with local police forces to deliver initiatives in this regard. PCSOs are not the only solution to improving community safety, although, clearly, the additional 500 PCSOs-if they are being brought in in this financial year-are very welcome and an important addition to that work. In some areas, people are well served by PCSOs, particularly in areas where additional PCSOs are being funded locally. For example, in Wrexham, the council has funded 47 posts, one for each ward in the county. This has helped to provide a dedicated local presence on the streets. There are other initiatives that can be taken to improve community safety. For example, Cardiff has done a great deal of work to introduce alley gates that close off dark alleyways that have the potential to attract anti-social behaviour and which can be an access point for burglars. Cardiff has also introduced taxi marshals who work at the end of the night to help reduce potential incidents while people are queueing for taxis-an initiative that has been copied elsewhere in Wales.

This motion is important, and I certainly agree that we should be noting the work carried out by the Welsh Government and others on community safety. I concur with the Minister on the domestic abuse agenda, which has had all-party support in the past, as have other initiatives to do with women's safety and trafficking. Dealing with those is a particularly important preoccupation of many Assembly Members here.

Jenny Rathbone: Will you give way?

The Deputy Presiding Officer: Order. Will the Member please sit down. Only one Member can speak at any one time.

Jenny Rathbone: Can you clarify your comments, please? I do not think that Ed Balls is supporting the cuts that have been made, but recognising that they have already been made and that any incoming Labour Government would not be in a position to promise to simply reverse them, because the money may not be there.

'There would have to be difficult decisions. We would have to have cuts in police. We'd have to have cuts in the schools budget. We'd have to have cuts in the defence budget'.

Rhodri Glyn Thomas: Are you making the case, Peter, that three of the four political parties here in the Assembly are now in favour of the cuts, and that the only political party that opposes the cuts is Plaid Cymru?

4.15 p.m.

The Deputy Presiding Officer: Order. Conclude your remarks now, please.

Minister, we have had a number of statements now on the proposed housing Bill, so much so that, when it is published, I expect that it will be named after the Manic Street Preachers album, Forever Delayed. All we seem to be doing is talking about it and not seeing much action. I take on board what you said in your statement about legislation not being the be-all and end-all, and a lot of work can be done on housing outside of that Bill. I was disappointed, therefore, to find very little of that work outlined in the statement, which appears to be yet another discussion paper, when there are, clearly, pressing needs for housing in Wales and you need to take action to respond. We are facing a supply-side crisis in Wales in that, as Leanne Wood has pointed out, the number of homes being built are roughly half what is required each year. As a result, house prices are being kept up, which means that people cannot afford to purchase or rent those homes.

We also have a situation whereby first-time buyers in particular cannot get mortgages to buy homes and, as a result, their housing needs are not being met. That is partly because of the financial situation, but also because this Government does not seem to have a clear policy on the provision of intermediate housing with slightly higher rents that those people would be able to afford, and which would assist greatly in relieving the pressure on housing supply that we face at the moment. In the spirit of the constructive relationship that you have invited, Minister, I ask whether you are looking at a mortgage guarantee scheme for first-time buyers along the lines of the scheme introduced in England? If you prefer not to make comparisons with England, how about the mortgage schemes that have been introduced by a number of local authorities in Wales, notably Conwy and Powys, with a number of other councils considering similar schemes? Have you considered a pan-Wales scheme to help first-time buyers?

You will be aware that registered social landlords have borrowing powers that can be used for the wider community benefit, and that those borrowing powers can be used to get a greater bang for your buck, if you like, in terms of investment in housing and community facilities. What work has been undertaken by the Welsh Government to explore that particular avenue?

Peter Black: I did not have a great deal to say on this motion until the opposition spokesperson contributed. It was unfair of Janet Finch-Saunders to accuse the Minister of being unimaginative. I have heard Carl Sargeant called many names in the past, but 'unimaginative' is a first. I have difficulty in working out how exactly the settlement is unimaginative. You have money, and you give it to local government; it is fairly straightforward to process. It does not take a great deal of imagination to understand that particular aspect.

The last time that the Welsh Conservatives published an alternative budget, before the last election, the amount of money that it would have taken from local government to fund the extra £1 billion or so that it wanted to put into health was quite extraordinary and would have decimated the services that local government provides, including social services, which link with health. It is all very well to stand there and criticise, but you have to be realistic about this particular budget and how it is applied.

The Minister did not mention the pupil deprivation grant, which I think is a particularly good part of the money going to local authorities. It may not be part of this budget, but it is important that that money is going to schools and that the extra money is there to help pupils who are underperforming because of their economic circumstances. That is particularly helpful.