What the fuck was that!?

(Pic : Wales Online)

I usually only post this often when something serious has happened. To say I'm angry and disappointed right now is an understatement and I've had to restrain my response to the utterly inexplicable clusterfuck that took place on the Assembly's last day in session.

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Local Government Bill edges towards statute book

As the law outlining how councils can voluntarily merger reaches its
conclusion, opposition AMs tabled important amendments.
(Pic : Wales Online)

The Local Government Bill outlines how the 22 local authorities can merge voluntarily in light of the new proposed map for local government which has been formed as part of the fallout from the Williams Commission (Back to the Future). On Tuesday (29^th September), the Bill was debated at Stage 3, where amendments can be added by AMs.

Any voluntarily-merged authorities will come into being by May 2018, but a second local government law on compulsory mergers will be introduced after the National Assembly election next year, which makes you question if this Bill is really all that necessary.

Anyway, the content of the Bill isn't particularly exciting in itself, but there were a number of amendments tabled by AMs which could (have) add(ed) significant meat to the Bill.

You can read a full list of amendments here (pdf), but I'm going to focus on some of the more significant ones and what AMs and the Public Services Minister, Leighton Andrews (Lab, Rhondda), had to say.

Local Referendums on Council Mergers

• Amendments 14, 26 and 27 – all introduced by Shadow Local Government Minister, Janet Finch-Saunders (Con, Aberconwy).
• Proposes that voluntary local authority mergers be approved by a majority of voters in each merging authority.
• Proposes the question on ballot papers : "Are you in favour of the proposed merger between [ ] and [ ]?".

Janet argued that any changes need to be driven by local people and communities in a way which strengthens the democratic process. Council mergers would have a "profound effect" on all residents involved and it's right they have a say, with Labour placing "proud counties" under threat without consultation. Referendums would mean mergers will have to be justified accordingly.

Simon Thomas AM (Plaid, Mid & West Wales) said his party accepts the point on extra consultation including in amendment 14, but rejects the case for referendums, as we shouldn't allow local considerations to interfere with process at a national level – saying there was no referendum or much in the way of consultation when the Conservatives reorganised local government in 1994-1996. He said referendums were a way of "hiding lack of vision".

Peter Black AM (Lib Dem, South Wales West) said referendums were the wrong way to approach it, though the Lib Dems would support amendment 14. There was a need to draw a line between national leadership and local determination, and the Assembly was best placed to determine the shape of local services. Peter criticised the Bill as "no longer necessary", adding that the Lib Dems wouldn't support the Bill at all unless their amendments were accepted.

The Minister said the amendments were unnecessary, again raising the point that there were no referendums for previous local government reorganisations in the 1970s and 1990s. Authorities must undertake "full and comprehensive" public consultation as set out in the Bill, so it was already delivering key points of amendment 14. He urged AMs to vote down the referendum amendments as there wasn't enough detail on the campaign periods, spending limits or costings for referendums – which Leighton estimated would cost between £100,000-£400,000 per local authority.

Amendment 14 tied in the vote 27-27, with the Deputy Presiding Officer used his casting vote against the amendment – as is convention. Amendment 26 was rejected by 13 votes to 41 meaning Amendment 27 was rejected too.

The Election Cycle

• Amendment 17 – introduced by Janet Finch-Saunders AM
• Proposes that elections cannot be cancelled/postponed under the Bill if it results in councillors serving terms greater than 5 years in length.

One of the carrots dangled in front of local authorities to encourage them to merge voluntarily is that councillors will have their terms extended until the first elections of the combined local authority – meaning councillors will be able to pick up their allowances and salaries for longer than they otherwise would.

Janet told the Assembly it was crucial that councillors aren't serving more time than they were democratically elected to do. Extending terms without facing re-election was "an affront to democracy, public accountability and transparency".

The Minister said that the amendment would create uncertainty and distraction in the lead up to a voluntary merger. He said cancelling elections was "not something we would do lightly", but it would otherwise mean bringing forward the merged authority to May 2017 – which was unachievable given the timetables involved. He asked who would want to stand for election for an authority that has less than a year left?

There were 18 votes in favour, 27 votes against and 9 (Plaid Cymru) abstentions, so the amendment was rejected.

The Electoral System for Local Authorities

• Amendments 5, 13, 28, 30 and 31 – all introduced by Peter Black AM
• Proposes the electoral system for local government be changed to Single Transferable Vote, where voters rank candidates in order of preference.

These are probably the most important ones, or the amendments I was most interested in.

Peter Black AM said Leighton Andrews understands STV as he fought an election in Gillingham in support of introducing it, adding that it produces a fair outcome for election. Creating larger authorities with fewer councillors should mean ensuring elections reflect how people vote. It would lead to a more transparent, more accountable local authority that's representative of its communities.

Simon Thomas AM offered Plaid Cymru's support to the amendments, saying STV had been introduced with little difficulty in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and at local elections in Scotland. He said it was a far more effective way of "opening up the electoral process" by ending unopposed elections, adding that one thing that stops people standing against incumbent councillors in rural areas was a "personal element" which is interpreted as a grudge. Simon said STV would challenge all parties, but they have to decide what's best for the whole nation, and ensure every vote counts.

In response, the Minister said Labour were elected on a platform of opposing any change to the local government election system, and the rejection of the Alternative Vote in a 2011 referendum reflects that voters don't want to change the system either.

14 AMs voted in favour of Amendment 5, 40 voted against, so all the amendments were rejected.

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Tattoos, Bans & Bogs - The Public Health Bill

The Public Health Bill is a wide-ranging law, prompting controversy over
a proposed ban on the use of e-cigarettes in indoor public spaces.
(Pic : BBC Wales)

Earlier this week, the Health Minister, Mark Drakeford (Lab, Cardiff West), introduced what's likely to be one of the most controversial and substantial laws of the Fourth Assembly, instigating one of those rare occasions where Welsh politics has made UK-wide headlines - not necessarily in flattering terms either.

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Environment Bill introduced

Carrier bags, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity are amongst the areas
targeted by a wide-ranging Environment Bill, which was introduced this week.

Now that the election excitement is dying down, it's time to turn to more mundane matters.

Hot on the heels of the Heritage Bill, Natural Resources Minister, Carl Sargeant (Lab, Alyn & Deeside) introduced the latest Welsh law. Bill here (pdf), explanatory memorandum here (pdf).

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Third Sector "bullying" criticised by AMs

Third Sector lobbying at the National Assembly is nothing new and has become a key
part of Welsh civic life. However, over the past week things took an unpalatable turn.
(Pic : The Women's Institute)

Following last week's Stage 3 debate on the Violence Against Women, Domestic Violence & Sexual Violence Bill, the National Assembly held the final Stage 4 debate yesterday. The Bill was passed unanimously and awaits Royal Assent.

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New Law to Reform Social Care

In the wake of several scandals relating to treatment of people in care, the Regulation
and Inspection of Social Care Bill aims to tighten up professional regulation.
(Pic : nursingcarehomesincornwall.co.uk)

Yesterday, Health Minister, Mark Drakeford (Lab, Cardiff West), introduced the second major piece of legislation reforming social services this Assembly term.

The Regulation and Inspection of Social Care Bill (Bill [pdf], explanatory memorandum [pdf]) outlines a number of reforms to how social care services are regulated and inspected....funnily enough. More info from the National Assembly's In Brief blog.

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Local Government Bill : Council mergers edge closer (sort of)

We still have no idea what form local government reorganisation will take. The latest law introduced
to the Assembly will, however, give councils the opportunity to take the initiative themselves
....unless they've already taken the initiative themselves, of course.
(Pic : Wales Online)

A little over a year to the day since the Williams Commission reported on local government and public service reforms, Public Services Minister, Leighton Andrews (Lab, Rhondda), introduced the Local Government Bill to the National Assembly on Tuesday (27^th January), with the aim of outlining the process for voluntary mergers between local authorities.

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Kirsty's Law to set minimum nursing levels?

Wednesday saw the introduction of the fifth Member's Bill this Assembly term on behalf of Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader, Kirsty Williams (Lib Dem, Brecon & Radnor) – the Safe Nurse Staffing Levels Bill.

The Bill's available here (pdf), explanatory memorandum here (pdf).

The need for a Bill

Few local health boards currently meet the recommended minimum ratios
of registered nurses to patients and support workers.
(Pic : NHS Wales)

Safe staffing levels – defined as the minimum number of staff needed to provide a safe service – have been raised in numerous critical reports of the Welsh NHS. This is especially important with regard nurses on hospital wards and in situations where close one-to-one care is important, like care for the elderly.

The number of qualified nurses are falling - the result of recruitment freezes and an ageing workforce which will soon start to retire in greater numbers.

Research published in The Lancet showed that for every extra patient a nurse has to treat, the chances of a patient dying within 30 days of admission rise by 7%. It's the same with a lower ratio of qualified registered nurses (i.e those with a nursing degree) to health care support workers.

Increasing pressures on the workforce also reduce job satisfaction amongst staff and put, ironically, the long-term health of nurses themselves at risk.

In 2012, the Chief Nursing Officer laid down minimum nurse-to-patient ratios of 1:7 during daytime and 1:11 during nights, with a mix of 60:40 of registered nurses to support workers.

A year later, although most local health boards (LHBs) were meeting or narrowly exceeding the daytime ratio, most had 1 nurse to every 13-14 patients at night. Meanwhile, the registered to non-registered nursing staff ratios varied wildly depending on local health board and the hospital ward.

Some US and Australian states now have mandated minimum nursing requirements. In Victoria state, mandated minimum staffing ratios brought 5,000 nurses out of retirement and many now wouldn't consider working if the staffing ratios were abolished. California's similar law also works along the same lines.

What does the Safe Nurse Staffing Levels Bill propose?

As you can tell for yourselves, the Bill itself is very short. The main thrust of the proposed legislation is a series of amendments to the NHS Wales Act 2006.

The Bill :

• Places a duty on health authorities (Welsh Government, LHBs, NHS Trusts) to have regard for, and take all reasonable steps to ensure, the levels of staffing needed to provide safe nursing care, and to comply with minimum registered nurse:patient and minimum registered nurse:support worker ratios.
• Places a duty on the Welsh Government to issue guidance on safe staffing ratios. The ratios themselves aren't included in the Bill to ensure flexibility, and must be adjusted to ensure local needs. Protections will be included for student nursing staff, professional development, training, leave etc.
• Places a duty on health bodies to to publish nursing numbers and their skill levels, as set out by guidance; and also places a duty on them to publish an annual report outlining how they are complying with the provisions of the Act.
• Places a duty on the Welsh Government to review the effectiveness of the Act within a year of the Act coming into force, and no later than ever two years after that. The report must include data relating to safe nursing levels, which includes things like : mortality rates, hospital acquired infections, falls, bed sores, patient satisfaction levels, nurses' overtime and sickness, use of agency staff etc.

How much would the Safe Nurse Staffing Levels Act cost?

In short, an additional £83,000 over 5 years.

Kirsty and her team came to that conclusion based on the costs of reviewing the effectiveness of the legislation (£37,500 over 5 years) and the annual report requirement (just over £45,300 over 5 years).

Nursing acute patients itself costs around £275million per year; so although the costs of the Bill itself are small, it's likely to direct spending of a much bigger budget.

Kirsty's Law : Likely to struggle?

Politics might be a bigger stumbling block here than principle.
(Pic : Wales Online)

It's quite obvious from the outset that the Welsh Government aren't fans of this law, though they'll no doubt say they support the principle of having the right number of nurses, with the Health Minister himself saying on Wednesday that the government will "work constructively" on the Bill.

This looks as though it's trapped in a similar situation to the (withdrawn) Financial Education & Inclusion Bill : if there's little to no government support, Labour AMs will be whipped (or threatened to be whipped) into voting the Bill down and some sort of off-the-statute-book compromise will be made. That's a government's prerogative I suppose, but it's no good for opposition legislation however well-intentioned that legislation might be.

Having said that, it's clear Kirsty Williams and the Lib Dems have a better working relationship with the Welsh Government than Plaid or the Conservatives. The NHS is, however, seen as something of a Labour golden goose and I suspect they won't take kindly to anyone threatening their party's God-given right to exclusive tinkering privileges with the health service.

I suspect that one of the main arguments the Welsh Government will use against this law is that having a minimum staffing level could set a floor for, rather than increase, the number of nurses. Though the Bill specifically says that any Welsh Government guidance must ensure the ratios "are not regarded as an upper-limit in practice", how that would be done is a different question.

Then there's questions over whether there's a need for legislation on this (there probably is based on the information provided by Kirsty), and a point raised during the debate on why nursing in particular should be picked for this when health care is multi-disciplinary.

Too few cleaners and caretakers will play as big a role in hospital infections, for example, while pretty much every single politician ignores the contribution scientific (i.e. clinical & biomedical scientists) and diagnostic staff (i.e. radiologists) make to patient care because they're not seen by the public (you'll never see a lab technician or speech and language therapist on Casualty), they don't have an RCN or BMA to lobby for them in the Senedd and are therefore "politically unsexy".

But I'm willing to bet a large chunk of the problems in the Welsh NHS in terms of waiting times are down to understaffing and underinvestment in allied health professionals.

Doctors are, first and foremost, scientists who can't practice medicine without someone to do scientific tests for them, while nurses are not much use on their own. Therefore everyone should be careful to ensure the NHS isn't reduced to a infant school view of the world where hospitals are full of doctorsandnurses.

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Wales : The Next Generation

"Make it so".

What could be one of the most significant pieces of legislation this Assembly term was introduced earlier this week by Communities & Tackling Poverty Minister Jeff Cuthbert (Lab, Caerphilly) to "great fanfare" : the Well-being of Future Generations Bill.

When I try to summarise a new law I usually read the text of the Bill (pdf) and then use the explanatory memorandum (pdf) to either confirm my own understanding of what's written or clear things up.

This was a challenge. I was pinned down by jargon. Charlie tossed a few buzzword grenades and through the dense vegetation of management speak all I could hear were voices calling out, as English was abused with all the enthusiasm of a 1970s national treasure. I developed the thousand yard stare of legislative shell shock.

That's the sort of living hell I have to put myself through to bring you blogs like this. You don't know, man! You weren't there!

I guess what I'm trying to say is this is a very dense – dare I say it – slightly bizarre law. Having said that, the National Assembly's Members Research Service have done a good job of summarising the underlying principles of the Bill over at their In Brief blog.

The Goals of the Future Generations Bill

(Pic : xkcd.com)

I'm not fibbing when I say that if you wanted to sum up the Bill in one sentence it would be that it's "trying to improve everything by gently predicting and guiding future events". You name it, the Bill sets goals to improve it. All this is under the umbrella of "sustainable development" – something the Welsh Government and National Assembly are obliged to factor into their decisions by statute.

I suppose the clearest definition of "sustainable development" would be actions that would meet current human needs (like economic development, housing, transport) without putting pressure on the natural environment, and - importantly - being able to maintain that balance indefinitely.

The Bill was joined by a high-profile national conversation - launched by Michael Sheen back in February - called "The Wales We Want", which intends to outline what the people of Wales, of all ages, want the country to be like in 2050. An interim report (pdf) was published alongside the launch of the Bill.

The findings highlighted that the biggest single concerns were : climate change (26% of respondents), skills & education (16%), natural environment (14%) employment (13%) and governance (7%).

Here's a word cloud of the responses from postcard submissions :

(Pic : The Wales We Want interim report - click to enlarge)

Notice that "sustainability/sustainable" and "social justice" are tucked away. It's worth pondering whether "sustainability" is the Wales they (government and associated groups) want, not the Wales we (the public) want.

"Sustainable" is the single most annoying buzzword in Cardiff Bay. It's used so often, you would think AMs were piously green woodland creatures that make absolutely no impact on the planet in action or thought.

If you take statements and Senedd debates at face value, everything our AMs propose or support is "sustainable"; whether that's building a race track on an upland moor with no races, building houses in the middle of nowhere, prioritising a whacking great big motorway across the Gwent Levels over public transport or supporting a nuclear power station Wales doesn't even need - at present or in the future.

Don't get me wrong, everyone behind this – including the Welsh Government – has gone into it with the best possible intentions, but it's built on soft foundations. We never seem to get aggressive actions, only aggressive talk in an attempt to make "sustainability/sustainable development" mean whatever decision-makers and opinion-formers want it to mean.

I don't see that changing, and here's why....

What the Future Generations Bill proposes

There are six very important long-term goals the Bill aims to focus attentions on
- but the rest of it is all too familiar.
(Pic : The Wales We Want)

The broad aim of the Act will be to place a duty on all public bodies in Wales (Welsh Government, local health boards, local councils, national parks, fire and rescue services, directly funded government bodies like National Museums Wales etc.) to improve the well-being of the population by following the "sustainable development" principle : meet today's needs without compromising the needs of, and resources available to, future generations.

Well-being Goals

The Bill sets out six core well-being goals it expects every public body in Wales to pursue.

1. A prosperous Wales – A low carbon, innovative economy that creates jobs, wealth and provides skills to the workforce.
2. A resilient Wales – Healthy ecosystems that support social, economic and ecological resilience and can adapt to change.
3. A healthier Wales – A society where physical and mental well-being is maximised and behaviours that improve future health are understood.
4. A more equal Wales – A society that enables people to fulfil their potential regardless of background.
5. A Wales of cohesive communities – Attractive, safe and well-connected communities.
6. A Wales of vibrant culture and a thriving Welsh language – A society that promotes, protects and encourages participation in culture, sport, heritage and the Welsh language.

• These goals may be added to, removed or amended by the Welsh Government (after consultation and Assembly approval).
• Public bodies and Welsh Ministers must publish their own objectives to achieve these well-being goals in accordance with the sustainable development principle.
• The Welsh Government must publish indicators to measure progress towards achieving these goals and lay a copy in front of the the National Assembly. They'll also have to publish an annual report on their progress.
• Within 12 months of every Welsh General Election, the Welsh Government will need to publish a "Future Trends Report" that outlines future trends in the economic, social and environmental well-being of Wales – including relevant statistics where appropriate.

Future Generations Commissioner

The Bill :

• Establishes a Sustainability/Future Generations Commissioner (which already exists but as a non-statutory position).
• Outlines the broad role of the Commissioner as :
• Promoting the "sustainable development principle" by safeguarding the needs of future generations.
• Encouraging public bodies to take the long-term impact of their decisions into consideration.
• Monitoring how public bodies are meeting their well-being objectives.
• Encouraging best practice amongst public bodies and promote awareness of sustainable development.
• Undertaking research or studies into sustainable development.
• Making recommendations to Welsh Ministers and public bodies on sustainable development goals. Those bodies will have a duty to follow any recommendations from the Commissioner unless they have good reason not to, or they come up with a better alternative.
• Places a duty on the Commissioner to publish a Future Generations report outlining what actions public bodies can take to meet their well-being objectives, after consultation with public bodies, the advisory panel (below), trade unions, businesses and anyone else the Commissioner deems appropriate.
• Establishes an Advisory Panel made up of other Commissioners (Chlidren's, Older People's), chief officers (i.e Chief Medical Officer) the chair of Natural Resources Wales and other members appointed by the Welsh Government.
• Bars elected representatives or peers from being appointed as Commissioner.

Public Service Boards

The Bill :

• Establishes Public Service Boards in each local authority area (post-merger?) made up of the local council, local health board, fire and rescue authorities and Natural Resources Wales.
• Places a duty on these new boards to invite other key participants, like Welsh Ministers, chief constables, Police & Crime Commissioners and bodies representing voluntary organisations ("Third Sector"). Other partners include community councils, Community Health Councils and Assembly-sponsored bodies (i.e Sport Wales).
• Grants powers to the hosting local authority's overview and scrutiny committee to review and scrutinise the public service board's functions and governance, and also grants them the power to report failings to the Welsh Government.
• Grants powers to Welsh Ministers to merge public service boards or direct them to collaborate if it would be beneficial.

The functions of the Public Service Boards are :

• To improve the economic, social and ecological well-being of their local area in accordance with the sustainable development principle.
• To publish an assessment of the well-being of their local area within one year of establishment.
• To develop local well-being plans to meet any decided local well-being aims in accordance with the sustainable development principle.
• To fully include community councils which have an expenditure of over £200,000 per year, which will – in turn – have to play a role in meeting the well-being aims set by the public service boards at a community level.

How much will the Future Generations Act cost?

The explanatory memorandum provided a very detailed breakdown of the potential costs based on various policy options. I'm only basing this off the Welsh Government's preferred option in each case.

The costs of the new levels of reporting, as set out in the Bill, will be just under £1.8million per year between 2015-16 and 2019-20, with an initial upfront cost of around £1million. The total costs will be spread across all the public bodies involved, ranging from £600,000 to the Welsh Government, to £40,000 (combined) for 73 community councils affected by the Bill (~£550 per council). The total cost of the reporting/monitoring well-being goals, between 2015-2020, will be around £10million.

The Future Generations Commissioner will cost £1.46million per year. This includes payments of up to £350 per day to members of the advisory panel, staffing costs (£948,000) – which will include plenty of "officer level" appointments - and general office running costs. Over the five year projections that's a total of around £7.3million.

The Public Service Boards will cost between £2.3million and £2.93million per year for the five years after the passing of the Act. Most of that will go towards partnership support and developing well-being plans themselves. It's expected each of the service boards will lay out around £414,000 per year on public engagement. Based on the figures provided, the total cost of the Public Service Boards between 2015-16 and 2019-20 is around £13million.

So the total estimated cost of any Well-being of Future Generation Act, over five financial years, is at least £30.3million.

A sustainable water-saturated miniature pyrotechnic device

An all too familiar Welsh way of doing things : talk in offices, ticks in boxes.
The launch of a flagship law should've been a cause for celebration,
but the response has been near-mute.
(Pic : Sustainable Cities Collective)

This is – Human Transplantation Act 2013 aside – the Welsh Government's flagship law of the Fourth Assembly. I suppose you can say it's been set up to be the lasting legacy of this generation of Welsh Ministers, and what they want to be remembered for once they retire, hence the Bill's title.

I presume this was supposed to be the Welsh Government's "big announcement" before going into recess (along with the local government white paper), its intention being to leave us all wanting more and to get the chattering classes pondering it over the summer.

This is supposed to be a radical, progressive, generation-defining law that "Wales is going to be famous for in the future".

If it really were that though, it would be everywhere right now. The world's media would be paying attention to little old Wales, while those at the other end of the M4 will be actively trying to learn from what we're attempting to do here.

In a way, this is another victim of the Alun Davies scandal. It hasn't been Carwyn's week, has it?

Aside from Click on Wales articles (here, here) and this blog today, it's barely made a ripple. The Western Mail had a negative spin, but was truthful - their Assembly correspondent Graham Henry (who, like myself, is no fan of Assemblese) described the Bill's launch event as "the closest we will come to a jargon nirvana" on Twitter. BBC Wales focused on the Wales We Want public attitudes survey. ITV Wales – as far as I can tell – didn't even bother. There are pretty good reasons for that.

Let's review what we get from this Bill : a Commissioner (whom already exists but is being put on the statute books), another collection of unelected patronage-based committees hovering above local government (with obligatory involvement of the Third Sector), and a set of rather broad catch all goals that you would expect any government in any liberal democracy to want to work towards.

Yeah, this is definitely Welsh Labour's baby alright.

A focused sustainable development law might've been boring, but it would've been a bit more intellectually honest than this.

That doesn't mean it's all bad. I like the idea of a once-a-term "Future Trends Report", for example. That could be incredibly useful. It looks like community councils are going to get a beefed-up public role too, and I don't really have a problem with another Commissioner.

If you're bored now though - it's not as if many of you are going to plough through everything written above - I'm going to make this a bit more interesting.

You could, in a twisted way, interpret this Bill as being an embryonic written Welsh Constitution. It sets out clear long-term goals and establishes a set of core principles "the Welsh state" will be obligated to work towards.

However, while constitutions and long-term goals are nice, they're not policy and they often don't warrant legislative measures.

The Bill could potentially throw up some very nasty situations if passed too. There's the question of what would happen if two or more of the well-being goals clash - housing (communities) and the Welsh language (culture) for instance? Which would win out? Are some of the six well-being goals more important than others?

"Klingons off the starboard bow"
It's all very well the Welsh Government setting well-being goals, but they've
completely neglected the impact this lot can do to torpedo those goals.
(Pic : The Guardian)

Also, while the Welsh Government and public bodies are going to be subject to this law, it doesn't seem to take into consideration actions by the UK Government or private sector which could have a negative impact on the six Welsh well-being goals. Westminster's primacy says hello.

For example, most energy powers rest with the UK Government, so they could - theoretically – unilaterally dump nuclear waste from around the UK in Wales if no community comes forward, or open up as much land as possible for fracking. That could, in the worse circumstances, trash many of the Welsh well-being goals (like ecological resilience and health). Yet the UK Government or private companies wouldn't be subject to this law because areas like defence and nuclear energy are non-devolved.

The Welsh Government would in a farcical position of being bound by this law not to do the same thing in their own territory, nor would they be able to prevent another government running roughshod over it. It's the equivalent of a "No Bombing" sign in a swimming pool.

What would happen if there's another round of welfare reform which would negatively impact the well-being goal to improve equality of opportunity? Would the Bill - from a subordinate legislature - override Westminster's sovereignty and force Whitehall to reconsider their actions? It wouldn't, would it? In that situation, sadly, the Bill's completely and utterly worthless. The very unbalanced nature of the Union - something Labour are keen to protect - could sink the Welsh Government's own "legacy law".

So in one swoop the Welsh Government might've just made the best legal and social justice argument for Welsh independence. They didn't think of it like that though, did they?

You would expect me to be pleased with that, but – alas - in its current form, the Bill should be rejected. It needs to go back to the drawing board and become a straight-up Sustainable Development Bill, or possibly merged with the proposed Planning Bill.

That's not because it's poorly thought through, but because - aside from more committees and a new Commissioner - there's absolutely no way in hell any Welsh Government, of any colour, will ever live up to the well-being goals.

It should be rejected because - until they can prove that they can back words with deeds - it's too optimistic a vision of the future for our politicians to work towards. That's a sad thing to say, but it's true. And believe me I wish it wasn't so.

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Domestic Violence Bill introduced to National Assembly

There were estimated to be more than 420,000 victims of domestic
violence (both genders combined) in Wales during 2011-12.
(Pic : South Wales Evening Post)

Today's legislative news is dominated by the "flagship" Future Generations Bill, which I'll hopefully come back to at the end of the week.

In other Welsh law news you might've noticed, after an extensive and lengthy consultation which garnered some 150 responses, last week, Local Government Minister Lesley Griffiths (Lab, Wrexham) introduced the Gender-based Violence, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Bill to the National Assembly.

You know the drill. Bill here (pdf), explanatory memorandum here (pdf).

Gender-based violence : The need for a new law

According to the 2011-12 EnglandandWales Crime Survey, in Wales alone :

• 11.7% of women and 5.1% of men say they've been victims of any kind of domestic abuse.
• 3.2% of women and 0.7% of men say they've been victims of sexual assault.
• 7.8% of women and 3.5% of men say they've been victims of stalking.

All of this has an economic impact too; in terms of public spending, sickness rates and police investigations. Based on figures produced in a 2009 report from Lancaster University's Prof. Sylvia Walby (pdf), the cumulative cost (economic, public service and emotional) of domestic violence could be as high as £826.4million in Wales (on a population share figure). That figure doesn't including gender-based violence like female genital mutilation and sexual assaults.

At present, the Welsh Government say that domestic and gender-based violence is a complex issue, with many public sector bodies involved in dealing with it. Indeed, the devolution settlement itself only partially covers it.

The main aims of the Bill – in shorthand – are to : provide leadership from the top through a national strategy, place duties on public sector organisations to correctly report and work together when it comes to possible cases of domestic or gender-based violence, and take preventative measures to prevent such violence from happening in the first place.

What does the Bill propose?

Public bodies - like the fire service and local health boards - will be required under the
proposed law to develop strategies to improve responses to suspected cases of abuse.
(Pic : Eric Jones via BBC Wales)

Strategies & Guidance

The Act will :

• Place a duty on the Welsh Government to :
• Produce a national strategy for domestic and gender-based violence sometime in the second half of 2016, setting out their objectives and timescales for achieving them.
• Set out a number of measurable indicators to determine if they're meeting the goals of their national strategy or the Act in general.
• Submit an annual report on their progress to the National Assembly.
• Place a duty on local government and local health boards to produce their own joint local strategies - along the same lines as the national one - within one year of the next local authority elections (scheduled for May 2017). They'll also have to produce an annual report each financial year.
• Grant Welsh Ministers the power to issue guidance to relevant authorities (local government, fire service, local health boards etc.) - which they must follow - setting out what they should do in terms of preventing domestic and gender-based violence, training staff, sharing information between each other and co-operation. This guidance will need to be approved by the National Assembly.
• Grants Welsh Ministers the power to issue directions to authorities in order for them to comply with the Act if they are failing to do so.

Ministerial Adviser

The Act will :

• Create the post of Ministerial Adviser on Gender-based Violence, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence, paid for directly by the Welsh Government.
• Set out the adviser's role as (broadly-speaking) undertaking research and advising ministers (or other individuals/organisations) on issues falling under the Act. They'll also have to produce and publish an annual plan setting out what they intend to do.

The scope of Gender-based Violence, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence

The Act broadly covers :

• "Abuse" – defined as physical, sexual, psychological, emotional or financial abuse (property theft, fraud, pressure to spend/misuse money).
• "Domestic Abuse" – "abuse" where the victim is associated with the abuser via : marriage, engagement, civil partnership, live-in relationship, relatives (presumably including step-relatives), boyfriend/girlfriend or through joint parental responsibility.
• "Female genital mutilation (FGM)" – as outlined in the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.
• "Harassment" – Speech or other action that a reasonable person would consider to be harassment. The Crown Prosecution Service have more specific definitions of harassment and stalking.
• "Sexual exploitation" – as outlined in Part 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

So what's important here isn't the Bill/future Act itself but the proposed national strategy. This could include (based on the content of the explanatory memorandum) :

• "Ask & Act" – Professionals (hinted as meaning NHS workers, social workers, teachers, police and firefighters) will be encouraged to ask people they suspect of being abused if they are being abused, and then – through training and guidance – encouraged to act on that in order to prevent any suspected abuse from continuing.
• Multi-agency forums – Collaboration to ensure there's a consistent approach across the public sector.
• A National Training Framework – New training guidelines will ensure a consistent approach to care of suspected victims of abuse, split into 6 levels. Level 1 training is the basic level that would cover all public service staff, Level 3 covers professionals and specialists who work directly with victims, while Level 6 covers high-level strategy.
• Public information campaigns and education programmes – Compulsory relationship lessons in schools have been dropped from the Bill itself, but that doesn't mean they can't be included in the national strategy, part of training for teachers (under the new training framework) or included as part of the current review of the national curriculum.

How much will this cost?

The new National Training Framework will cost a total of £2.8million over the next four years, with just under £440,000 being spent directly by the Welsh Government, and the rest picked up jointly by public service organisations.

Introducing the training and guidance for "Ask and Act" will cost another £2.8million over four years, with the Welsh Government spending £374,000 directly.

The multi-agency forums will cost £7,000 (to pay a specialist to establish them). The cost of the government adviser will be £244,000 in total over the next four years, including the £11,000 cost of recruiting them. I'm sure there are plenty of "insiders" eying up the job.

The cost of establishing a Commissioner (similar to that for Older People, Children etc.) - which was considered as an option - would've been somewhere between £585,000 and £630,000 per year. This was rejected in favour of the cheaper government adviser post instead.

So the total cost of the legislation – if passed – from 2014-15 to 2018-19 will be £5.61million (~£1.4million per year), mostly borne by the Welsh public sector at large. Based on the statistics given (16.8% of over 16s, or 424,578 people), it works out at around £3.36 per victim of domestic violence per year.

The explanatory memorandum says that it's "not possible" to quantify the financial benefits, but it's worth again pointing towards the estimated total £826.4million impact of such violence and behaviour on the Welsh purse.

The Relationship Lessons, Gender & Smacking Issues
        

The first big change from the original proposal was that, as aforementioned, compulsory relationship education lessons for schoolchildren have been dropped from the Bill.

You would expect this sort of thing to be covered in PSE lessons anyway under the National Curriculum – which, as said, is currently under review. I don't think it's ever been made clear precisely what "relationship education" means in practice, and I suspect the Welsh Government are trying to prevent - what I've called before – a "curriculum by statute" developing where the curriculum is set inflexibly through laws. I wouldn't be surprised though if this ends up back in the Bill after it's gone through committee. It's too valuable as a preventative measure to ignore completely.

The Bill also drew complaints from Wales Violence Against Women Action Group's Dr Mwenya Chimba for not specifically focusing on women - whether titular or in the content of the Bill itself. This law was, of course, originally touted as a "Violence against Women Bill".

The only specific reference to women and girls relates to female genital mutilation (aka. FGM, female circumcision); an issue which I explored in a bit more graphic detail last year (Life, Ethics & Independence III – Circumcision).

It's a matter of cold hard fact that gender-based and domestic violence disproportionately affects women and girls, and the Welsh Government acknowledge that in the explanatory memorandum.

The Welsh Government would've been negligent though if a Bill that focuses on domestic and gender-based violence ignored male victims. I'm not just referring to heterosexual men. The law would've been on shaky ground from the start if, for example, a lesbian couple falls under the Bill's provisions, but a gay couple doesn't. That's before adding transgenders into the mix. This sort of violence and emotional entrapment is wrong regardless of who's on the receiving end or who's dishing it out.

The Welsh Government were, therefore, absolutely right to make this Bill gender neutral, and get a thumbs up from me for doing so, as I'm sure they will from organisations that work with male victims of domestic violence.

I just hope AMs maintain the law's gender neutrality and don't cave in to pressure from the third sector to change it. Also, the strategies themselves should remain gender neutral too - though they could include measures specifically aimed at either gender where appropriate.

Unfortunately, and less complimentary to the Welsh Government, we have this law trying to protect adults from domestic abuse, yet the Welsh Government seem to be fine with hitting children as a form of punishment. This could provide a perfect opportunity for AMs to revisit a smacking ban if they so wish.

A (potentially) good law with no bite

In the absence of any control over the criminal justice side of this
kind of abuse, the outlined measures look limp - but still welcome.
(Pic : BBC Wales)

It's worth saying from the outset that this is the absolute maximum the Welsh Government can do to address the issues under the devolution settlement.

As criminal justice isn't devolved, this doesn't update/alter criminal law or create any new offences relating to domestic or gender-based violence. That's probably the Bill's biggest weakness, and so it reads like a highly technical administrative law that's unlikely to generate much in the way of headlines or public interest.

It looks like it's been stripped down compared to what was originally proposed during the drafting and white paper phases too. It gives the impression of being another "Enabling Act" that gives a lot of power to ministers (via setting the strategy) without clearly outlining within the Bill itself what they're going to do with said powers.

It's also unclear if the perpetrators of violence are going to get the help they need. Supporting victims has to be the priority, but some perpetrators might have undiagnosed or untreated mental illnesses, or grew up in an environment where domestic or gender-based violence was the norm.

Despite all that, at least the Welsh Government are doing something about it, and it genuinely could go some way to helping victims and their families over the next few years. It's often attitudes within key public services that lets victims down – whether it's because abuse has gone unreported or it's not taken seriously enough - and that's the law's focus.

It still needs some work though.

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Social Services & Well-being Bill clears major hurdle

I haven't exactly been looking forward to this.

The most complicated law laid before the Assembly since the 2011 referendum passed Stage 3 of the legislative process on Tuesday, following around 10 hours of debate spread over two weeks. It's taken just over a year to get this far – longer if you include the pre-legislative consultation – and has been troubled at numerous occasions.

The joys continue as its final passing will be dependent on a Report Stage – more details from the Assembly Research Service here (pdf).

It isn't "historic" like the Human Transplantation Act 2013, but it's massive by current Welsh law standards, with the current Bill coming in at over 160 pages. It's significant enough to force me to try and outline what the future Act will mean, and slim it down for brevity's sake.

I strongly suggest if you're really interested in this, or have some sort of professional responsibility in the area, you go through the Assembly Research Service publications.

Ultimately, the goal is to "streamline" current legislation and regulations relating to social services and social care, and it's perhaps the biggest set of reforms to Welsh social services in a generation.

What will the (final) Social Services & Well-being Act do?

Dependent upon the Report Stage outcome and Bet Windsor's autograph :

New Statutory Duties – Including more consideration of the individual's wishes in care, respect for dignity, placing duties on local and health authorities to both monitor the social service needs of their populations and provide preventative measures. It also includes promoting the delivery of some social services through social enterprises.

Assessment Rights – Grants new rights to children and adults to have an assessment for what levels of social care they need. Local authorities will also have a duty to carry out an assessment of the needs of young carers/children who care for parents. There's also a right to someone to refuse an assessment - unless they're at risk of abuse or neglect.

Meeting Needs - The law outlines the eligibility criteria (for receiving assistance) for adults and children, as well as a simplification of the eligibility criteria for carers. It outlines the direct payments system local authorities will have to apply if they need to pay towards the costs of care. People receiving care will also be able to move within Wales with any obligations to provide care transferring with them to their new local authority.

Financial Assessments – Local authorities will be able to charge to provide certain services, but they will no longer have to charge for residential accommodation. It also outlines how local authorities can recover charges.

Looked-after children – Some of this is an update to the Children Act 1989. Other parts include duties towards children in local authority care; such as accommodation, health services, education, family visits etc.

Safeguarding – Safeguarding means "protecting people who might be in a vulnerable situation" and will apply equally to adults and children for the first time (it previously just applied to children). It will give social services the power to make enquiries if they suspect mistreatment, and also power of entry to see if a cared-for adult is making decisions freely. "Relevant partners" will also have a duty to report any suspected mistreatment to social services. A new National Independent Safeguarding Board will be established to advise ministers on national issues, as well as local Safeguarding Children and Safeguarding Adults Boards.

Social Service Functions – The Bill replaces and updates social service functions in the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970. Welsh Ministers will have the power to state the job requirements for social service directors, who will in turn have new functions. A new code of practice for social service governance will be included, as will the power for Welsh Ministers to intervene on certain grounds.

Partnership Working - Local authorities will have a duty to co-operate with partner organisations and other local authorities to ensure well-being of those in their care. This includes giving Welsh Ministers the power to force local authorities into joint arrangements to provide adoption services.

Complaints – There'll be a completely new framework for complaints, meaning complaints relating to children's services will be on a par with complaints relating to other social services. Powers will also be given to the Public Services Ombudsman to investigate complaints about privately-run care homes and palliative care services – powers which until now have only covered publicly-run services. It'll be the responsibility for Welsh Ministers to provide an independent advocacy service to cover these sorts of complaints.

What major changes were proposed or passed?

Most of the amendments were corrections of drafting errors, and there were quite a few of them. In terms of other major amendments tabled :

• Amendment 1 – William Graham AM (Con, South Wales East), supported by Kirsty Williams AM (Lib Dem, Brecon & Radnor) – Extends the time a person can stay in foster care from aged 16-18 to 22. (Not passed)
• Amendment 75 - Gwenda Thomas AM (Lab, Neath) – Places a duty on local authorities to consider if looked-after children reaching the age of 18 can continue to live with foster carers. (Passed)
• Amendment 84 – William Graham AM – Extends whistle blower protections to anyone exercising functions under the Act. (Withdrawn, with a commitment from the Deputy Minister to include whistle blowing protections in future legislation)
• Amendment 131 – Gwenda Thomas AM  – Protects the rights of disabled children by presuming they'll always have need for care and support beyond that provided by their families. (Passed)
• Amendment 292 – Darren Millar AM (Con, Clwyd West) – Places a duty on anyone undertaking functions in relation to the Act to have due regard for the UN Principles for Older Persons when working with anyone over the age of 60. (Passed – due to an accidental abstention from Julie James AM [Lab, Swansea West])
• Amendment 293 – Kirsty Williams AM  – To place "statutory principles on the face of the Bill", which was a recommendation of the Health and Social Care Committee so anyone reading the Bill would understand what it was trying to do. (Not passed)
• Amendment 295 – Kirsty Williams AM – Provision that information on social care services should be available in "a range of accessible formats" (i.e the visually impaired). (Not passed)
• Amendment 300 – Elin Jones AM (Plaid, Ceredigion) – Places a duty on local authorities to take the needs of Welsh-speakers into consideration when providing social care. (Not passed – effectively included as part of Amendment 122)
• Amendments 308 & 309 – Elin Jones AM – Extends direct payments into health care and gives the power to Welsh Ministers to enact regulations for such payments. (Not Passed)
• Amendment 310 – Elin Jones AM – Places a duty on Local Health Boards to create a pooled fund with local authority social services to help integrate health and social care. (Not passed)
• Amendments 322 & 333 – Jocelyn Davies AM (Plaid, South Wales East) – Bans the use of "zero hour contracts" in provision of care services either by local authorities or companies to which services are contracted out, subject to Welsh Government regulations. (Not passed)
• Amendments 325-330 – Angela Burns AM (Con, Carms W. & S. Pembs.), supported by Simon Thomas AM (Plaid, Mid & West Wales) – Creates a National Adoptions Board as recommended by the Children & Young People's Committee. (Not passed)

The (Attempted) Smacking Ban

An amendment which would've, in practice, criminalised smacking fell.

(Pic : prentdish.co.uk)

• Amendment 98 – Lindsay Whittle AM (Plaid, South Wales East), supported by Kirsty Williams AM and Simon Thomas AM – Removes a "reasonable punishment" defence from the Children Act 2004 when battery is committed against a child in Wales. (Not passed)

This is the headline-grabbing issue that's dogged the Bill from the time it first went into committee; the so-called "smacking ban amendment".

As Peter Black AM (Lib Dem, South Wales West) said on Tuesday, it's wouldn't have been a direct ban, but an indirect ban by removing the main legal defence for hitting a child – doing so as a form of punishment. Parents and guardians could've still done it, but if they were brought to court one of their main legal defences would've gone and the likelihood of prosecution would've increased.

It's quite likely the Welsh Government opposed including the smacking ban because they simply didn't want one of their flagship laws dragged into the Supreme Court over arguments whether the Assembly has the power to introduce a ban (more at Giving devolution a smack), and Gwenda Thomas said something to that effect during the debate.

Instead, the Welsh Government have offered another vote on the issue as part of a different piece of legislation to be introduced sometime during the rest of the Assembly term. I would've though that would be the proposed domestic violence law, which is due to be introduced this summer.

So the Welsh Government's opposition (remember that several Labour AMs support a ban too) was for convenience, not because they oppose a ban in principle.

The rights and wrongs of a ban are still very much open to debate though.

Question marks over the legislative process?

I don't know if it would've been worth splitting this up into separate laws or not, but this is perhaps – sadly – the first case of a Bill having serious difficulties at the drafting stage.

Questions should be asked due to the sheer number of technical amendments. I guess that would be for the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee to look into, and it could be worth a general inquiry into how lawmaking has developed since the 2011 referendum.

There haven't been any other problems to this scale in any other law, but lessons from this experience will need to be learned quickly as there are other weighty laws coming down the line – like the proposed Planning and Future Generations Bills. The Housing Bill will almost certainly end up troubled at points too.

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader, Kirsty Williams, has raised worries – not only about the number of technical amendments, but about the number of measures that will be decided by regulations alone. This includes things like : preferences for accommodation, the things local authorities will be able to charge for and financial assessments for care. It's dry, but important stuff on the ground.

The minister in charge, Deputy Minister for Social Services & Children, Gwenda Thomas, deserves credit for even managing to get the Bill this far. It's quite an achievement for one of the understated members of the Welsh Government and - speculation abound – could well be amongst her last big contributions to Welsh politics before 2016.

Read More

Housing Bill introduced to the National Assembly

The Welsh Government's Housing Bill is a wide-ranging law that aims
to tackle "rogue landlords", address homelessness, improve social housing
standards and reduce the number of empty homes.
(Pic : The Guardian)

Continuing the housing theme, the Welsh Government's Housing Bill was introduced to the National Assembly on Tuesday by Housing and Regeneration Minister, Carl Sargeant (Lab, Alyn & Deeside).

It's fair to describe it as "flagship" legislation, and it's also a whopper, coming in at 85 pages.The Bill's available here (pdf) and the explanatory memorandum here (pdf).
It's been recently said elsewhere....apparently....that the Welsh blogosphere often "lacks thought and detail", is too safe and sanitised and has failed to "facilitate democratic engagement and scrutiny".

I'll admit it. I've let you, the Assembly, our AMs and the whole of Welsh society down.

It's a burden I carry every night, as I lie awake, wondering whether to cover gosspy, banal stories like the ongoing collapse of local democracy in Carmarthenshire, the impact of High Speed 2 on the Welsh economy or getting my chompers around the annual report of the Chief Dental Officer.

The blogosphere continuously fails to demand answers to the big questions. What does the Taxpayers' Alliance think about politicians eating and breathing at public expense? What does some chippy anonymous source think about press officers writing press releases at their place of work?

The blogosphere was supposed to open a window, casting light and transparency on Welsh democracy and those who claim to uphold it. Clearly, all opening that window ever did was let in a field's worth of beefy cow farts. It's a dereliction of duty. We need to return to fighting for what is right and cover the controversial.

I'll spend more time hanging around the Senedd, Eli Jenkins pub and Tŷ Hywel looking for receipts in bins. I'll use my extensive network of Assembly spies and media connections - because everyone outside the Bay Bubble establishment has them - more effectively; telling you if Assembly staff are using all those flatscreen TVs to watch Bargain Hunt, or what AMs really think of Peter Black's ties. The people have a right to know.

Instead of my typically concise, pithy blogs, I'm going to do something different today and go into a bit more detail than usual. There's nothing more worthy of democratic engagement and scrutiny than a new law; which could directly and indirectly affect tens of millions in public and private spending as well as thousands of households. The sort of thing I'd usually just gloss over.

Few of you are masochistic enough to delve through it yourselves, so I guess I'm going to have to try to cram more than 250 pages of text to as close to 2,000 words as possible. In my own time. By myself. For free.

What people think of that and whether people take time to acknowledge it is another matter.


Why does Wales need a Housing Bill?

It's claimed 14,000 new homes are required in Wales each year – up to 9,200 private new builds, and 5,100 from other providers like private landlords, housing associations and local authorities. They're all going to be of varying quality and owned/operated by many different companies and individuals.

One of the key aims is to create a mandatory licensing system for landlords and letting agents, as until now such schemes have been voluntary, with some landlords being bad news for both tenants and communities.

The Welsh Government say there are 22,000 empty properties, many of which can be brought up to a decent standard. Existing homes, especially older housing, also need upgrades. That's being carried out to social housing via the Wales Quality Housing Standard (WHQS), but not enough is being done in the private rented sector.

Homelessness is on an upward trend – some 5,800 households were accepted as homeless in 2012-13 - as housebuilding slows, social houses aren't built at a fast enough rate to keep up with demand, and welfare reforms impact households, like the infamous "bedroom tax".

In addition to that there's the perennial local campaign favourite of new gypsy and traveller sites, while the Bill could also lead to reforms in social housing standards and charges, and make an expansion of co-operative home ownership easier and more attractive to prospective tenants.

What does the Housing Bill propose?

The Bill itself is divided into 8 parts and 3 schedules. I'm clumping them together into broad themes instead.

Regulation of the Private Renting Sector

The Bill:

• Makes it a legal requirement for private landlords and/or letting agents to register and be licenced with any local authority in which they let property.
• Places statutory duties on local authorities to maintain a publicly accessible register of licenced landlords and agents.
• Places a duty on licenced landlords or agents to notify local authorities of any change of circumstances within 28 days of the change occurring.
• Disqualifies people from receiving a licence if they :
• fail a "fit and proper persons test" – including committing fraud, acts of discrimination or harassment, firearms offences, sexual offences or failing to comply with other housing/landlord laws.
• haven't been trained in managing rental properties to the local authority's satisfaction.
• don't agree to abide by a Welsh Government Code of Practice.
• Mandates that licences will be valid for 5 years from the date of issue and will allow licences to be renewed 3 months before they expire.
• Grants local authorities the power to :
  • revoke licences if a landlord or agent breaches any rules (with a right to appeal).
  • issue "rent stopping orders" - where no rent is payable – if a landlord fails to comply with licencing requirements.
  • turn down a licence renewal (with a right to appeal).
• Creates new offences, like :
• failing to produce/display a licence - up to £1,000 fine.
• advertising, letting or managing a rental property without a licence - up to £1,000 fine, barring a "reasonable excuse".
• failing to provide documents to local authorities when required - up to £2,500 fine.
• providing false information to the local authority - up to £2,500 fine.

Homelessness

The Housing Bill aims to prevent people becoming homeless in the
first place by placing duties on housing authorities to intervene early.
(Pic :BBC)

The Bill:

• Places a statutory duty on local authorities to carry out a homelessness review and publish a homelessness strategy every four years starting in 2018, which includes monitoring current and expected levels of homelessness, homelessness prevention activities and resources available to combat homelessness.
• Defines a "homeless person" as someone who :
• has no accommodation they can occupy legally.
• cannot occupy a home in the UK they would otherwise be entitled to occupy.
• cannot secure entry into a home they otherwise live in.
• lives in a movable home with no permitted place to put it.
• Defines someone as "threatened with homelessness" if they would become homeless (as defined above) within 56 days.
• Outlines that when dealing with homelessness applications, local authorities must :
• determine whether emergency accommodation is "suitable" for a person.
• provide information and advice to someone who's homeless or threatened with homelessness.
• prevent homelessness applicants from becoming homeless in the first place.
• guarantee accommodation for "priority need applicants".
• try and find accommodation within their area whenever they can. Though the Bill sets out the arrangements whereby they notify, in writing, any other local authority they intend house someone in.
• Sets out guidelines for appeals, reviews, and protection of a homeless applicant's property (where applicable).
• Makes it an offence to provide false, or knowingly withhold, information when making a homelessness application, punishable by a fine of up to £2,500.
• Gives local authorities the power to refer homeless applicants to another local authority in Wales or England if they don't have a local connection - unless they're at risk of domestic abuse.
• Defines "local connection" as a person who :
• was normally resident in the local authority they've made a homelessness application in.
• is employed in the local authority.
• has family associations in the local authority.

Eligibility for Homelessness Assistance

• "Priority need applicants" include :
• pregnant women (and a person they would normally reside with).
• people with dependant children, with disabilities, are elderly, have a serious illness or are subject to domestic abuse.
• people affected by a natural or man-made disaster.
• 16-21 year olds who've left care, fostering or are at risk of sexual or financial exploitation.
• former military personnel who are homeless upon leaving the Armed Forces.
• "vulnerable" released prisoners (or someone who's been held on remand) but only those with a "local connection" (as defined above).
• People ineligible for help under this law are :
• persons from abroad who are otherwise ineligible, including non-EU nationals.
• subject to immigration controls or are excluded from benefit entitlements under the Asylum & Immigration Acts 1996 & 1999
• Statutory homelessness duties on local authorities will end for people who:
• turn down emergency accommodation that the local authority has deemed suitable.
• become "intentionally homeless" (i.e. evicted due to anti-social behaviour) – though the Welsh Government will have the power to draw up who counts as "intentionally homeless".
• accepts either an offer of a private sector tenancy that lasts at least 6 months or a social housing tenancy.

Gypsies & Travellers

The Housing Bill could lead to an increase in the number
of legal traveller sites in Wales.
(Pic : BBC Wales)

The Bill :

• Defines a "gypsy or traveller" as
• a person of a "nomadic lifestyle" regardless of race.
• people who used to live a nomadic lifestyle but no longer do (i.e. health reasons).
• travelling circuses and show people.
• anyone who lives in a mobile home for cultural reasons.
• Places a statutory duty on local authorities to :
• carry out an assessment of, and publish a report into, gypsy and traveller site requirements every five years from the publication of their first report.
• use their powers under the Mobile Homes Act 2013 to provide sites for travellers where there's an assessed need.
• Gives Welsh Ministers the power to :
• approve, amend or reject any gypsy and traveller needs assessment, and issue guidance to local authorities.
• force local authorities to meet certain duties with regard gypsy and traveller sites as stipulated in the Mobile Homes Act 2013.

Social Housing Standards

The Bill :

• Gives Welsh Ministers the power to set and revise standards for social housing, including :
• rent levels and service charges (which will be charged separately).
• rules relating to rent levels and service charges.
• the quality of social housing itself.
• Gives Welsh Ministers (or someone working on their behalf) the power to issue warnings, intervene, and the power of entry, if they believe housing authorities aren't complying with standards.
• Removes a requirement in the Housing Act 1985 for housing authorities - when setting "reasonable rents" - to keep social rents broadly in line with private sector rents. Instead, they'll need to comply with any new guidance/limits Welsh Ministers introduce.

Finance, Tenancies and Council Tax on Empty Properties

Long-term empty and abandoned homes will be liable
to a 150% council tax rate.
(Pic : BBC Wales)

The Bill :

• Abolishes the Housing Revenue Accounts Subsidy (HRAS), and gives Welsh Ministers the power to set a "settlement payment" for the eleven Welsh local authorities forced to leave the scheme as a result.
• Amends the Housing Act 1988 to enable mutuals and co-operatives to provide assured tenancies, enabling co-operative/mutual tenants to benefit from the same legal protections as assured tenancies offered elsewhere.
• Via amendments to the Local Government Finance Act 1992, gives local authorities the option to set an additional 50% rate of council tax (150%) on "long-term empty properties" (unoccupied and unfurnished for at least a year). It also gives Welsh Ministers the power to decided what properties this would apply to.

Costs

Now things start to get complicated.

Creating a mandatory landlord and agent register will cost £500,000, but would be self-financing because of fee income. Start-up costs for local authorities are estimated to be £250,000. Most of the burden falls on landlords and agents - upwards of £8million (between 2015-2017) - with costs falling to £265,000 per year once landlords/agents are registered and properly accredited as outlined in the Bill.

With regard the homelessness measures, the explanatory memorandum estimates ~32,100 applications for homelessness assistance will be made in 2015-16. The total cost, under existing laws, is estimated to be ~£21.3million. Under the preferred option in the new law, additional costs are estimated to be £5.9million, based on increases in homelessness assistance applications - an extra 3,200 - as a result of the Bill's provisions (for example, increasing the limit of "threatened with homelessness" from 28 to 56 days).

The total cost of the homelessness provisions is estimated to be in the region of £27.2-32.4million, based on expected homelessness figures, which themselves are dependant on multiple factors, including welfare reform and the state of the economy.

The gypsy and traveller measures will cost ~£1.6million per year until 2019-20, with most of that being the existing £1.5million grant to fund new traveller sites.

The preferred option for social housing standards sees a £15,000 per year cost fall on the Welsh Government, and £7,000 per year falling on social housing providers to collect and submit data. The preferred option for rent and service charge changes would initially cost £1.7million to set up – the vast bulk falling on local authorities – and £397,000 per year afterwards.

Abolishing HRAS has apparently been agreed with the Treasury, estimated to cost ~£990,000. However, an estimated £33million of rent income from Welsh local authority housing would then remain in Wales instead of being paid to Westminster.

The costs of the co-operative housing tenancy provisions will be around £130-140,000, mostly taking the form of continued funding to the Wales Co-operative Centre.

Additional council tax rate on empty homes would initially cost £359,000 to local authorities and Welsh Government to set up. From 2016-17, when the provisions come into force, it'll cost £527,000 per year in increased enforcement and tribunal costs. However, it's estimated a 150% council tax rate would raise somewhere between £11-14.4million for local authorities from the just over 24,200 homes left empty for more than a year.

What does this Bill mean?

Expect to see more of this.
This Bill is....wait for it....potentially quite controversial, and there
are more talking points than the media have let on.
(Pic : Wales Online)

There are many significant provisions in this Bill, notably the creation of a mandatory licensing system for private landlords, which should professionalise the industry further, helping to drive "slumlords" out – I'm thinking along the north Wales coast in particular.

Alongside that, other provisions – like those relating to mutual and co-operative housing and a fairer system of rents and charges for social housing tenants – seem sensible, even populist in some circumstances. It's for AMs to decide if that's truly the case though.

The extra council tax rate on empty properties might cause problems, especially if many are old holiday homes that haven't been used in a long time, though it's unrelated to the proposed general 200% rate on second homes. It would also encourage owners either to sell, renovate or rent their properties, increasing housing supply.

The abolition of HRAS – one of the few ways Wales has subsidised England to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds, perhaps more, for decades – will lead to rent being retained in Wales, and money that could be reinvested in social housing by housing authorities. If the Bill passes and HRAS is abolished, then the Bevan Foundation and Plaid Cymru can probably chalk up its abolition as a success for them as much as the Welsh Government.

The gypsy and traveller provisions could cause problems as many people have an "issue" with traveller sites. The prospect of more of them being required by law could lead to difficulties in some communities, and perhaps for individual AMs too. No AM will be able to campaign against extra traveller sites honestly if they back the provisions in the Bill as outlined.

Entrenched opposition to sites might be less if local residents knew travellers living on legal sites were paying their way (they pay council tax when living on local authority and private sites, and most - if not all - work), had a strict code of conduct, and had full access to local authority services like rubbish collection.

There needs to be a bit of common sense when deciding where they should go. They shouldn't be sited out in the sticks on busy main roads, but there's no point in siting them in built up areas either. I'm not sure if that's best left to any Welsh Government guidance/regulations to come from the Bill, or if it should be included as clauses within the Bill itself.

The homelessness provisions are extensive – perhaps to the point it should've been a stand alone Homelessness Bill. They could cause controversy, mainly due to the impact on recently-released prisoners and (as I understand it) the powers for Welsh local authorities to transfer any homeless applicants who don't have a local connection elsewhere - including back over the border where applicable. The only exceptions, it seems, would be those fleeing domestic violence.

The Bill maintains released prisoners as a priority homelessness group if they have a proven local connection. However, homelessness is often cited as a cause of re-offending. Like gypsies and travellers, sheltered accommodation for homeless and vulnerable young adults is often sited in unsuitable places and attracts local opposition.

It's a reasonable compromise, as is the general requirement for a "local connection" when receiving homelessness assistance. It's best people receive help where they have strong connections and are perhaps known to the authorities, instead of becoming vagrants. The same requirements should apply to social homes too.

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