Speaking in the Debate on ‘The Cost of Caring for an Ageing Population’, I quoted from a series of reports which have indicated that legislation is not being implemented as envisaged, and that the better lives and reduced costs intended are not being delivered. The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 Code of Practice put in place a system where people are full partners in the design and operation of care and support, and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act states that public bodies must work “with others – including third sector bodies and communities - to help achieve goals that have been decided together”. However, last November Mental Health Charity Hafal stated that the Welsh Government’s ‘A Healthier Wales’ plan is “an example of policy made by providers for providers”, and last month a Survey conducted by the Wales Neurological Alliance on behalf of the Cross Party Group on Neurological Conditions found that although The Social Services and Wellbeing Wales Act has been in force for two years, people living with neurological conditions are not being asked what matters to them.
Questioning the new First Minister, I noted that the average number of new homes delivered by Housing Associations annually in England has risen by a third since 2010, compared to 25 per cent in Wales, and that the average number of new homes delivered by Local Authorities in England is up nearly sevenfold since the change of UK Government in 2010, compared to a two-thirds fall, up to 2017/18, in Wales.
Housing starts and completions in Wales fell by 15% in the year to September 2018 and, closing the Welsh Conservative Debate on Housing, I noted that the Welsh Government had ignored expert warnings since 2004 that without urgent action there would be a Welsh housing crisis, and that this is about better lives and rebuilding sustainable communities, not just bricks and mortar. Between 2000 and 2010, new homes completed in Wales by Housing Associations and Councils fell to just 23% of the numbers delivered during the 1990s. Although the UK had its highest new home registrations since 2007 during the third quarter of 2018, Wales was the only UK Nation to see numbers fall.
Assembly engagements included the Cross-Party Group on Faith, discussing 'Criminal Justice: Do Prisons Work?'.
North Wales engagements included Chairing the Cross-Party Group on Disability at Wrexham Glyndŵr University and meeting the British Polio Fellowship’s Group Leader in North Wales.
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