Answers issued to Members on 18 March 2008

[R] signifies that the Member has declared an interest.
[W] signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.

Contents

Questions to the Deputy First Minister and Minister for the Economy and Transport

Questions to the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing

Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services

Questions to the Deputy First Minister and Minister for the Economy and Transport

David Melding (South Wales Central): What is the estimated cost of de-contaminating land at the Dolgarrog works site? (WAQ51522)

David Melding (South Wales Central): What liability does the Welsh Assembly Government have to restore contaminated land at the Dolgarrog works site, and will the Minister make a statement? (WAQ51523)

The Deputy First Minister and Minister for the Economy and Transport (Ieuan Wyn Jones): The issue of potential liability for remediating the land at the Dolgarrog Aluminium Limited site, following the liquidation of Dolgarrog Aluminium Limited, is subject to discussions by officials and lawyers. Subject to the satisfactory resolution of legal and other issues, I will make a statement in due course.

Questions to the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing

Nick Ramsay (Monmouth): What assessment has the Minister made of poor housing conditions and Community Housing Cymru’s suggestion that over 18 per cent of all homes in the private sector are considered unfit and below the Assembly’s quality standard? (WAQ51514)

The Deputy Minister for Housing (Jocelyn Davies): The latest 'Living in Wales’ survey in 2004, showed that unfitness in the private sector was 8.2 per cent. Unfitness in owner-occupied houses was 4.3 per cent. Since then, we have introduced the housing, health and safety rating system, which applies to all tenures and more closely links house condition to the health and safety of the occupants. The current 'Living in Wales’ survey will measure conditions against this new standard.

Nick Ramsay (Monmouth): Is the Welsh Assembly Government on course for publishing a revised 'Code of Guidance for Local Authorities on Allocation of Accommodation and Homelessness’? (WAQ51519)

Nick Ramsay (Monmouth): Does the Welsh Assembly Government intend to update the 'Code of Guidance for Local Authorities on Allocation of Accommodation and Homelessness’? (WAQ51520)

Nick Ramsay (Monmouth): What date has the Minister set for the publishing of an updated 'Code of Guidance for Local Authorities on Allocation of Accommodation and Homelessness’? (WAQ51521)

Jocelyn Davies: We are committed to revising the 'Code of Guidance for Local Authorities on Allocation of Accommodation and Homelessness’ to ensure that it reflects the current legal position and policy aims of the 'One Wales’ Government.

The code is a comprehensive guidance manual that provides a broad range of legal and policy issues on allocations and homelessness. The development of the code is a challenging task, and it requires considerable legal scrutiny as well as policy work. It is used as a legal reference in the courts, and we must ensure that it is correct as well as timely.

We are developing a new plan to tackle homelessness in Wales. This will set out our agenda over the next 10 years to ensure a significant reduction in homelessness and the threat of homelessness for vulnerable people. We will consult widely on this plan during the autumn and seek to draw in a wide range of views. The plan will be ready for implementation by January 2009.

Redrafting work on the code is in progress, but it will need to reflect our final policy position as set out in our homelessness plan, and also our agenda on the allocation of social housing, which we will formalise in the new national housing strategy.

While the work on the code can continue in parallel with the work on the plan, we will need to finalise the code after completion of the plan.

We will consult widely on the revised code before it is formally adopted, and we plan to issue it for consultation this autumn; it will then be finalised in the new year following the launch of the homelessness plan.

Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services

Nick Bourne (Mid and West Wales): What plans does the Minister have to make it a statutory requirement and issue guidance to local authorities and local health boards to record the number of adults with autism in their area? (WAQ51530)

Nick Bourne (Mid and West Wales): What is the Welsh Assembly Government doing to help autism sufferers in Wales? (WAQ51531)

The Minister for Health and Social Services (Edwina Hart): Our draft autistic spectrum disorder strategic action plan for Wales covers people of all ages, including adults. I expect the final strategic action plan to issue in the spring. It is for local authorities and local health boards to set up systems to identify and record people within their client populations who are on the autistic spectrum. This was included as one of the actions in our draft strategic action plan, and we have encouraged authorities to proceed with this work without waiting for the final strategic action plan to be published. It is also for local authorities and local health boards to assess the care needs of adults on the autistic spectrum and to provide services to address the assessed needs.

Over the three years commencing 2008-09, we are providing £278,000 in grant to support the work of the National Autistic Society Cymru and Autism Cymru.