Welsh Affairs Committee publishes sustainable housing report
3 February 2010 (updated on 22 April 2010)
Social housing policy powers should be devolved to the National Assembly for Wales, concludes the Welsh Affairs Committee in a report published today.
- Report: Proposed National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Housing and Local Government) Order 2010
- Welsh Affairs Committee
The request by the Assembly for additional legislative powers relating to social housing is a logical extension of the current devolution settlement, says the Committee.
The proposed Order, in the form of a legislative competence order (LCO) – the process for transferring additional powers from Westminster to the Assembly – provides a coherent approach to the social housing sector and consolidates existing powers already devolved to Welsh ministers.
The Committee calls again for clearer naming of proposed Orders. It recommends that LCOs should be given a simple title which conveys the actual subject of the Order to the general reader, rather than being named after the field it relates to which has the potential to cause confusion.
The Chairman of the Committee, Dr Hywel Francis MP, said:
"Evidence to the Committee suggested that there is a demand in Wales for comprehensive social housing legislation for Wales which includes the regulation of social housing providers and reform of tenure law. The proposed Order is a well researched and coherent proposal for the transfer of competence in this area."