A Welsh Government minister has dissolved the body she herself set up to regulate her department.
The Welsh Minister of Climate Change, Julie James, has without notice "dissolved" her own Regulatory Board for Wales. The Board advised her on how her civil servants were regulating state-supported housing associations which cater for poorer people and how those housing associations were doing.
The board was set up on January 1, 2021 and advises the Welsh Government on housing policy and regulation and examines the regulatory performance and activity of the Welsh Government and registered social landlords. Speaking at the time, then housing minister Julie James said: “I am pleased to announce the appointment of Deep Sagar as the new independent chair of the Regulatory Board for Wales. The expertise and skills Deep will bring to the board will not only benefit the Board as it continues its work but will provide valuable challenge and advice which will help the development of the housing association sector.”
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However Mr Sagar has now been told the board has be dissolved which he told WalesOnline was "inexplicable". WalesOnline understands that the Minister did not give a reason for the decision.
What is stranger about the move is that Julie James appears to want to set another advisory body to replace the one which is only 18-months old. The announcement was put on the Welsh Government website with simply the line: "The minister for climate change has agreed to dissolve the existing Regulatory Board for Wales and commission a work programme to make recommendations on the role, purpose and governance arrangements for a new advisory body."
It is also understood that the board had previously given the Welsh Government several points of advice including: that poor tenants could be offered better services like repairs of mouldy properties, associations could be less spendthrift and regulators more forceful and transparent.
WalesOnline have approached the Welsh Government to ask the following questions:
- Why has the board been dissolved?
- Why has time and resources been spent making arrangements for a new body when one already existed?
- Can you please send any recommendations made by the board to the Welsh Government?
Welsh Conservative shadow minister for climate change, Janet Finch-Saunders MS, said: "I can see why the Minister is abolishing this board as it has completely failed to deliver. House building has not only stalled in Wales but come to a grinding halt, barely building 6,000 a year when experts say we need 12,000.
"What is bizarre is that the Welsh Government wants to waste more money on setting up a new one. The housing crisis in Wales can only be fixed by building more houses and getting the nearly 25,000 empty homes across Wales back into use."
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We are committed to supporting the housing sector through the unprecedented challenges caused by the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. The minister for climate change will be commissioning a programme of work to look at how the regulatory function for registered social landlords in Wales is supported in light of the changing regulatory landscape and the current challenges. This includes a re-evaluation of the role and function of the Regulatory Board for Wales.
“The existing board has been dissolved. The Minister has met with the chair and wishes to express publicly her deep appreciation for the commitment of the chair and all the board members for their hard work supporting the sector and the Minister.”
WalesOnline understands that an annual report published by the (now dissolved) board will be published in due course.
Read more:
- The utterly terrifying temperatures just recorded where it is 40C above normal
- Global heating: The terrifying fate of the planet and everyone who lives on it that is now 'irreversible'
- The massive amount of money about to be spent in Wales to try and tackle flooding caused by climate change
- The scorching temperatures pictured across Europe as continent sees 40°C conditions
- Why people are talking about 40C in the next few days - the science behind it and the likelihood of it happening
