In the Senedd today, Paul Davies asked Labour’s Julie James, the Minister for Delivery about Labour’s commitment to build 20,000 affordable homes by the end of the Parliament and the reason for bringing in the former Minister who introduced the default 20mph speed limit, Lee Waters, to spearhead the effort.
Paul Davies asked: “what expertise that Member [Lee Waters] has specifically in the housing sector to help deliver this [20,000 affordable homes] target…?”
Welsh Conservatives question the legitimacy of the role of Minister for Delivery given the decision of the Welsh Government to appoint backbench MSs to lead on delivery targets.
Commenting following his exchange with the Minister, Welsh Conservative Shadow Counsel General and Shadow Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Paul Davies MS said:
“People will rightly question the point of a Minister for Delivery who passes the buck on key delivery targets to backbench politicians.
“Lee Waters, the Minister who gave us default 20mph speed limits, to my knowledge has little to no expertise in housing. So why is he leading the effort to build affordable homes? The Minister for Delivery could not tell me.
“I fail to see how the role of Minister for Delivery can be deemed legitimate or credible if they simply delegate to other less-than-qualified politicians, as opposed to seeking advice from industry experts.”
