Former BBC journalist Siân Gwenllian takes up local government, housing and planning portfolio
The Welsh government has appointed Siân Gwenllian as cabinet minister for local government, housing and planning.
First minister Rhun ap Iorwerth announced the appointment of his full ministerial team yesterday following Plaid Cymru’s victory in last week’s Senedd election.
Gwenllian was elected to the national assembly in 2016, representing the Arfon constituency. She was re-elected as an MS in 2021 with 63.3% of the vote – the highest percentage of any candidate in Wales.
She has previously worked as a journalist with the BBC and HTV and as a press officer for Gwynedd Council.
She has also served as lead designated member on the co-operation agreement (2021-2024) between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Labour government as well as the party’s Senedd commissioner, chief whip and co-deputy leader.
Plaid Cymru formed a minority government after securing 43 parliamentary seats, six short of a majority.
The party pledged to legislate for a right to adequate housing, establish a new national development agency and build 20,000 homes by 2030.
Matt Dicks, national director of Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru, said: ”The commitment to begin legislating for the right to adequate housing in Wales is a significant and welcome step. It has the potential to place housing where it belongs: at the heart of government, public policy and national wellbeing.
“A safe, suitable and affordable home is the foundation for good health, stronger communities and better life chances, and progress in housing will be critical to delivering a fairer Wales.”
At-a-glance - Plaid Cymru’s housing pledges
- Legislate for a right to adequate housing.
- Establish Unnos – a national development agency – to accelerate the delivery of social housing
- Build at least 20,000 new social homes by 2030.
- Continue to call on the UK government to unfreeze local housing allowance to narrow the gap between rent and housing benefit, reduce the risk of homelessness for thousands of families, and ensure it keeps pace with rising rents.
- Embed a trauma-informed and person-centred approach to tackling homelessness – ensuring new homelessness legislation is implemented effectively and kept under review.
- Support and build on services to deliver housing adaptations and home improvements for older people.
- Speed up remediation work on properties with unsafe cladding and other fire safety defects, including by strengthening oversight and enforcement where developers and freeholders fail to meet agreed deadlines.
- Use a regular Welsh Housing Survey to improved data standards.
- Reduce regulatory barriers to building and buying-in more social homes, including through more balanced energy efficiency requirements.
- Encourage investment in housebuilding by Welsh pension funds and examine options for developing new financial products through the Development Bank of Wales and by better leveraging of Welsh government borrowing powers.
- Review the funding formula for local government so that it better reflects the real cost of delivering services in different parts of Wales and introduce a funding floor to ensure that no local authority is disadvantaged.
- Reduce the complexity and bureaucracy of planning processes, providing greater clarity and firmer guarantees on consenting timelines and extending permitted development rights, including for community-led housing and energy projects.
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