Browse content similar to 20/11/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Tonight on the Wales Report: The problem of poor quality housing in | :00:00. | :00:10. | |
the private rented sector in Wales affecting the health of tenants. Is | :00:11. | :00:13. | |
it time for new legislation? A clearer picture of how much control | :00:14. | :00:17. | |
the Welsh Government would have over taxes - but does it make sense? And | :00:18. | :00:22. | |
Swansea Bay will not be the British capital of culture - so how else do | :00:23. | :00:26. | |
we promote Wales on the global stage? Stay with us for the Wales | :00:27. | :00:38. | |
Report. Good evening and welcome to the Wales Report, where we explore | :00:39. | :00:41. | |
the issues that affect lives in Wales and question some of those | :00:42. | :00:44. | |
making the decisions. On tonight's programme - the latest facts about | :00:45. | :00:47. | |
private rented accommodation in Wales. In far too many cases, the | :00:48. | :00:53. | |
quality of housing is appalling. Tenants' health and sometimes their | :00:54. | :00:56. | |
lives are put at risk by damp, dangerous wiring, and crumbling | :00:57. | :01:01. | |
walls. This week - the Welsh Government launched new legislation | :01:02. | :01:04. | |
- the Housing Bill - part of which aims to clamp down on reckless | :01:05. | :01:07. | |
private landlords. But does it go far enough, given the scale of the | :01:08. | :01:16. | |
problem? Helen Callaghan reports. This is not a property viewing the | :01:17. | :01:22. | |
well in this house has invited me here to talk about the battle she is | :01:23. | :01:28. | |
having with third landlord. She has asked us to hydrate entity but once | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
people to know how problems with this house began to ruin her life. | :01:33. | :01:40. | |
What was wrong? Excessive cold and damp. Wires hanging from the | :01:41. | :01:47. | |
bathroom, it could cause a fire. You think this house was making the | :01:48. | :01:54. | |
bill? They put me on Valium. With the damp, you have problems with | :01:55. | :01:57. | |
breathing, you cannot work or pay the rent. Why should I? You have put | :01:58. | :02:03. | |
me in this condition that is worse than an animal. She says from | :02:04. | :02:07. | |
landlord tried to convert -- a victory for complaining but she | :02:08. | :02:11. | |
stared because was nowhere else to go. One day she came home to find | :02:12. | :02:17. | |
the locks were changed but although she was allowed back in, she still | :02:18. | :02:22. | |
does not have a full set of keys. You cannot use your back door? It is | :02:23. | :02:27. | |
locked. How do you get out? Through the window. She lived with these | :02:28. | :02:32. | |
problems for eight months before any repairs were made and during that | :02:33. | :02:40. | |
time she felt isolated and alone. Calling and nobody would do | :02:41. | :02:47. | |
anything. I just wanted not to be cold. When I went to the kitchen, to | :02:48. | :02:58. | |
have a nice, warm... Unite? -- you know? It is illegal for landlords to | :02:59. | :03:04. | |
put tenants at risk of injury or death. These problems are called | :03:05. | :03:08. | |
category one and according to figures from housing charities, | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
there are more than 75,000 properties in this estate being | :03:13. | :03:19. | |
privately let out across Wales. It is a landlord market and more of us | :03:20. | :03:22. | |
are renting than ever before. Mortgages are hard to come by and | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
social housing is in short supply. Experts predict we will need an | :03:28. | :03:31. | |
extra 6000 homes over the next five years just to meet demand. A perfect | :03:32. | :03:37. | |
situation for rogue landlords to take advantage of. The Housing | :03:38. | :03:47. | |
Minister thinks he has the answer. Launching the Welsh Government's | :03:48. | :03:50. | |
Housing Bill at this homeless charity, he outlined proposals to | :03:51. | :03:57. | |
tackle problems with homelessness, empty properties and unscrupulous | :03:58. | :04:01. | |
landlords. Under the plans, landlords would have to be licensed | :04:02. | :04:06. | |
and if they fail to comply, they could face fines or having their | :04:07. | :04:11. | |
rent withheld. But the housing charity is worried that lack of | :04:12. | :04:16. | |
resources will undermine what the legislation is helping to achieve. | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
There is not enough money for enforcement and most environmental | :04:21. | :04:25. | |
health departments are stretched. How can they cope with the | :04:26. | :04:29. | |
additional intelligence that will come from landlord licensing? There | :04:30. | :04:33. | |
is a fundamental question about these resources and something the | :04:34. | :04:37. | |
government needs to take on board. We spoke to the body representing | :04:38. | :04:41. | |
environmental health officers, who take on rogue landlords. They said | :04:42. | :04:46. | |
the extra information gathered through compulsory licensing will | :04:47. | :04:49. | |
help them identify the culprits but they stress that local councils must | :04:50. | :04:54. | |
provide adequate funding for the new laws to be enforced. It is important | :04:55. | :04:59. | |
that our elected members who set budgets appreciate that if you cut | :05:00. | :05:06. | |
money to housing teams, you have a real, direct and immediate effect on | :05:07. | :05:10. | |
people's lives and we encourage elected members to ensure their | :05:11. | :05:18. | |
teams are properly funded. We have spoken to all those representing | :05:19. | :05:21. | |
landlords and letting agents and they all have their doubts about the | :05:22. | :05:24. | |
effectiveness of increased legislation. They are worried that | :05:25. | :05:29. | |
fees for registration will penalised good landlords and they question | :05:30. | :05:32. | |
whether rogue landlords will even comply with the new laws. Con | :05:33. | :05:38. | |
artists and criminals will not and we know that that applies to | :05:39. | :05:41. | |
different sectors and society so we should partner up with all of the | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
stakeholders to make sure they don't get away with it. There is basically | :05:46. | :05:50. | |
enforcement against the good and not the bad. We believe an engagement | :05:51. | :05:55. | |
with good landlords and enforcement against the bad ones. It is an | :05:56. | :06:00. | |
indirect tax to the good, law-abiding citizens. Tenants might | :06:01. | :06:06. | |
the one I met welcomed the Welsh Government's good intentions but | :06:07. | :06:09. | |
they know the legislation will only have a positive impact on their | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
lives if the foundations of the new laws are solid. When you come home | :06:14. | :06:19. | |
and you have no happiness, it is not a home, you know? You wonder what | :06:20. | :06:27. | |
you have done wrong. You become depressed and it makes you feel very | :06:28. | :06:32. | |
bad. Helen Callaghan reporting. Joining me now from our Swansea | :06:33. | :06:35. | |
studio is the Housing Minister, Carl Sargeant. Lots of people applauding | :06:36. | :06:42. | |
what you are doing and they do not question your motives. But they do | :06:43. | :06:46. | |
question whether the rogue landlords will be felt with by this | :06:47. | :06:52. | |
legislation? -- dealt with. Our intention is to tackle the very | :06:53. | :06:59. | |
people who will not comply. The enforcement activities of local | :07:00. | :07:01. | |
authorities will be a very important part to ensure this happens. If they | :07:02. | :07:05. | |
do not have any resources to properly policed this, what do you | :07:06. | :07:11. | |
say? I do not accept the argument presented by some of your | :07:12. | :07:15. | |
contributors tonight and the issue around the financing has been worked | :07:16. | :07:18. | |
through with local government and we are confident that we can enable | :07:19. | :07:21. | |
this legislation effectively. There are many myths. One example is the | :07:22. | :07:32. | |
cost of legislation and enforcement is 65p per week for two properties | :07:33. | :07:35. | |
and that is not particularly onerous. Some of these departments | :07:36. | :07:44. | |
are not stretched? Local government and public services are always | :07:45. | :07:47. | |
challenged and the budgets from the UK Government have not helped. But | :07:48. | :07:53. | |
the issue with legislation and the financial profile has been worked | :07:54. | :07:57. | |
through with them and this is about being forced and legislation pathway | :07:58. | :08:01. | |
being successful to ensure that the cases you have heard about it on | :08:02. | :08:04. | |
your programme are dealt with effectively. But what you are doing | :08:05. | :08:12. | |
is adding a duty and burdens to staff who are already engaged in | :08:13. | :08:14. | |
lots of policing work in that sense and I am wondering how you can make | :08:15. | :08:20. | |
that logic for resourcing and say it is all there? Burden is a word that | :08:21. | :08:25. | |
you will use. The fact of the matter is... It is a duty that we will | :08:26. | :08:30. | |
impose on local authorities to comply with that will ensure we have | :08:31. | :08:34. | |
better accommodation across Wales. But is not unreasonable, the fact | :08:35. | :08:39. | |
that we should have safer accommodation is just a fundamental | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
part of society. And I think that what we are doing in the government | :08:44. | :08:47. | |
is making sure that rogue landlords can comply. We have some fantastic | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
landlords in Wales that deliver on this but as you have heard, there | :08:53. | :08:56. | |
are many that do not. It is about time we tackle them. What is your | :08:57. | :09:01. | |
analysis of why the private sector is booming right now? There are | :09:02. | :09:07. | |
supply issues. The bedroom tax is adding to displacement of | :09:08. | :09:12. | |
individuals and whether we agree with that or not, and I do not, but | :09:13. | :09:18. | |
the fact is that the UK has introduced this and it is displacing | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
individuals into different modes of accommodation. Therefore, the | :09:23. | :09:26. | |
private rented sector is playing its part and I am trying to support the | :09:27. | :09:30. | |
private sector to lift up policy and the profession to ensure that we can | :09:31. | :09:34. | |
get support to the professionals who want to be part of delivery and let | :09:35. | :09:39. | |
us make sure that we can tackle these issues when rogue landlords | :09:40. | :09:44. | |
failed to deliver. He did not mention social housing, you did | :09:45. | :09:53. | |
mention social housing. -- supply. We have got investments with social | :09:54. | :09:57. | |
landlords and a task force in place reporting to me at the end of the | :09:58. | :10:02. | |
year in terms of supply and we are looking at innovative finance models | :10:03. | :10:05. | |
and in doing things differently. We are in a very different time and | :10:06. | :10:12. | |
place compared to 12 months ago. Six months ago, I took the post and I am | :10:13. | :10:18. | |
very keen to tackle the issues around supply, quality and services | :10:19. | :10:23. | |
in housing. That is what the Housing Bill will produce. And the building | :10:24. | :10:27. | |
is already in place. Social landlords are increasing supply but | :10:28. | :10:31. | |
you will have heard that report today that there are pressures due | :10:32. | :10:34. | |
to that bedroom tax having an effect. Building new homes? New | :10:35. | :10:40. | |
homes are being built. We have got some major announcements coming up | :10:41. | :10:46. | |
shortly and I am sure they will be welcomed by the industry. Why, after | :10:47. | :10:52. | |
13 years in power in Wales, Labour has not actually tackled this social | :10:53. | :10:55. | |
housing problem before now? We have heard from some experts that we will | :10:56. | :11:01. | |
be short of 6000 homes. You're talking about committees and | :11:02. | :11:04. | |
consultations and projects, but when will the building happen? Some of | :11:05. | :11:10. | |
those questions have been lifted from a Conservative press lease and | :11:11. | :11:14. | |
the fact is, we are delivering... Not any press race I have seen! Six | :11:15. | :11:20. | |
months in post and I am keen to ensure that I work with the industry | :11:21. | :11:22. | |
and I have met with house-builders and met with social landlords and we | :11:23. | :11:27. | |
are turning the corner in our ability to deliver but let us not be | :11:28. | :11:33. | |
complacent. The fact is that we are under extreme pressure from the UK | :11:34. | :11:37. | |
Government in terms of the finances, which are being reduced to ?1.7 | :11:38. | :11:43. | |
billion less into the Welsh economy. We can legislate around housing to | :11:44. | :11:49. | |
make Wales a better place to live and the very person you had at the | :11:50. | :11:52. | |
start of that interview shows that we need to do something. I am not | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
prepared to sit back, we will take action. In future, if the Welsh | :11:57. | :12:02. | |
Government had powers of income tax, it could tackle this better? The | :12:03. | :12:09. | |
income tax question is around the referendum and we have to take | :12:10. | :12:11. | |
action right now and that is what we are doing. Thank you for joining us. | :12:12. | :12:16. | |
This week a clearer picture has emerged of how new financial powers | :12:17. | :12:19. | |
for the Welsh Government announced recently by David Cameron and Nick | :12:20. | :12:24. | |
Clegg would be implemented. Some powers over income tax could be | :12:25. | :12:27. | |
transferred if the Welsh people gave their approval in a referendum. But | :12:28. | :12:30. | |
the Welsh government would not get the power to vary individual tax | :12:31. | :12:34. | |
bands. For some in the Assembly, that's disappointing news. The | :12:35. | :12:38. | |
Secretary of State for Wales, David Jones, who's joining me in a moment, | :12:39. | :12:42. | |
defended the decision at Westminster earlier today. I welcome the fact | :12:43. | :12:48. | |
that after one year, we have a statement from the Secretary of | :12:49. | :12:53. | |
State on this matter. But I want to question him further on details. I | :12:54. | :12:59. | |
make no apologies for ensuring that this proposal was properly | :13:00. | :13:03. | |
scrutinised and I believe that the package we have announced is good | :13:04. | :13:06. | |
for Wales and I'm glad to see that it was welcomed by the Welsh | :13:07. | :13:09. | |
Government. Joining me now from Westminster is the Secretary of | :13:10. | :13:12. | |
State for Wales, David Jones. Thank you for joining us. Are you a | :13:13. | :13:18. | |
convert for the income tax powers for Wells? Wales does need powers | :13:19. | :13:23. | |
because the big issue we have in Wales is poor performance of the | :13:24. | :13:28. | |
economy. By and large, lower taxes make for a more dynamic economy and | :13:29. | :13:32. | |
at the moment we have Wales getting progressively poorer and GDA is only | :13:33. | :13:38. | |
three quarters the British average and income tax powers would be good | :13:39. | :13:49. | |
for the economy. In the past people have been saying you have been | :13:50. | :13:52. | |
lukewarm on this. When did you change your mind? It is not a | :13:53. | :14:00. | |
question of changing my mind. Conservatives believe instinctively | :14:01. | :14:03. | |
in low taxation. Wales needs a competitive edge and devolution has | :14:04. | :14:11. | |
been used to impose more regulation upon the people of Wales. It would | :14:12. | :14:17. | |
be refreshing if we saw a lower rate of taxation in Wales which would | :14:18. | :14:20. | |
encourage people to come into Wales and set up businesses here. Do you | :14:21. | :14:27. | |
regret that it took so long to come up with the response to the | :14:28. | :14:34. | |
recommendations? No, I do not. We had to give it proper scrutiny. The | :14:35. | :14:40. | |
proposals we accepted mostly I therefore good. There will be an | :14:41. | :14:45. | |
impact not just upon Wales, but on the whole of the United Kingdom. I | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
do not make any apologies for giving proper consideration and going out | :14:51. | :14:56. | |
to further consultation as a consequence of the extreme doubts we | :14:57. | :15:00. | |
were seething from certain quarters of the property sector. There is one | :15:01. | :15:08. | |
significant exception and that is air passenger duty. Northern Ireland | :15:09. | :15:12. | |
benefits from that. Why is Wales to be deprived of it? There is a big | :15:13. | :15:18. | |
difference in the case of Northern Ireland's which is that it is | :15:19. | :15:22. | |
separate from the British mainland. In Wales we have got another | :15:23. | :15:29. | |
aircraft -- airport crows to Cardiff, Bristol. There would be a | :15:30. | :15:34. | |
distortion effect and it would have the effect of favouring one airport | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
at the expense of another which we did not think was the right thing to | :15:39. | :15:46. | |
do. What does that tell us about the Government's you about air capacity | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
in the South East of England and beyond? We need more capacity in the | :15:51. | :15:57. | |
South East of England and London is the only hub airport we have got at | :15:58. | :16:02. | |
the moment. We do as much as we can to improve capacity into Heathrow | :16:03. | :16:06. | |
and in Wales we are improving rail links. But the fact is to devolve | :16:07. | :16:15. | |
airport tax duty would benefit one airport at the expense of other | :16:16. | :16:19. | |
airports in the UK. That is a distortionary effect. The clarity of | :16:20. | :16:25. | |
that answer means lots of those people who were hoping you would | :16:26. | :16:31. | |
revisit this may as well stop because they are wasting their time. | :16:32. | :16:37. | |
No, I do not think so because it is a matter that we will keep under | :16:38. | :16:42. | |
review. It would have an unfair impact upon other airports in the | :16:43. | :16:48. | |
UK. What is your view on the varying of individual tax band for income | :16:49. | :16:54. | |
tax? Experts say if this is to be a meaningful devolution of power, a | :16:55. | :16:57. | |
Welsh Government would need to have that ability, but you are depriving | :16:58. | :17:03. | |
them of that. It would have an adverse impact on progressivity. The | :17:04. | :17:11. | |
higher tax rate in Wales is extremely low. Unbelievably only | :17:12. | :17:17. | |
4000 people in the whole of Wales pay the top rate. In terms of giving | :17:18. | :17:24. | |
the Welsh Government more flexibility and the capacity to | :17:25. | :17:26. | |
attract inward investment would have had very little effect. I think | :17:27. | :17:33. | |
something that emulates the Scottish model, which is what we have | :17:34. | :17:38. | |
approved, gives the Welsh Government the capacity to change income tax | :17:39. | :17:43. | |
rates. Most importantly, it gives the opportunity to entrepreneurs to | :17:44. | :17:46. | |
come into Wales and establish themselves. I feel a lower tax | :17:47. | :17:52. | |
economy is a better one and I would hope the Welsh Government would be | :17:53. | :17:56. | |
bold and go for a lower rate across the board. How bold should they be | :17:57. | :18:01. | |
in terms of the timing of a referendum? As you know I am | :18:02. | :18:07. | |
pressing for a referendum to take place as soon as possible. But I | :18:08. | :18:15. | |
think the Welsh Government needs to do something to kick-start the Welsh | :18:16. | :18:19. | |
economy. At the moment they have not used devolution to give Wales that | :18:20. | :18:25. | |
competitive edge it needs. In many respects they have made Wales less | :18:26. | :18:31. | |
competitive. It would be a strong signal if they said, we want a | :18:32. | :18:35. | |
referendum and we want to have it as soon as possible and if we get those | :18:36. | :18:40. | |
varying powers, then we will be moving to a lower tax regime in | :18:41. | :18:46. | |
Wales. That would be bold and just the thing Wales needs to improve the | :18:47. | :18:52. | |
Welsh economy. But doesn't Carwyn Jones have a point when he said | :18:53. | :18:57. | |
unless we sort out the fundamental basis of funding for Wales, the | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
Barnett formula, there is no point talking about a referendum? That is | :19:03. | :19:09. | |
indicative of his mindset and the Labour Party's mindset as a whole. | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
Labour expect Wales to be a kind of supplicant part of the United | :19:16. | :19:20. | |
Kingdom for every more. They should be more ambitious. We agreed last | :19:21. | :19:26. | |
year a formula that would protect the Welsh Government against | :19:27. | :19:30. | |
so-called convergence, in other words the benefit of the Barnett | :19:31. | :19:33. | |
formula dwindling. They have got that agreed. But now is the time for | :19:34. | :19:39. | |
the Welsh Government to say, we want that to be ambitions for Wales and | :19:40. | :19:45. | |
we want to move towards a lower tax economy. You think it is entirely | :19:46. | :19:52. | |
practical and realistic to look forward to a referendum before the | :19:53. | :19:57. | |
next Assembly elections? I think they should do it as quickly as | :19:58. | :20:04. | |
possible. The question of when the referendum is triggered will be a | :20:05. | :20:07. | |
matter for the Welsh Government and the Welsh Assembly. But I know my | :20:08. | :20:12. | |
colleagues in the Conservative Party will be pressing the Welsh | :20:13. | :20:16. | |
Government to do it as quickly as possible. Frankly, if it is | :20:17. | :20:22. | |
Labour's timidity that is holding us back, it will be the Labour Party | :20:23. | :20:26. | |
who will pay the penalty in the ballot box. You are saying before | :20:27. | :20:35. | |
2016? It is a matter for them, but my preference is to go as quickly as | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
possible. People would know what they were voting for. The UK City of | :20:41. | :20:48. | |
Culture in 2017 will be how. It is a great city. Well done. They beat | :20:49. | :20:55. | |
Swansea Bay, Leicester and Dundee. But some people are asking how did | :20:56. | :21:00. | |
Swansea Bay managed to lose because the potential gains are significant? | :21:01. | :21:06. | |
The current holder, dairy in Northern Ireland, has hosted events | :21:07. | :21:12. | |
such as the Turner prize, an outdoor theatrical extravaganza written by | :21:13. | :21:16. | |
Frank Cottrell Boyce and BBC radio one's Big Weekend. We will be | :21:17. | :21:21. | |
discussing the lost opportunity for Swansea Bay. I am delighted to | :21:22. | :21:28. | |
announce the UK City of Culture, 2017, is how. But I am also | :21:29. | :21:35. | |
delighted to pay tribute to all of the short listed candidates as well. | :21:36. | :21:39. | |
They all gave fantastic presentations. These things would | :21:40. | :21:47. | |
happen anyway. This part of the world creates its own indigenous | :21:48. | :21:54. | |
culture. We are gutted, but we pick ourselves up and we dust ourselves | :21:55. | :21:59. | |
down. We take ourselves forward. Some evident disappointment. Joining | :22:00. | :22:06. | |
me is Lleucu Siencyn, the chief executive of Literature Wales and | :22:07. | :22:09. | |
the broadcaster and broadcaster John Gower. How gutted are you? We are | :22:10. | :22:21. | |
very gutted, but it is a bitter disappointment for us all. The | :22:22. | :22:26. | |
Swansea Bay bid was a really strong one and everybody involved should be | :22:27. | :22:33. | |
congratulated. Not strong enough. I am really surprised, because if you | :22:34. | :22:39. | |
had asked me yesterday I would have said Hal would have been long down | :22:40. | :22:46. | |
at the bottom of my list. A long dead poet was not in the business of | :22:47. | :22:52. | |
celebrating anything. A small theatre company. I thought | :22:53. | :22:58. | |
Swansea's clever bit should have won out. Lester was a bit build on a | :22:59. | :23:08. | |
platform of multiculturalism. The great building in the centre of it. | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
I would have said Swansea would have been top of my list. What was the | :23:13. | :23:20. | |
weakness? Was it to do with the logo or was it more fundamental? | :23:21. | :23:26. | |
Swansea's bid was amorphous, it was about a whole region. Even although | :23:27. | :23:33. | |
that allowed them to bring in some very heavyweight names like Michael | :23:34. | :23:37. | |
Sheen, that would have been part of the problem. But you sometimes have | :23:38. | :23:42. | |
to ask yourself questions about the bigger picture. These things deliver | :23:43. | :23:48. | |
at the end of the day. As much as people say they do? For Glasgow it | :23:49. | :23:59. | |
though. It transformed Glasgow. Now Glasgow is sexy, cultured and sharp | :24:00. | :24:06. | |
and quick thinking. The big, huge, global Dylan Thomas brand and | :24:07. | :24:09. | |
despite that it does not get there. It raises a few questions. You | :24:10. | :24:17. | |
mentioned Glasgow and people in the early 90s would have said Glasgow, | :24:18. | :24:22. | |
surely not? Saint Andrews would have been more mentioned. Maybe this is a | :24:23. | :24:28. | |
subtlety that needs that cultural regeneration and Swansea does not. | :24:29. | :24:33. | |
We have got art sensors and a fantastic programme of events | :24:34. | :24:36. | |
beginning very soon, celebrating Dylan Thomas. Swansea is very much | :24:37. | :24:43. | |
at the heart of those celebrations. We have got a City of Culture | :24:44. | :24:49. | |
already and we will be celebrating that hopefully through literature | :24:50. | :24:54. | |
and other activities. You are basically saying this project might | :24:55. | :24:58. | |
not have delivered that much for Swansea as much as for other | :24:59. | :25:04. | |
cities. Is that what you are saying? If you have the seed of a successful | :25:05. | :25:08. | |
programme, any investment will develop that further. Also with the | :25:09. | :25:16. | |
Welsh Government's own investment in the Dylan Thomas celebrations next | :25:17. | :25:19. | |
year, the biggest investment in literature activities, and I am | :25:20. | :25:26. | |
thrilled with that, what we see is a strong legacy of rebranding and | :25:27. | :25:30. | |
repositioning South West Wales through the brand of Dylan Thomas | :25:31. | :25:34. | |
which will have an equally lasting legacy. Is there any point in | :25:35. | :25:40. | |
Swansea or Cardiff or any Welsh cities bidding for this kind of | :25:41. | :25:46. | |
profile in future? Or do we say we are happy with our cultural heritage | :25:47. | :25:53. | |
and richness as it is? There is a question about granting the City of | :25:54. | :25:58. | |
Culture status in the future. The main players have been rewarded in | :25:59. | :26:02. | |
the past. We are now getting down to decisions when we are thinking do we | :26:03. | :26:09. | |
need the whole process? Of course Swansea will want to bid for it | :26:10. | :26:13. | |
again because Swansea is one of these second cities. All around the | :26:14. | :26:18. | |
world you have got cities that are capitals and they have all the | :26:19. | :26:22. | |
formal business of culture. You have got other cities, like Manchester | :26:23. | :26:28. | |
versus London, worked at grassroots level it is happening. Swansea has | :26:29. | :26:35. | |
always had that mentality. Little poetry groups are happening in | :26:36. | :26:38. | |
Swansea because they want to put it on. Because of the inheritance from | :26:39. | :26:46. | |
the Dylan Thomas Centenary celebrations of course Swansea can | :26:47. | :26:50. | |
do it. They have seen the value of sport. Premiership football is | :26:51. | :26:56. | |
bringing in a lot of money and extra students into the university because | :26:57. | :27:00. | |
they can see the brand of Swansea being promoted. Like you say it is | :27:01. | :27:08. | |
already a cultural capital, a very cultured city, and has been for many | :27:09. | :27:14. | |
decades. What will be the highlight of the Dylan Thomas year? All the | :27:15. | :27:19. | |
workshops we are delivering in schools throughout Wales, not just | :27:20. | :27:26. | |
in Swansea. There are so many films, theatre projects. The main thing is | :27:27. | :27:33. | |
to return to the poetry. There are a handful of absolutely glorious | :27:34. | :27:40. | |
poems. Forget the boozy bard. Go back to the work itself. If we do | :27:41. | :27:46. | |
that, it will be a fantastic legacy. We will be back next Wednesday. In | :27:47. | :27:52. | |
the meantime you can get in touch with us on e-mail and we are on | :27:53. | :27:57. | |
twitter. As we have been discussing, Wales is to mark the | :27:58. | :28:03. | |
Centenary of Dylan Thomas' birth. I will leave you with a taste of what | :28:04. | :28:07. | |
is ahead in the coming year. Good night. Mostar. An ugly, lovely town, | :28:08. | :28:18. | |
or so it was and is to me. Crawling, sprawling by a long and splendid | :28:19. | :28:25. | |
curving shore where true with boys and sound field boys and old men | :28:26. | :28:32. | |
from nowhere beach combed, idled and watched the dog bound ships, or the | :28:33. | :28:37. | |
ships steaming away into wonder and India, magic and China, countries | :28:38. | :28:41. | |
bright with oranges... | :28:42. | :28:43. |