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proper steps are taken and we do all we can to get to the bottom of this | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
and get justice, as is rightly deserved for Poppi Worthington. | :00:00. | :00:10. | |
Order. Urgent question, Mr @ndy McDonald. Thank you Mr Speaker. Will | :00:11. | :00:15. | |
the Secretary of State for the Home Department make a statement on the | :00:16. | :00:20. | |
revelation today of discrimhnatory treatment of asylum seekers in | :00:21. | :00:27. | |
Middlesbrough? Mr Speaker, H'm grateful to the honourable gentleman | :00:28. | :00:31. | |
for asking this question. And for allowing me the opportunity to set | :00:32. | :00:34. | |
out the government's response to the issues raised in today's Tiles | :00:35. | :00:40. | |
newspaper. From the outset, I want to underline the fact the United | :00:41. | :00:43. | |
Kingdom has a proud history of granting asylum to those who need | :00:44. | :00:48. | |
it. We are committed to providing safe and secure accommodation while | :00:49. | :00:54. | |
asylum cases are considered. The immigration and Asylum act 0999 | :00:55. | :00:58. | |
introduced the policy of national dispersal designed to show the | :00:59. | :01:01. | |
impact of asylum seekers across the whole of the UK. Under this | :01:02. | :01:06. | |
arrangement, asylum seekers are housed across the UK, it in | :01:07. | :01:13. | |
arrangements that have been in place since 2000. Under current | :01:14. | :01:19. | |
arrangements, the compass contracts, three companies provide | :01:20. | :01:22. | |
accommodation, transport and related services. In Middlesbrough, they are | :01:23. | :01:28. | |
provided by G4S. As honourable and right honourable member 's would | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
have seen from my response published in The Times newspaper this morning, | :01:34. | :01:37. | |
I am deeply concerned about the issues raised about the painting of | :01:38. | :01:43. | |
doors of asylum seeker accolmodation in a single colour. Anything which | :01:44. | :01:47. | |
identifies asylum seeker accommodation for those who may wish | :01:48. | :01:51. | |
to harm those accommodated hn the properties must be avoided. I've | :01:52. | :01:59. | |
spoken to the Chief Executive officer of G4S this morning, and he | :02:00. | :02:04. | |
has assured me that neither he or their subcontractor in Middlesbrough | :02:05. | :02:11. | |
have a policy that states a property can be identified in this w`y. | :02:12. | :02:15. | |
Although they do accept that they use red paint across their portfolio | :02:16. | :02:20. | |
of properties. I've asked Home Office officials to look into this | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
matter as a matter of urgency and reports to me and the permanent | :02:26. | :02:29. | |
Secretary. G4S have advised those in the area will be repainted so there | :02:30. | :02:35. | |
is no predominant colour. I've asked them also as part of the audit that | :02:36. | :02:41. | |
we have commissioned to enstre the Compass contracts have been | :02:42. | :02:47. | |
implemented in Middlesbrough and consider the Home Office 's | :02:48. | :02:50. | |
arrangements for monitoring contract compliance in this area and more | :02:51. | :02:55. | |
generally. The Home Office works with Compass providers to m`ke sure | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
the impacts of dispersal on local communities and services ard taken | :03:01. | :03:02. | |
into account when allocating accommodation. It's the | :03:03. | :03:08. | |
responsibility of suppliers to ensure all accommodation usdd meets | :03:09. | :03:11. | |
required contractural stand`rds and complies with decent homes standard | :03:12. | :03:16. | |
specifically accommodation tsed is safe, habitable and fit for purpose. | :03:17. | :03:21. | |
Each property used is subject to a housing officer visit every 28 days | :03:22. | :03:27. | |
and Home Office contract colpliance teams inspect a third of properties | :03:28. | :03:33. | |
using intelligence led risk,based approaches to monitor stand`rds and | :03:34. | :03:36. | |
ensure any maintenance faults RX defied within prescribed tilescales. | :03:37. | :03:42. | |
Can I say to the house, I expect the highest standards from our | :03:43. | :03:46. | |
contractors and if we have dvidence of discrimination against asylum | :03:47. | :03:50. | |
seekers, I can be clear to the house it would be dealt with immediately. | :03:51. | :03:59. | |
I am very grateful to the Mhnister of his very thoughtful and | :04:00. | :04:04. | |
considered response to but H do share with the proud record | :04:05. | :04:08. | |
Middlesbrough has in welcomhng people fleeing persecution `nd | :04:09. | :04:12. | |
torture. We are very proud of the arrangements we have with otr | :04:13. | :04:14. | |
churches and charities and H am proud of those people and wd welcome | :04:15. | :04:19. | |
what they offer. But the background, as he rightly says, the contracts | :04:20. | :04:23. | |
for asylum and housing for `sylum for asylum and housing for `sylum | :04:24. | :04:29. | |
seekers in the north-east is held by G4S and excellent article ptblished | :04:30. | :04:38. | |
in the Times says 168 properties in two words, 155 of them have their | :04:39. | :04:44. | |
front doors painted red, and this is simply marks out those propdrties | :04:45. | :04:49. | |
and there are accounts of asylum seekers being abused in thehr homes | :04:50. | :04:53. | |
as a direct result of being so readily identifiable -- wards. | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
Stories of their doors being smeared with dog excrement, adorned with the | :04:58. | :05:03. | |
National front local graffiti and stones thrown at their propdrty | :05:04. | :05:09. | |
verbal abuse as well. -- National Front. Whilst such a policy may not | :05:10. | :05:14. | |
be deliberate, G4S clearly have to think this policy through. There is | :05:15. | :05:18. | |
a risk of undermining social cohesion and the safety of those | :05:19. | :05:23. | |
seeking sanctuary and I am ` gassed they claim no knowledge of this But | :05:24. | :05:28. | |
worse they have taken to reledy the situation it is important action is | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
taken as a matter of supremd urgency and that the contract and | :05:33. | :05:35. | |
subcontractor or held to account. The minister speaks about the way | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
the contract is managed. I would ask him to stick to that theory that he | :05:41. | :05:44. | |
has outlined in such great detail, because I am aware that the practice | :05:45. | :05:49. | |
is far from the theory, and many people can be confined to one | :05:50. | :05:52. | |
bedroom and it simply is not dignified and it is not a | :05:53. | :05:56. | |
humanitarian response to put people in those conditions. The public | :05:57. | :06:00. | |
policy implications for contracting out these arrangements, I think are | :06:01. | :06:04. | |
devastating. These are not latters for people to get public profit from | :06:05. | :06:09. | |
I think it is a matter for Government and local governlent | :06:10. | :06:11. | |
local government being the best organisation to look at the wider | :06:12. | :06:19. | |
implications of welcoming pdople into our communities. Can I ask him, | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
when he first heard of this concern, and when did G4S become aware of it, | :06:25. | :06:32. | |
and what action was taken? @nd what steps is his department takhng to | :06:33. | :06:36. | |
ensure the readily identifi`ble red doors are corrected, and ovdr what | :06:37. | :06:42. | |
timescale? At the moment thdy are acknowledging it now and ard saying | :06:43. | :06:46. | |
they will do it over three to six months, and I suggest to thd | :06:47. | :06:49. | |
Minister that is simply not acceptable. This must be done as a | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
matter of supreme urgency. H have in mind a timetable more alike three to | :06:55. | :06:58. | |
six weeks rather than months and I would like him to address that - | :06:59. | :07:02. | |
more alike. If the Minister concludes this is discrimin`tory | :07:03. | :07:05. | |
action on their behalf, what action will he take? In short, if he could | :07:06. | :07:10. | |
outline what penalties he h`d available to him to make sure this | :07:11. | :07:16. | |
contract, G4S, who quite fr`nkly have suffered a great deal of | :07:17. | :07:22. | |
reputational damage over recent times, and the others, are held to | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
account? Can I thank the honourable gentleman for the way in whhch he | :07:27. | :07:30. | |
has raised his concerns? Eqtally, like him, I would like to p`y | :07:31. | :07:33. | |
tribute to the work Middlesbrough has done for many years in seeking | :07:34. | :07:38. | |
to accommodate asylum seekers and the approach they have taken as an | :07:39. | :07:44. | |
authority. He will be well `ware of the number of discussions that have | :07:45. | :07:49. | |
taken place between my officials, Home Office officials and | :07:50. | :07:52. | |
Middlesbrough Council in relation to, for example, the concentration, | :07:53. | :07:56. | |
the numbers of asylum seekers, the fact Middlesbrough is the only place | :07:57. | :08:00. | |
in the country where our threshold of one in 200 is exceeded, `nd again | :08:01. | :08:04. | |
I would ask my officials to look at that issue closely on levels of | :08:05. | :08:08. | |
concentration, and a plan to bring that back within the appropriate | :08:09. | :08:13. | |
standards we have set in terms of concentration. On the issue he | :08:14. | :08:21. | |
highlights specifically, thd reporting in the Times newspaper | :08:22. | :08:24. | |
today, and equally some of the points he has identified, the | :08:25. | :08:28. | |
experiences of some people accommodated within the housing | :08:29. | :08:36. | |
within Middlesbrough. ICI condemn absolutely any crimes of hate, any | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
actions that so divisions whthin communities | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
# ICI condemn. Or any actions which seek to intimidate or mark out | :08:46. | :08:48. | |
asylum seekers in some way. We have been in contact with the local | :08:49. | :08:56. | |
police this morning to underline any issues of community reassur`nce I | :08:57. | :08:58. | |
know they are actively conshdering any appropriate states to bd | :08:59. | :09:04. | |
regarded but, clearly, if pdople have complained around hate crime | :09:05. | :09:08. | |
they should make those complaints to the police so they are therdfore | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
followed through and action taken appropriately. He has asked me about | :09:13. | :09:15. | |
the urgency of response. I can underline to him that as soon as I | :09:16. | :09:20. | |
heard about this reporting, which was leaked last week when the | :09:21. | :09:26. | |
newspaper first contacted us, at that stage I instructed offhcials to | :09:27. | :09:29. | |
look into the matter urgently because of the very serious concerns | :09:30. | :09:32. | |
I had from what I was hearing around this, and therefore I expect the | :09:33. | :09:38. | |
audit to be concluded on thd Home Office site quickly and speddily and | :09:39. | :09:41. | |
I would expect their work to be completed at the latest by the end | :09:42. | :09:47. | |
of this month. In respect to the work of G4S, we do have an ongoing | :09:48. | :09:53. | |
regime of inspection of the maintenance and conditions of the | :09:54. | :09:56. | |
properties and G4S have met standards where it should h`ve been | :09:57. | :09:59. | |
identified of maintenance that requires medial action. Thex have | :10:00. | :10:03. | |
followed through on that, btt again we will be looking closely `t this | :10:04. | :10:07. | |
in the context of the audit. The conversation with the chief | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
executive of G4S this morning I had, he underlined the seriousness and | :10:12. | :10:14. | |
urgency with which they takd this issue and in the context of the | :10:15. | :10:18. | |
repainting of doors to make sure there is no predominant colour, they | :10:19. | :10:24. | |
underlined the sense of urgdncy that he and G4S attached to this and | :10:25. | :10:27. | |
certainly I underline I expdcted this to be done quickly and that was | :10:28. | :10:31. | |
the message I got back from G4S in that context. This is a matter | :10:32. | :10:36. | |
therefore that I take with ttmost concern. It is something thd Home | :10:37. | :10:40. | |
Office is working at closelx and, as I say, we will look at this | :10:41. | :10:45. | |
carefully, rigorously, and so it is not simply a question of looking at | :10:46. | :10:49. | |
the contract. If issues need to be brought to the attention of the | :10:50. | :10:52. | |
police and criminal action taken, that will be a matter for the police | :10:53. | :10:57. | |
but I again urge those with any evidence to come forward to ensure | :10:58. | :11:02. | |
that is dealt with appropri`tely. Can I echo the plea for urgdnt | :11:03. | :11:06. | |
action on the ground? For the particular reason that throtghout | :11:07. | :11:12. | |
the last 15 years, when asylum policy, and the numbers of `sylum | :11:13. | :11:17. | |
seekers, have been a hugely sensitive public issue, one of the | :11:18. | :11:21. | |
best things is that actuallx on the ground in communities there has been | :11:22. | :11:25. | |
very little pension. And very little violence. It is actually, it human | :11:26. | :11:31. | |
level, a policy which has bden handled very well, it would be | :11:32. | :11:36. | |
tragic if that were to end with some of the actions we have heard | :11:37. | :11:42. | |
described in Middlesbrough. Obviously the Minister will have to | :11:43. | :11:45. | |
take another of actions which will take some time, but in terms of the | :11:46. | :11:48. | |
immediate on the ground acthon, if what is required in the short-term | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
is to repaint 150 front doors then frankly this should not be taking | :11:54. | :11:57. | |
three months or three weeks. The painter should be out now and it | :11:58. | :12:00. | |
should be done by the weekend and I hope the Minister can ensurd that | :12:01. | :12:05. | |
that kind of urgency will bd shown. I am grateful to my right honourable | :12:06. | :12:08. | |
friend for his comments and obviously someone with understanding | :12:09. | :12:13. | |
and experience of this, havhng been a previous holder of the office I | :12:14. | :12:18. | |
know hold as Immigration Minister, I can certainly assure him of the | :12:19. | :12:22. | |
urgency I have impressed upon G S in respect of resolving this issue | :12:23. | :12:27. | |
quickly. The Chief Executivd Officer underlined he recognised thhs and | :12:28. | :12:32. | |
understood this clearly. We will be monitoring the situation closely. I | :12:33. | :12:35. | |
have asked officials to go to Middlesbrough tomorrow to assess the | :12:36. | :12:39. | |
situation on the ground, to start the work in relation to this audit. | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
And therefore I hope that rdassures my right honourable friend of the | :12:44. | :12:47. | |
urgency with which I do and my officials do, and from what we are | :12:48. | :12:56. | |
hearing, G4S attached to thhs matter. To reports in the Thmes | :12:57. | :13:00. | |
today are obviously deeply concerning and I recognise the | :13:01. | :13:03. | |
concern expressed by the Minister and the steps he has alreadx taken | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
to try to get to the bottom of this. The report is concerning because | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
obviously the context, the fact this has happened, and I know it is early | :13:12. | :13:21. | |
days, but it is right there doing these doors were painted red, there | :13:22. | :13:24. | |
seems to be no disputing thd facts. But because of the underpinning | :13:25. | :13:27. | |
arrangements, how did this come about? How did no one think this was | :13:28. | :13:32. | |
inappropriate for these doors to be painted in the way they werd | :13:33. | :13:35. | |
painted? Particularly when the Minister has outlined that there is | :13:36. | :13:40. | |
a Home Office inspection regime and there is a local authority `ssurance | :13:41. | :13:46. | |
scheme, how did nobody throtgh those arrangements think there was | :13:47. | :13:49. | |
anything wrong with this arrangement? There is obviotsly also | :13:50. | :13:58. | |
concern about the consequences. Hate crime is increasing, I think by 18% | :13:59. | :14:02. | |
last year, and the consequence of this has been hate crime in | :14:03. | :14:08. | |
Middlesbrough, a concern in its own right. I echo the concern that the | :14:09. | :14:11. | |
sooner something is done to rectify this, the better. There is `lso the | :14:12. | :14:15. | |
concern that this is only bdfore the House today, Mr Speaker, because of | :14:16. | :14:19. | |
the careful work of Andrew Norfolk at the Times and not through some | :14:20. | :14:24. | |
internalised inspection or `uditing scheme which has flagged up as a | :14:25. | :14:28. | |
matter of concern for now. H have a number of questions. The Minister | :14:29. | :14:31. | |
has said when he first knew and I appreciate he has put in pl`ce steps | :14:32. | :14:36. | |
already to make further inqtiries, and they are welcome. But I do ask | :14:37. | :14:40. | |
how did this escape whatever regime is in place of inspection or | :14:41. | :14:47. | |
assurance? And, indeed, werd these properties inspected or asstred by | :14:48. | :14:52. | |
the Home Office or anybody dlse If not, what can be done to improve | :14:53. | :14:58. | |
that regime? What conversathons has the Minister had with the p`rticular | :14:59. | :15:04. | |
contractors, in Middlesbrough? And also is this an isolated ex`mple? Is | :15:05. | :15:09. | |
this just something that has happened in Middlesbrough, or are | :15:10. | :15:11. | |
there are other examples of it in other parts of the country? Have | :15:12. | :15:16. | |
inquiries been made about that? If so, what have they shown so far If | :15:17. | :15:22. | |
not, can they be inquiries? And what further conversations can bd had | :15:23. | :15:27. | |
with all private providers of accommodation to ensure this | :15:28. | :15:31. | |
situation simply does not occur again anywhere, and if it h`s | :15:32. | :15:37. | |
occurred anywhere else, that it is rectified as soon as possible? Thank | :15:38. | :15:44. | |
you, Mr Speaker. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have highlighted | :15:45. | :15:48. | |
obviously I have spoken to the Chief Executive of G4S this morning, and I | :15:49. | :15:54. | |
have asked work to be carridd out to assess whether this is an isolated | :15:55. | :15:58. | |
issue or not, and how we can speak to all of the providers who are | :15:59. | :16:04. | |
under the contract and inquhries made with their subcontractors as | :16:05. | :16:09. | |
well. From initial investig`tions, it does seem that some provhders of | :16:10. | :16:17. | |
social housing May for maintenance purposes simply paint any p`rticular | :16:18. | :16:22. | |
colour, so that is something we are investigating further and the point | :16:23. | :16:28. | |
has been made that around 40% of their overall portfolio is for | :16:29. | :16:34. | |
asylum accommodation, but this is precisely the issue, I can see, we | :16:35. | :16:38. | |
will be focusing on is part of the audit work I have commissioned and | :16:39. | :16:44. | |
indeed, if there are lessons to be learned from this in terms of the | :16:45. | :16:50. | |
ongoing maintenance inspecthon and they are doing is work going on to | :16:51. | :16:54. | |
find out whether there are steps that should be taken by a | :16:55. | :16:59. | |
contractors. It is that work I have tasked as part of this examhnation. | :17:00. | :17:04. | |
I underline again this whold issue of hate crime. We take this with | :17:05. | :17:08. | |
great seriousness and significance and indeed in terms of forthcoming | :17:09. | :17:13. | |
work on hate crime it is solething this Government remains foctsed on | :17:14. | :17:20. | |
and will continue to do so. He asks about inspection is undertaken. As I | :17:21. | :17:24. | |
say, it is a matter for us to look at the processes and procedtres as | :17:25. | :17:32. | |
to why this issue was not identified earlier, or its significancd, and I | :17:33. | :17:35. | |
have noted reports in the press and elsewhere of this being highlighted | :17:36. | :17:39. | |
to G4S and potentially further, and it is precisely that we are seeking | :17:40. | :17:46. | |
to get to the bottom of. Th`nk you, Mr Speaker. I congratulate `nd would | :17:47. | :17:49. | |
like to thank the honourabld member for Middlesbrough for bringhng this | :17:50. | :17:51. | |
to the floor of the House bdcause the provision of accommodathon to | :17:52. | :17:57. | |
asylum seekers is a subject deserving serious scrutiny, and in | :17:58. | :18:00. | |
that regard I welcome the commission of an urgent audit of asylul in the | :18:01. | :18:06. | |
north-east announced by members and I and members on this bench sure | :18:07. | :18:10. | |
this and will have been app`lled by the revolution which seems to have | :18:11. | :18:17. | |
been at best an eye-watering league -- eye-watering level of neglect of | :18:18. | :18:20. | |
policy. But the story of thd red doors is very troubling and the | :18:21. | :18:25. | |
delivery of asylum accommod`tion across the country is a bro`der | :18:26. | :18:28. | |
issue and also raises all sorts of similar concerns. Will the | :18:29. | :18:31. | |
Government listen to those concerns? When I speak to the Scottish refugee | :18:32. | :18:35. | |
Council, I hear about probldms of poor quality accommodation, poor | :18:36. | :18:41. | |
treatment of asylum seekers by staff, sometimes due to a l`ck of | :18:42. | :18:45. | |
training or because of inexcusable abuse and mistreatment. I hdar | :18:46. | :18:48. | |
complaint about inappropriate sharing of accommodation, and not | :18:49. | :18:51. | |
much a lack of integration of the services referred to by the | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
Minister, but the complete `nd utter fragmentation of those servhces | :18:56. | :18:58. | |
Will the Minister Brogden inquiry into the provision of accomlodation | :18:59. | :19:02. | |
to asylum seekers to reflect those concerns? And inquiry that speaks to | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
asylum seekers living in accommodation provided by Government | :19:07. | :19:09. | |
contract is and speaks to organisations such as the Scottish | :19:10. | :19:14. | |
refugee Council who could h`ve so much input into such an inqtiry | :19:15. | :19:17. | |
Finally, can the Minister also confirmed when a decision rdquires | :19:18. | :19:19. | |
to be made into the extension of these contracts, and what | :19:20. | :19:24. | |
opportunities will there be for parliamentarians to scrutinhse and | :19:25. | :19:24. | |
have input into that decision? I can say to the honourable | :19:25. | :19:34. | |
gentleman that in respect to property standards, they ard | :19:35. | :19:37. | |
monitored under the Compass arrangements by three key pdrforming | :19:38. | :19:43. | |
indicators. To ensure that accommodation is safe, habitable and | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
fit for purpose. Accommodathon is inspected frequently by G4S, the | :19:48. | :19:52. | |
local authority and the Homd Office. As I've already indicated there are | :19:53. | :19:55. | |
processes in place where hotsing officers visit every 28 days with | :19:56. | :20:04. | |
our overall compliance approach in inspecting on an intelligence led | :20:05. | :20:08. | |
basis. The gentleman makes ` point about complaints, provisions are in | :20:09. | :20:12. | |
the contract to make sure that complaints should be escalated, | :20:13. | :20:16. | |
taken seriously, and that is something that I want the atdit to | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
understand in terms of what we see in respect to the north-east and | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
that will be pursued in that way. He asks for a broadening of thd | :20:26. | :20:34. | |
arrangements. I don't judge that it is appropriate, the audit whll | :20:35. | :20:37. | |
consider whether any further action is needed at that stage. It is | :20:38. | :20:43. | |
extraordinary that with all of these inspections, that have occurred it | :20:44. | :20:48. | |
took a journalist as distinguished as Andrew Norfolk to expose the | :20:49. | :20:52. | |
problems that are occurring. Though I accept of course what the Minister | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
has said, he's acted with great speed in putting measures in place | :20:58. | :21:00. | |
but the fact remains that the home affairs committee has writtdn to | :21:01. | :21:05. | |
ministers in the past worryhng and being concerned about the Compass | :21:06. | :21:10. | |
contract. What ministers have done over the years is given these | :21:11. | :21:14. | |
contracts to big companies like G4S and psycho who are once removed from | :21:15. | :21:24. | |
the real providers. G4S, as this house knows, are serial offdnders in | :21:25. | :21:29. | |
respect to these breaches. With the greatest will in the world `nd his | :21:30. | :21:32. | |
commitment to making sure something will be done, I don't believe an | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
audit will be sufficient. If there is an acceptance these doors were | :21:37. | :21:42. | |
painted in a certain colour, that is appalling and should have bden | :21:43. | :21:46. | |
discussed and discovered earlier. Will the Minister undertakes that | :21:47. | :21:50. | |
when the audit is complete, he will either give a statement to the house | :21:51. | :21:54. | |
or come to the select committee with its findings. The right honourable | :21:55. | :22:03. | |
gentleman will no that I am a frequent a parent before his | :22:04. | :22:07. | |
committee to provide updates to his committee and, by extension to the | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
house, on matters relating to the immigration system, I may bd | :22:13. | :22:17. | |
appearing before his committee in the near term which could provide an | :22:18. | :22:22. | |
opportunity for me to updatd an opportunity for his committde and by | :22:23. | :22:27. | |
extension other honourable lembers in respect to the work. I c`n give | :22:28. | :22:34. | |
him that assurance. Whether there was any acceptance or knowlddge of | :22:35. | :22:37. | |
the doors being painted in ` particular colour, as I've `lready | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
said to the house, I think there is a practice among some social housing | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
providers to paint in a particular colour for maintenance issuds but it | :22:47. | :22:49. | |
is precisely those factors that I will want to understand as part of | :22:50. | :22:53. | |
the audit in not any what h`s happened in the north-east but on | :22:54. | :22:59. | |
the inspection regimes that we have to make sure standards and | :23:00. | :23:07. | |
complaints are being dealt with We have journalists like Andrew Norfolk | :23:08. | :23:14. | |
who help, of course, to expose the Rotherham abuse scandal. Isn't it a | :23:15. | :23:21. | |
matter of concern that whendver some abuse is known, or comes into the | :23:22. | :23:24. | |
public arena, the minister lakes a statement. Some way or another, G4S | :23:25. | :23:31. | |
is involved and it is a matter that I would have thought would cause | :23:32. | :23:37. | |
concern to the Home Secretary and her ministers. I don't, for one | :23:38. | :23:42. | |
moment, question the Ministdr 's total objections like the rdst of us | :23:43. | :23:47. | |
to any form of discrimination. But, should those responsible for what | :23:48. | :23:52. | |
has occurred, the painting of red on doors, where asylum seekers are | :23:53. | :23:56. | |
concerned, be told in the clearest possible language that cert`in | :23:57. | :24:06. | |
aspects of 1936 Berlin will not be repeated in 2016 Britain? I think we | :24:07. | :24:13. | |
need to look at this issue very closely and carefully, that is | :24:14. | :24:16. | |
precisely what we have commhtted to do. I do say, in relation to G4S and | :24:17. | :24:24. | |
the properties they are providing in the north-east, that we did examine | :24:25. | :24:31. | |
around 84 properties which were successfully completed in tdrms of | :24:32. | :24:34. | |
those inspections and where there were defects that were identified, | :24:35. | :24:40. | |
action has been taken. From our assessment, there are no kex | :24:41. | :24:43. | |
performance indicator failures in respect to Middlesbrough. The world | :24:44. | :24:52. | |
will examine this further. This house has telegraphed its mdssage | :24:53. | :24:57. | |
clearly today in standing against hate crime and discrimination and | :24:58. | :25:00. | |
ensuring those here today h`ve sought -- and have sought asylum are | :25:01. | :25:07. | |
given a fair welcome to the country, as we would expect. It is mx | :25:08. | :25:11. | |
understanding that concerns about this practice of painting doors read | :25:12. | :25:16. | |
was first raised in 2012 by my Liberal Democrat colleague Suzanne | :25:17. | :25:23. | |
Fletcher. She pursued the issue doggedly ever since, and it is | :25:24. | :25:28. | |
largely due to her efforts that the issue has come to light tod`y. She | :25:29. | :25:33. | |
was told by G4S that they rdceived no complaints. So there was no need | :25:34. | :25:38. | |
to take any action. That cannot be the case. Does that not raise, in | :25:39. | :25:43. | |
the Minister's mind, perhaps some suspicion, at least, that an audit | :25:44. | :25:51. | |
is going to be required. Yet again, G4S have come to public attdntion | :25:52. | :25:54. | |
for the wrong reasons and ydt again they have been found wanting. I can | :25:55. | :25:59. | |
say to the right honourable gentleman that the issue of | :26:00. | :26:02. | |
complaints and when this was first known to G4S was something that I | :26:03. | :26:06. | |
did discuss with the Chief Dxecutive earlier this morning. It is a matter | :26:07. | :26:10. | |
that he's committed to examhne further and get to the bottom for | :26:11. | :26:14. | |
their satisfaction as to how they've handled this matter. It is ` | :26:15. | :26:19. | |
question, I think, of doing the audit I have commissioned urgently | :26:20. | :26:23. | |
to see what the situation on the ground is and to understand how the | :26:24. | :26:27. | |
inspection and audit regime has been conducted thus far. Obviously I | :26:28. | :26:30. | |
would want to reflect on wh`t that tells me. Jomast has a major base in | :26:31. | :26:37. | |
my constituency. This is not the first time they've come unddr | :26:38. | :26:41. | |
national media scrutiny for the wrong reasons. I've visited some of | :26:42. | :26:45. | |
the hovels that have apparently passed the test of decent homes | :26:46. | :26:53. | |
while the Minister in choirs further into this latest scandal, -, | :26:54. | :27:00. | |
enquires. The standards of Teesside accommodation, including hotses of | :27:01. | :27:05. | |
multiple occupation in my constituency, and get a better deal | :27:06. | :27:08. | |
and value for money for both tenants and the government? As I've already | :27:09. | :27:15. | |
indicated to the house, a kdy part of the work that we undertake is to | :27:16. | :27:21. | |
see that accommodation is s`fe, habitable and fit for purpose. That | :27:22. | :27:28. | |
is what the inspection regile looks act and, to date, the advicd I have | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
seen shows that the standards have been met. As part of the audit, we | :27:33. | :27:37. | |
will focus on that element `nd see what that information tells us. | :27:38. | :27:44. | |
Order. Presentation of Bill. Mr Christopher Chope. | :27:45. | :27:54. | |
House of Commons members fund bill. Second reading. What | :27:55. | :27:55. |