15/12/2015 House of Commons


15/12/2015

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Hello and welcome to BBC Parliament and live coverage from the House of

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Parliament. -- House of Commons. There are two debates today tabled

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by the Labour Party. One is on climate change and flooding and the

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other will focus on the Government's record on housing. I will be here at

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11pm this evening. First we have questions for the Secretary of State

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for Business, Innovation and Skills. The first question is from the

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Lincoln MP. Order, order. Questions to the

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Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. Good morning.

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Mr Speaker, I am sure the House will want to join me in sending best

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wishes to Tim Peake who has blasted towards space only 20 minutes ago.

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We are reforming technical education and making clear written to

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education and employment. We are spending ?2.5 billion on

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apprenticeships and ?1.5 billion on adult skills. We are establishing

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specialist colleges. I would like to join the Secretary of State. There

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are a pulled or of opportunities. Does the Minister agree that

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prioritising funding for young adults is the right thing to do for

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a Conservative Government? I absolutely agree and I know that he

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cares passionately about skills for young adults. We have prioritised

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spending in further education in the recent spending review and this will

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allow colleges, like Lincoln College, to offer more to young

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people. Further education colleges are vital in engineering and

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construction apprenticeships, where there is a shortage of skills across

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the country. What assessment he has the Minister made in the cuts in

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funding to further education colleges in delivering these much

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needed agendas. I'm surprised he's talking about cuts in further

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education spending. I know the party opposite was care among about that,

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but we have protected the adult education budget and we are doubling

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spending on apprenticeships and we have extended the availability of

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loans. This taken together will mean that by 2020 there will be an

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increase in further education spending 35% could better this year.

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I welcome the removal of the cap on university places, but what

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assessment has been made of the effect of the removal of that cap on

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further education colleges, such as the one in my constituency, as they

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are fishing from the same pool in terms of apprenticeships? I welcome

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the question from my right honourable friend. There is an

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increase in that and that's the kind of diversity and grow the B want to

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see. It is smoke and mirrors with the Secretary of State because he

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knows the Chancellor has announced an extra ?360 million of savings to

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the adult skills budget. Will he come to the dispatch box and come

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clean and tell us where the cuts will be made? I can tell the

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Honourable Gentleman that there will be a skills funding letter issued by

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my department that will answer some of the questions that he raises, but

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he misses the point I made a moment ago. The adult education budget is

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protected, we are doubling the spending on apprenticeships, and the

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further education budget will be up by the end of this Parliament in

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real terms. Mr Speaker, the Met office plays a key role in our

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economy. The public weather service assessed that as delivering up to

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?1.5 billion of annual value. I am a shareholder and I hope them to

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account to ensure that they deliver value for money for the taxpayer.

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The BBC reported in 2012 that in 11 of the previous 12 years predictions

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about increases in temperature had been wrong and there had been a warm

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bias. Should the Minister be asking some tough questions at the next

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board meeting as to why we should be imposed on climate change policies

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on businesses and householders when the predictions behind them often

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prove to be an accurate? I like to ask difficult questions. In my

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honourable friend own constituency the Met office plays a key role in

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protecting property and lace. We should commend them and the work

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that they do. Question number three. I cheer the exporter implementation

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task force which is driving support for exports. In November, we

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launched a five-year exporting is great campaign which promotes global

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export opportunities to business. In November I hosted an event in my

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constituency with the China -Britain business Council. I asked more

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businesses to come to find out more with trading with China. It is

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helping to organise 50 people organise similar events. How will

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the Minister help small businesses expand into these markets? Can I

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commend my honourable friend on her efforts to encourage businesses in

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her constituency to export more to China. While exports to China have

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doubles, there is a lot more potential. The recent visit by the

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Chinese president helped to highlight that and the effort that

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she is making is an example to us all. What steps has the Secretary of

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State taken since the steel summits to increase trade opportunities for

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the UK's steel industry? He makes an important point, the more that we

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can exports of the higher value steel products, the more we can

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help. We have been discussing this with steel producers and we are

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coming up with a plan. They will feature in our trade meetings that

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we have in due course. Next month I will be hosting an event to

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encourage more local businesses to consider exporting. Can my right

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honourable friend outline what the Government is doing to encourage new

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businesses to export? I can talk of a number of initiatives. There is a

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website, a road show that will be visiting constituencies, the work

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that UK TIA are doing -- UKTI. There will also be a Midlands would show.

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As part of the work of the exporter implementation group, will the

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Secretary of State explore all options to access new markets for

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all of our farm produce. Particularly in North America and

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Southeast Asia. Absolutely. The honourable lady makes a good point.

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This has been taken very seriously. One thing we have done recently is

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to move some of the UKTI resources into the Secretary of State

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department so there is better coordination. I was talking to a

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senior Indian businessmen and asked him how we could increase trade with

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India. He said there one thing we could do is leave the European

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Union. With the Secretary of State, either as Secretary of State or

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personally, endorse these comments? Last week I was speaking to a lot of

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Indian businessmen and women and a lot of Indian students and there is

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one area that we can certainly increase our exports to India and an

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active education. -- increase our exports to India and that is in

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education. The trade deficit is widening. Exports of goods, perhaps

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he should listen to this, exports of goods from the UK actually fell last

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month by ?700 million. It is a pity we cannot exports spin as the

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Government is very good at that. What is his excuse for the

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Government's dismal record on the trade deficit? The Honourable

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Gentleman shouldn't do down our world-class exporters as they are

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doing a fantastic job. They can exports wine to France, chocolate to

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Belgium, boomerang is to stay earlier. I fear this is the same

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boomerang that keeps coming back. Question number four, Mr Speaker. Mr

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Speaker, we have given employers control over apprenticeships

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standards and we require them all to last 12 months and involve

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substantial of the job training. We will be setting up an independent

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employer led Institute to improve standards and ensure quality in the

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future. I thank the Minister for his response and I welcome the fact

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there have been almost 1100 apprenticeships starting in the last

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12 months and my constituency, but I know there are concerns from

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business that there may be a focus on quantity and not quality. What

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assurances can the Minister gave that that will not be the case.

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There is no tension between quality and quantity. We want better quality

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because they're more employers will offer apprenticeships, like BMW, and

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I welcome the high-quality apprenticeships that they are

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creating. The Minister will know that Ofsted have said

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apprenticeships are not good enough. A lot of people in industry believe

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that the only way the 3 million target will be hit will be by

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reducing quality further. What reassurance can he provide?

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Ofsted has highlighted a practice which was familiar to all of ours

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for a long time and has inspired the reforms we are putting in place to

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replace all apprenticeships with the standards agreed by employers that

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have two last at least 12 months and at least 25% of the job training. We

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are ensuring that we will have increased quality at all levels.

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Where I disagree is in the suggestion that a level to

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scholarship is not high-quality. Existing level to apprenticeships

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increase incomes on average by 11% three to five years later. There

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were 970 new starts in my constituency last year, many in

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engineering and technology. Will he join me by congratulating those

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apprenticeship is and does he agree that it shows our commitment to

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apprenticeships of high quality? It is a stunning achievement in his

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constituency and I know that it is in large part due to the excellent

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Pro Pat which is one of the first institutions to have become a

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college in a long time. I would be happy to revisit it any time. Can I

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suggest that he finds way to harness the power of trade unions in this

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area? A very interesting suggestion. The honourable gentleman will know

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that I greatly value the work the trade unions do in encouraging

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employees to take up training opportunities and it is why we

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continue to fund Union Learn In That Direction. Snap on is a major

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manufacturer of tools and its UK headquarters is in Kettering,

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because they are looking to increase investment in apprenticeships, would

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he accent my -- accent my invitation to come and open the institution

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next month. If the whips allowed me, I will be there. My department is

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leading cross Parliament work on apprentices. The UK export hub will

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travel around the country to give assistance face-to-face to

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exporters. Feedback from business in my constituency suggests that there

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needs to be more support for SMEs exporting less than half ?1 million

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worth of goods and once given support it is complicated by red

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tape. How would he minister responded to those businesses? I

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agree that we should always look to do more to help SMEs export more. He

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may know that we recently had a regional trade mission, the Northern

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Powerhouse trade mission, which I lead, to the Far East. It included

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companies from his constituency. The airline has exported luxury boats

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across the world but we have heard news of redundancies. Many of the

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employees are currently on lay-offs periods and reduced pay. Would he do

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what he can to make sure redundancy payments are expedited, particularly

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with Christmas around the corner. It is a difficult time and I will look

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into that with discussions to find a potential buyer. Does the government

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foresee difficulties long-term with the transatlantic trade agreement

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with the United States. Especially with regard to exporting to the

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United Kingdom agricultural food products. Discussions are still

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going on. It is by its very nation complicated. Agri- products need

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carefully looking at. Once the dealers done, it could be worth ?400

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to every household in the UK. In my former career, I exported

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broadcasting equipment to 48 countries worldwide, no thanks to

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the EU and their regulations. Really, you need to have ten three X

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chutzpah to export. How can we go about getting more of that? Wenping

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can be sure of is that the honourable gentleman has plenty of

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chutzpah and I'm he will deliver more of that. We want all Company to

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do everything they can. The government's so-called support for

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exports has seen grants converted to loans and the sudden closure of the

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business growth service. Businesses supported by it grew four times

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faster than other businesses. The scheme created 83,000 jobs and

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netted over 3.5 billion to the National economy. As one mentors

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said, the closure doesn't make sense considering its huge success and may

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prove detrimental to Britain's economic help. What message does the

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closure send to businesses that want to grow and given the outstanding

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record of success it to show and -- doesn't it show the government

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attitude to export. There was little evidence that it was the best way to

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help those businesses which is to make sure we have a continuing the

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growing economy, faster than our rivals, so we can support the

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long-term economic plan. We are providing 39 LEPs with funding

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through growth hubs. Employers with a payroll bill of over ?3 million

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per year will be required to pay the apprenticeship levy which will raise

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?3 billion to support apprenticeship training throughout Scotland. We

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hope that the apprenticeship levy will provide opportunities for young

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people south of the border, as well as the 25,000 who started an

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apprenticeship in Scotland this year. Is he aware of the Association

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of learning providers concerns that the money raised by the levy is

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likely to be less than was previously thought? I'm delighted

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that he is proud of the 25,000 modern apprenticeship starts in

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Scotland. We are proud of the half a million stats that we have had in

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the last year in England. It would suggest that we can both take pride

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in our commitment to apprenticeships. I hope we will

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welcome the fact that the apprenticeship levy will be

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generating resources that will impart the sent to Scotland. The oil

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and gas industry faces distinct challenges at present. I know that

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this levy May represent a significant challenge to those

:20:20.:20:24.

businesses. It represents an additional cost at a time when

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controlling cost is of paramount importance. Will he meet a

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delegation from the industry to hear their concerns and how they can take

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advantage of these circumstances? I will ask them what they think of her

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party's plans for Scotland which rested on an oil price of ?100 per

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barrel. It would currently find themselves linked to the IMF. We are

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protecting funding for adult education at 1.5 billion per year in

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cash terms. We are extending advance loans to adult learners and

:21:18.:21:20.

increasing spending on adult apprenticeships to ?1.5 million by

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2020. This means that the total funding for adult skills training

:21:26.:21:32.

will be 36% higher in the last year of this parliament man in the first.

:21:33.:21:39.

Salford city College is one of over 100 colleges who have protested at

:21:40.:21:47.

real year-on-year funding cuts. A mounting now to 40%. Despite this

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promise not to cut adult skills from FC colleges Treasury documents now

:21:54.:22:01.

say that there will be ?360 billion worth of savings and efficiencies.

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Can the Minister tell others how this can be achieved? Her college

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like many others wrote to the Prime Minister before the spending review

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and in response to the flag-waving before from the opposition who

:22:19.:22:24.

predicted a 25-40% cut in the adult skills budget. If the honourable

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lady had taken the trouble to attend the spending review she would have

:22:29.:22:33.

heard that actually he is protecting it in cash terms while increasing

:22:34.:22:36.

the funding for apprenticeships which colleges could bid for. If she

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spoke to her college, she would discover that they are pleasantly

:22:44.:22:48.

surprised by the funding settlement. Any credible long-term economic plan

:22:49.:22:55.

would recognise the critical importance of adult reskilling but

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this government has systematically cut adult skills by 40% since 2010

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including a 24% cut in February of non-printed ship funding. That is

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probably why the Chancellor. About making any reference to the further

:23:14.:23:17.

cuts in the Autumn leaving it in his blue book to talk about saving

:23:18.:23:25.

through efficiencies. Will the Minister say precisely what the ?1.5

:23:26.:23:31.

billion he talks off of core funding is made up of? Does it include over

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25 you rolled Lowes, 50% of which won't be taken up? Aisling --

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25-year-old loans. I am earning my salary today. We have launched a

:23:52.:23:58.

process to consider every area's skills needs. And how we can best

:23:59.:24:05.

meet them. The Kent review is due to start in 2016. I welcome the review

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and I would like to point out that Sittingbourne, the largest town in

:24:14.:24:21.

Kent is without its own further education college. We have an

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opportunity to change that situation and I invite the Minister to visit

:24:25.:24:30.

the skills Centre in my constituency to learn how it could be easily and

:24:31.:24:35.

cheaply X banded into a small college. I have had a message from

:24:36.:24:43.

the whips saying that they would only be too delighted to allow me to

:24:44.:24:49.

visit more constituencies. Of course, we don't hear from the

:24:50.:24:54.

opposition celebrating when new institutions are setup, including

:24:55.:24:57.

the Swale skills Centre which has been set up by a very successful

:24:58.:25:01.

academies trust which is already doing a great job of running local

:25:02.:25:10.

schools. I consulted on the proposal to free student loan repayment

:25:11.:25:15.

threshold and received responses from interested parties. I have

:25:16.:25:20.

decided to proceed with the freezing of the threshold. Does the Secretary

:25:21.:25:28.

of State agree that if if a commercial company had made a

:25:29.:25:30.

retrospective change to a contract in this way, costing students ?6,000

:25:31.:25:36.

in the process, there would likely be an investigation? Does he accept

:25:37.:25:44.

that in doing so he has breached the trust of former, current and future

:25:45.:25:50.

students? I accept that these were the right set of changes. I

:25:51.:25:55.

considered the responses carefully. It is important to strike the right

:25:56.:26:00.

balance between students having the ability and opportunity to go to

:26:01.:26:05.

university and the interests of the taxpayer, making sure we have an

:26:06.:26:09.

affordable and sustainable funding process. Can the Secretary of State

:26:10.:26:16.

confirmed despite negative, it is opposite that record levels of young

:26:17.:26:21.

people secure places at university, including from disadvantaged

:26:22.:26:25.

backgrounds? My honourable friend is absolutely right. That is true of

:26:26.:26:32.

England. We have seen a record increase to 382,000 people in the

:26:33.:26:38.

last year and the number of disadvantaged students has gone up

:26:39.:26:44.

from 9.5% to 18.2%. In Scotland we have seen a fall because they don't

:26:45.:26:49.

have a funding system that allows everyone to go to university who

:26:50.:26:50.

wants to to do so. Given the report in the Independent

:26:51.:27:00.

that Cabinet ministers are tried to find a way to increase the cap on

:27:01.:27:06.

tuition fee without a proper vote in the House, can the Secretary of

:27:07.:27:09.

State confirm that any attempt to increase the cap on two agencies

:27:10.:27:13.

will come back to the House for a debate and a belt and can you

:27:14.:27:16.

confirm that Government proposals in the Autumn Statement to extend

:27:17.:27:21.

tuition fees to nurses, midwives and health subjects will also be subject

:27:22.:27:25.

to a proper debate and vote in the House? If the Government does decide

:27:26.:27:31.

to change the cap on tuition fee there will be a debate in the House.

:27:32.:27:39.

Robbie Secretary of State agree that retrospectively changing the terms

:27:40.:27:43.

of the contract is mis-selling? And will he guarantee that in this

:27:44.:27:47.

Parliament there will be no further changes to thresholds or interest

:27:48.:27:54.

rates? The changes in question are lawful, that is the advice that I

:27:55.:27:58.

have received. It is consistent with the games. Honourable members should

:27:59.:28:05.

remember that the loans that are provided are on better terms than

:28:06.:28:09.

what is available commercially and it allows all those who want to go

:28:10.:28:14.

to university to have the ability to do so. Question number ten, Mr

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Speaker. Could I am so this question and question 14 together. I was

:28:24.:28:27.

delighted that in the spending review the Government committed an

:28:28.:28:34.

extra ?900 million for aerospace research and development, meaning

:28:35.:28:38.

that Government will invest nearly ?2 billion on aerospace research

:28:39.:28:47.

over 13 years to 2025 and 2026. This will mean that our world leading

:28:48.:28:51.

aerospace industry can stay at the forefront and capitalise on the

:28:52.:28:58.

estimated ?3.6 trillion market for new aircraft that will be needed in

:28:59.:29:05.

the next 20 years. I recently met the trade union representatives for

:29:06.:29:10.

two sites in my constituency. They welcome the contingency of support

:29:11.:29:16.

for the aerospace industry, but they remain concerned about the

:29:17.:29:19.

outsourcing of high-value engineering jobs to low-cost

:29:20.:29:23.

countries. What more can my honourable friend do to address this

:29:24.:29:29.

concern? I'm happy to meet with the Honourable Gentleman to discuss

:29:30.:29:33.

these concerns and I should say that Rolls-Royce and beer was this sector

:29:34.:29:37.

is a major contributor to the economy in the United Kingdom so we

:29:38.:29:40.

understand how important it is and that is why we have protected and

:29:41.:29:43.

extended the investment that we are making in research and development.

:29:44.:29:49.

The recent announcement of the expansion of the year will help

:29:50.:29:54.

enterprise zone in Cornwall has been welcomed in Cornwall. -- the

:29:55.:30:03.

aerospace enterprise zone. This is Cromwell and opportunity to be

:30:04.:30:11.

awarded the aerospace... He will continue to make that case because a

:30:12.:30:14.

number of airports are in the running and we aim to launch the

:30:15.:30:17.

selection process next year. The United Kingdom space sector, we have

:30:18.:30:23.

heard there is great news about the launch today, with Tim Peake going

:30:24.:30:30.

into space. Ground control can report that the UK space sector has

:30:31.:30:40.

almost doubled, ?11.8 billion. It is most unfortunate that the honourable

:30:41.:30:43.

members opposite are now singing and it is not good. I hope that they

:30:44.:30:50.

might cheer at these facts, ?11.8 billion in just seven years.

:30:51.:30:58.

Employing 37,000 people. Send but no member of this House can match David

:30:59.:31:03.

Bowie. That is relevant as far as ground control is concerned.

:31:04.:31:10.

Rolls-Royce 's strategic importance to our aerospace industry, not just

:31:11.:31:15.

in my constituency but also in Sheffield in Bristol. Can I ask

:31:16.:31:21.

Minister what the Government is prepared to do to safeguard that

:31:22.:31:25.

capacity, which we know is increasingly in the news at the

:31:26.:31:30.

moment, to ensure and safeguard the future of the industry, making sure

:31:31.:31:36.

that the UK stays at the forefront of it was this manufacturing. We

:31:37.:31:42.

should mention the importance of Rolls-Royce to a city like Derby. We

:31:43.:31:48.

are monitoring the situation carefully. We recognise the

:31:49.:31:52.

importance that Rolls-Royce placed to our economy and it is important

:31:53.:31:56.

that we do not talk things down. There is a tendency on the opposite

:31:57.:32:01.

side to talk things down and it is important that we do not do that and

:32:02.:32:07.

we continue to support Rolls-Royce. In order to stop Rolls-Royce falling

:32:08.:32:14.

into the hands of the Chinese, why does this Government not take

:32:15.:32:17.

Rolls-Royce back into public ownership? I know the Honourable

:32:18.:32:25.

Gentleman will have trouble understanding this, but it is 2015

:32:26.:32:29.

and we're not back in the 1960s and the dark days of the 1970s and we

:32:30.:32:35.

know we have a long-term economic plan that actually delivers, unlike

:32:36.:32:39.

his plan which is a disaster for our country. As we have heard from our

:32:40.:32:47.

honourable friends, we have been watching the recent developments in

:32:48.:32:50.

relation to Rolls-Royce very closely, not only because of the

:32:51.:32:56.

implications for security, but because it is the biggest employer

:32:57.:33:00.

for Britain's it was space sector. As we have heard from the Minister,

:33:01.:33:06.

the global air crash market is going to be worth considerable money in

:33:07.:33:10.

the next 20 years we welcome the investment in the game technology

:33:11.:33:15.

Institute. But is it not time that the Secretary of State developed an

:33:16.:33:19.

industrial strategy rather than continuing with this piecemeal

:33:20.:33:24.

approach? I am not going to repeat everything I have said about

:33:25.:33:28.

continuing investment. ?900 million of taxpayers' money going into

:33:29.:33:35.

aerospace. We recognise its significance and it is easy to put

:33:36.:33:39.

labels on it. It doesn't matter what labelled you put on it, it is about

:33:40.:33:43.

delivery and that is what we are doing. As my right honourable friend

:33:44.:33:51.

the Chancellor demonstrated, the Government puts investment as a top

:33:52.:33:55.

priority in our long-term economic plan. I'm delighted at the

:33:56.:34:00.

announcement that the science budget will be ring fenced. In addition,

:34:01.:34:05.

the Prime Minister has recently announced a 50% increase in our

:34:06.:34:10.

funding of climate finance and we have just announced ?60 million into

:34:11.:34:16.

the energy research accelerator. Launching an investment coalition in

:34:17.:34:21.

Paris at the weekend made the point that if we are to avoid global

:34:22.:34:28.

warming we need to develop new renewable energy technology. To

:34:29.:34:32.

ensure that the UK places part, what progress has the Minister made to

:34:33.:34:38.

make sure that the green funds receives the money it needs an its

:34:39.:34:43.

green mandate. I'm sure the Honourable Gentleman will announce

:34:44.:34:50.

Scott back well, the Prime Minister's announcement that he will

:34:51.:35:00.

be supporting the industry. It turns over ?45 billion for the British

:35:01.:35:05.

economy and 4.8 billion of exports. By allowing the bank to raise money

:35:06.:35:10.

we will generate more money for the green economy which is going in this

:35:11.:35:15.

Government like never before. The North Sea oil and gas sector faces

:35:16.:35:19.

significant challenges that the current time, with a need for a

:35:20.:35:23.

collegiate approach to research and development to fuel innovation and

:35:24.:35:28.

to drive down costs. Will the Minister consider setting up a North

:35:29.:35:33.

Sea oil and gas innovation Centre, similar to the successful offshore

:35:34.:35:43.

wind catapult. On the East Coast and in Scotland this country is leading

:35:44.:35:47.

in this field of offshore energy. We have just funded the offshore energy

:35:48.:35:53.

Centre and I would be happy to look at the specific idea that he

:35:54.:36:01.

recommends. It is extremely disappointing, a missed opportunity,

:36:02.:36:04.

damaging and a disgrace. These were the words and phrases used to

:36:05.:36:08.

describe this Government's decision to withdraw ?1 billion of funding

:36:09.:36:13.

from carbon capture and storage. Hundreds of jobs from the amenities

:36:14.:36:16.

in the north-east of Scotland and the opportunity to be at the

:36:17.:36:20.

forefront of low carbon innovation is now lost. The Government will

:36:21.:36:23.

instead spend hundreds of millions of pounds of subsidising research

:36:24.:36:25.

into the Government will instead spend hundreds of millions of pounds

:36:26.:36:27.

of subsidising research into Nicola energy. In light of this decision,

:36:28.:36:30.

with the Minister like to take the opportunity to explain to the people

:36:31.:36:33.

of Peterhead and the north-east and he has supported them to be world

:36:34.:36:38.

leaders and innovation? It is a pleasure to follow that speech. I

:36:39.:36:43.

will happily repeat the figure that I just gave you. The Prime Minister

:36:44.:36:47.

has announced ?400 billion of extra funding for energy finance. We have

:36:48.:36:51.

made announcements and you show researching I did make the point

:36:52.:36:56.

that one of the lessons for Scotland is to reduce its dependency on

:36:57.:37:01.

public sector funding. 20% of the funding went to Scotland, that is

:37:02.:37:06.

?560 million, when only represents 10% of bill payers. We need to

:37:07.:37:10.

support the green economy in Scotland as we are in the rest of

:37:11.:37:15.

the country. The Minister will be aware that a major investment was

:37:16.:37:19.

announcing the spending review of ?250 million for a small modular

:37:20.:37:25.

reactors, something that has now welcomed in the north-western will

:37:26.:37:27.

make a big difference to our ability to meet our climate change targets.

:37:28.:37:31.

What is crucial as a result of this is that the UK owns the IPI that

:37:32.:37:40.

comes out of this. But he make sure this is the case? My honourable

:37:41.:37:46.

friend is an expert in this matter and I were looking to the point that

:37:47.:37:50.

he makes. Our support for the green economy is now ?45 billion sector in

:37:51.:37:55.

this country and we are generating the technologies that are leading

:37:56.:38:00.

into 21st-century green energy and look into the points that he makes.

:38:01.:38:07.

The enterprise bill which is going through the other place will create

:38:08.:38:11.

a small business Commissioner and one of their import rules will be to

:38:12.:38:14.

make sure that this continuing problem with late payment is brought

:38:15.:38:19.

to an end. We have other measures on hand to make sure that there is

:38:20.:38:22.

reporting, but we're making good progress on this. Cheltenham's

:38:23.:38:29.

superb small shops and businesses rely some people getting out from

:38:30.:38:34.

behind their computers and visiting local shops. In those circumstances,

:38:35.:38:39.

those are my honourable friend agree that the local authority should

:38:40.:38:43.

provide flexible and cheap parking to support small businesses and

:38:44.:38:51.

shopping? I am afraid I am a little bit of message. I take a radical

:38:52.:38:56.

approach to parking. I would take the view that there should be no

:38:57.:39:00.

parking charges in any towns. The car parks belonged to the people.

:39:01.:39:09.

There are times when the local authority does want to put in car

:39:10.:39:13.

parking charges. A good example is in one area where there used to make

:39:14.:39:19.

sure people do not abuse them. But as much as possible we should be

:39:20.:39:23.

supporting town centres and small businesses, so we should not be

:39:24.:39:26.

charging people to park in their own home town. Mr Speaker, in the spirit

:39:27.:39:36.

of Christmas, can I invite the whole ministerial team to come to

:39:37.:39:39.

Huddersfield where they can learn about spinning and weaving and I can

:39:40.:39:45.

arrange for them to have a wonderful city made like this one I am

:39:46.:39:54.

wearing. -- a wonderful suit. They have a textile centre for excellence

:39:55.:39:58.

and a top about the pressure of small businesses. The Government

:39:59.:40:04.

wants to take us out of Europe and to stop us from being able to export

:40:05.:40:10.

to the rest of the world. It was going so well and I was going to be

:40:11.:40:15.

a Christmas fairy. Everyone knows my views on the European Union and the

:40:16.:40:19.

views of the Prime Minister. We want to stay in a reformed European

:40:20.:40:23.

Union. In the spirit of Christmas, I would be delighted to go to

:40:24.:40:27.

Huddersfield. I could talk about my family's relationship of

:40:28.:40:32.

Huddersfield. I will go to Huddersfield at the Honourable

:40:33.:40:34.

Gentleman will come to my constituency. -- if the Honourable

:40:35.:40:43.

Gentleman. And alighted to tell you that I talk about cyber Brazilians a

:40:44.:40:50.

lot with the Minister. They were saying how pleased they were to see

:40:51.:40:54.

the Chancellor's announcement doubling the budget for cyber

:40:55.:40:59.

security to almost ?2 billion. I'm delighted that the Minister has

:41:00.:41:03.

doubled the budget, only 10% was on consumers, the police force, or

:41:04.:41:06.

small businesses. What is he is doing to encourage small businesses

:41:07.:41:13.

that are not able to commit huge amount of time to engaging with

:41:14.:41:18.

this? What is he is going to do for businesses to insure that they are

:41:19.:41:24.

safe online? I did not double the budget, it was the Chancellor. It is

:41:25.:41:31.

important to give him credit. I take the point very seriously. We do have

:41:32.:41:38.

a fantastic scheme, which allows small businesses and large

:41:39.:41:41.

businesses to get a certificate to show that they had been through a

:41:42.:41:44.

process to increase their cyber security.

:41:45.:41:49.

In the government is working hard to deliver our productivity plan. We

:41:50.:42:02.

will promote a dynamic economy. Productivity has been the Achilles

:42:03.:42:07.

heel of this government's economic policy. Comparisons against G-7

:42:08.:42:13.

countries are poor and even works when compared with small and

:42:14.:42:17.

medium-sized independent countries. This government has been obsessed

:42:18.:42:25.

with austerity cuts and ignored innovation and efficiency. The

:42:26.:42:31.

fairer way to decrease the deficit. It is absolutely not the case. This

:42:32.:42:38.

has been a long-running issue in our country under successive

:42:39.:42:43.

governments. That is why we had an ambitious productivity plan and we

:42:44.:42:48.

have seen a 1.3% increase in output per hour which is very encouraging.

:42:49.:42:54.

After five years in charge it is time the government took

:42:55.:42:57.

responsibility. Why has productivity been stalled for the last five

:42:58.:43:03.

years? After 13 years in charge by the party opposite, we had the

:43:04.:43:08.

biggest recession we had seen in 100 years. It takes time to recover from

:43:09.:43:19.

that. Productivity is on the rise. It's nice to be back. We have a very

:43:20.:43:26.

competitive broadband market and I went to York the other day to see

:43:27.:43:32.

TalkTalk premises. They are investing billions in fibre. This

:43:33.:43:38.

Friday I will be going to another company who deliver broadband to

:43:39.:43:44.

Epping Forest. We have a very competitive market. Ofcom have

:43:45.:43:52.

confirmed that Hall is the only city in the country without competition

:43:53.:43:57.

and is in the worst 20 areas for super fast broadband access which

:43:58.:44:02.

really effects small businesses in Hull. How much of the money the

:44:03.:44:13.

government has invested will be allocated to Hull? Hull has this

:44:14.:44:23.

effectively municipal provider, Kingston Communications, and I'm

:44:24.:44:32.

pleased to say that they are investing in broadband for the whole

:44:33.:44:36.

of Hull without need of government investment. The recent spending

:44:37.:44:43.

review delivered a strong settlement for many departmental sectors

:44:44.:44:47.

focusing on areas which drive up productivity. In the last our major

:44:48.:44:54.

Tim Peake has blasted into orbit. The government has launched its

:44:55.:45:01.

space project. This policy document shows there is no limit to the UK

:45:02.:45:08.

omission in this area. We want to boldly go to infinity and beyond and

:45:09.:45:18.

our new policy will make it so. As everyone knows, to improve

:45:19.:45:21.

productivity, you need a good, strong education system. Can the

:45:22.:45:28.

Minister give a categorical assurance that further education

:45:29.:45:31.

institutions such as Blackburn College in my constituency will not

:45:32.:45:37.

receive a real terms funding cut as a result of the freeze in adult

:45:38.:45:46.

education funding? I agree about the need to boost skills. There will be

:45:47.:45:54.

areas in review so I cannot make a promise about particular

:45:55.:45:57.

institutions. But there will be an increase in real terms in F funding

:45:58.:46:03.

of more than 35% over the length of the parliament. I'm sure that is

:46:04.:46:13.

something she would welcome. The Eden Project in my constituency has

:46:14.:46:18.

been running a successful apprenticeship programme in

:46:19.:46:22.

horticulture. It is going to become more and more important to meet our

:46:23.:46:27.

increasing demand for food. What support can the Minister provides to

:46:28.:46:31.

promote horticulture as an important career for young people? Under the

:46:32.:46:38.

agri- tech strategy we are supporting horticulture and I

:46:39.:46:43.

recently opened a horticultural waste production facility. We are

:46:44.:46:48.

leading an low-energy farming systems and novel use of pesticides

:46:49.:47:02.

to avoid -- use of pets to avoid pesticide and hydroponics. May I

:47:03.:47:12.

offer my congratulations to Tim Peake on his visit to the

:47:13.:47:16.

International Space Station. Can I also paid tribute to Helen Sharman,

:47:17.:47:22.

the first British person into space. Let's do our best to inspire the

:47:23.:47:27.

next generation of scientists, mathematicians and explorers in the

:47:28.:47:34.

same way that the Muniain -- moon landings inspired my generations.

:47:35.:47:40.

Millions of jobs are linked to the European union and most believe it

:47:41.:47:45.

is in the interests of the country to remain a member. But yesterday,

:47:46.:47:51.

the member for Shropshire described negotiations as froth and nonsense

:47:52.:47:57.

and his endless renegotiations have been described as a shambles. Does

:47:58.:48:03.

the Secretary of State agree with UK business of the Eurosceptics on his

:48:04.:48:11.

own side? If I may associate myself with the comments made about Tim

:48:12.:48:16.

Peake and is inspiration to us all. Turning to her comments about the

:48:17.:48:22.

EU, I agree with almost all businesses that they want to see

:48:23.:48:27.

reform and changes in our relationship with the. They want to

:48:28.:48:32.

be more competitive, easier to make deals in a deeper single market with

:48:33.:48:38.

less bureaucracy. That is what we're fighting for. We all want to see the

:48:39.:48:48.

UK remain in a reformed European union, but the Secretary of State's

:48:49.:48:53.

Eurosceptic interests are well known and it is not like him to be shy

:48:54.:48:59.

about them. Is he prepared to resign from the Cabinet to fight for a

:49:00.:49:09.

British exit from the European Union? When it comes to

:49:10.:49:16.

resignations, it is her party she should be worried about. I am

:49:17.:49:29.

prepared for fighting for the renegotiations I outlined. With the

:49:30.:49:39.

Secretary of State join me in encouraging as many businesses as

:49:40.:49:42.

possible across Worcestershire to apply for the first round deadline

:49:43.:49:49.

for extra funding this Friday? In the short time that the honourable

:49:50.:49:52.

member has been a member of Parliament he has done a lot to

:49:53.:49:56.

champion small businesses in Worcestershire. I have seen that

:49:57.:50:00.

myself first-hand. The Worcestershire growth fund is an

:50:01.:50:04.

excellent opportunity and I encourage companies in his

:50:05.:50:09.

constituency and mine to apply. The illegal moneylending team has

:50:10.:50:15.

commenced 330 prosecutions against illegal loan sharks and has had a

:50:16.:50:20.

?60 million written off for the most vulnerable in our communities. To

:50:21.:50:26.

cut its budget may not have come across his desk but he has had

:50:27.:50:34.

plenty of time to consider it and why does he continue to dodge

:50:35.:50:40.

questions about this cut? If the honourable member had attended Prime

:50:41.:50:43.

Minister's Questions he would have heard the honourable members say

:50:44.:50:48.

that he's looking at introducing a levy to continue this action against

:50:49.:50:53.

loan sharks will stop that is the Treasury to take forward and he will

:50:54.:50:58.

ask the Treasury for further details about it. A few days ago, I met the

:50:59.:51:07.

new cohort of inspirational students from the petrol College Care Academy

:51:08.:51:13.

which is providing apprenticeships at the local health care trust. Does

:51:14.:51:19.

he agree this is a really important programme for training the next

:51:20.:51:21.

generation of health care professionals locally? Absolutely.

:51:22.:51:28.

Thank you for raising it. The Academy is doing great work in

:51:29.:51:36.

developing 18 week placement courses to discover interesting careers in

:51:37.:51:39.

the health and care sector, supporting the local economy and our

:51:40.:51:46.

national skills base is the a number of organisations including

:51:47.:51:48.

electrical safety first have welcomed the product safety review

:51:49.:51:55.

conducted ID Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and

:51:56.:52:00.

headed by Lynn Faulds Wood. We must increase traceability to protect

:52:01.:52:06.

customers in the UK. When will the review be published? I've met Lynn

:52:07.:52:13.

Faulds Wood and I absolutely tanked and commend her for the work done.

:52:14.:52:17.

I'm having a further meeting with her to see when we can actually

:52:18.:52:21.

publish the review and make the sort of progress we all want. With the

:52:22.:52:27.

Secretary of State update the house on the objective for his recent

:52:28.:52:33.

visit to India and how best local businesses in my constituency can

:52:34.:52:37.

tap into that market? The recent visit was to build momentum

:52:38.:52:43.

generated by the recent visit of the Prime Minister of India. I went with

:52:44.:52:51.

the science minister to promote getting more Indian students to come

:52:52.:52:59.

to the UK to study. I took to members of the delegation from

:53:00.:53:02.

Dorset and it is just the sort of innovation we want to see. The

:53:03.:53:12.

forecast for overall growth has been downgraded, the gap between exports

:53:13.:53:18.

has grown to 4.1 billion in October, can the Secretary of State update

:53:19.:53:24.

the house on the measures taken to increase exports given that his

:53:25.:53:27.

current measures are clearly not working. We have seen exports grow

:53:28.:53:33.

over the last five years, including to some of the fastest-growing

:53:34.:53:36.

markets around the world like China and India. We obviously need to do

:53:37.:53:44.

more and that is why we have had a number of measures mentioned

:53:45.:53:47.

earlier. It is this increase in exports that is leading to falls in

:53:48.:53:51.

unemployment across the country and generating jobs, including a decline

:53:52.:54:01.

in claimants in her constituency. We are aware of the value of science

:54:02.:54:07.

funding well spent. Will the Business Secretary reassured the

:54:08.:54:12.

house that the fund for this will be ring fenced and will he appeared

:54:13.:54:17.

before the committee in January to go over this in detail? I accept the

:54:18.:54:25.

invitation. Also, I take this opportunity to commend the

:54:26.:54:29.

honourable lady for the way she has led the committee. The ring fence I

:54:30.:54:38.

can confirm is protected in real terms, not just cash terms and also

:54:39.:54:43.

our commitment to spend 6.9 billion on science infrastructure over the

:54:44.:54:48.

next eight years. I'm sure she will agree, this Christmas, batteries are

:54:49.:54:55.

included. I have previously raised the industrial carbon capture

:54:56.:55:03.

storage targets which will contribute to the climate change

:55:04.:55:07.

agenda and capital investment. Will he agree with me that we need to

:55:08.:55:13.

explore how we might bring to fruition this important project? I

:55:14.:55:19.

am more than happy to have a meeting with him. He knows not to shout at

:55:20.:55:29.

me. I hope he will also join with me to congratulate the Secretary of

:55:30.:55:35.

State for environment and climate change for her outstanding

:55:36.:55:38.

achievement on behalf of our nation in playing an important role in

:55:39.:55:42.

securing this important way forward to make sure that the planet we

:55:43.:55:46.

leave for our children is better than the one we inherited. Carlisle

:55:47.:55:54.

and Cumbria has experienced devastating floods recently. As part

:55:55.:55:59.

of recovery, it is important to restore confidence as quickly as

:56:00.:56:04.

possible in the business community. Would the Minister confirm that they

:56:05.:56:08.

will do everything to support Cumbrian businesses and make sure

:56:09.:56:12.

that people are aware that Carlisle and Cumbria are open for business?

:56:13.:56:18.

Indeed. Could I pay to view to all members of Parliament for the great

:56:19.:56:22.

work they have done. I am got there to visit next week. I want to go to

:56:23.:56:31.

Carlisle, Cockermouth, and Kendall. I am delighted that we have secured

:56:32.:56:40.

funding for all businesses affected by the flooding which I think will

:56:41.:56:43.

make a huge improvement and we have done that quickly and will make it

:56:44.:56:48.

available in time for Christmas to get all those businesses and jobs

:56:49.:56:50.

open for business. The Secretary of State has spoken

:56:51.:56:59.

about simplifying and clarifying the business environment, identifying

:57:00.:57:06.

?10 billion of reduction in red tape during this Parliament. So why did

:57:07.:57:10.

the Autumn Statement said that small businesses should file tax returns

:57:11.:57:13.

for times a year rather than annually? How does that help small

:57:14.:57:16.

businesses to reduce the cost and burdens -- I have a bad feeling

:57:17.:57:24.

about this. I have not heard that quote from Star Wars. It is very

:57:25.:57:33.

important that we keep deregulating the environment for small businesses

:57:34.:57:36.

and that was achieved in the last Parliament. The Honourable Gentleman

:57:37.:57:42.

does know this, it is INET target and I'm confident because of the

:57:43.:57:47.

enterprise bill that we will see huge net the regulation during the

:57:48.:57:53.

lifetime of this Parliament. -- it is a net target. We had some

:57:54.:57:59.

discussion this week about industrial strategy, which seems to

:58:00.:58:02.

mean all kinds of things to different people. I don't know what

:58:03.:58:08.

it means, but if I did I would be against it. Can the Minister please

:58:09.:58:11.

advise that while he is Secretary of State the Government will not go

:58:12.:58:22.

about... The Government believes in free enterprise and that has

:58:23.:58:27.

motivated the economy for decades. We do have a plan and a strategy, a

:58:28.:58:34.

long-term economic plan. I'm sure the space Minister Bo praised the

:58:35.:58:37.

last Labour Government to establish the UK space agency and given that

:58:38.:58:44.

Tim Peake's and credible mission is launching today. She should say a

:58:45.:58:48.

little bit about what she will do to spread the motivation from that to a

:58:49.:58:57.

new generation of astronauts. I did say seven years, because as you know

:58:58.:59:03.

I am not prone to partition chip -- to being partisan. I wish the

:59:04.:59:08.

members opposite would do the same. I do notice that our announcement

:59:09.:59:18.

about areas of huge progress to help industries like the steel industry,

:59:19.:59:24.

no one mentions it now and says how good it is. The real trick now, and

:59:25.:59:31.

the honourable lady also mentioned this, it is important that we

:59:32.:59:34.

inspire the younger generation, boys and girls, into the future of this

:59:35.:59:42.

kind of career, especially in engineering. With the Minister of

:59:43.:59:51.

the House about the life science classes as a way to stimulate

:59:52.:59:55.

start-ups, excellence and growth in the sector and of any plans for

:59:56.:00:04.

using devolution city deals for such clusters. My honourable friend makes

:00:05.:00:10.

an important point. Around the country, in the Scottish belts and

:00:11.:00:17.

elsewhere, we are building clusters of excellence and growth for the

:00:18.:00:19.

benefit of our citizens. I'm discussing this with the Chancellor

:00:20.:00:24.

and the Department for Communities and Local Government about how the

:00:25.:00:28.

devolution package could write in support greater development of those

:00:29.:00:34.

health clusters around the country. You talked about research and

:00:35.:00:37.

development in the aerospace industry. In my constituency, 6500

:00:38.:00:47.

are employed in this area. Could he indicate what discussions he's had

:00:48.:00:50.

with the Northern Ireland assembly to ensure that we are part of that

:00:51.:00:54.

research and development? I have not had those discussions but I'm happy

:00:55.:00:58.

to have them with the Honourable Gentleman. My door is always open. I

:00:59.:01:04.

recognise the huge importance that it plays in his constituency and in

:01:05.:01:10.

Northern Ireland. We must now move on. We come to the ten minute rule

:01:11.:01:21.

motion. Point of order. The day with not be complete without a point of

:01:22.:01:26.

order from the Honourable Gentleman. I wonder if you can help me. When an

:01:27.:01:38.

MP being obstructed from doing their work. They are restricting my travel

:01:39.:01:42.

movements. Is there anyone Independent I can deal with to get

:01:43.:01:47.

beyond this institution? I'm wasting a lot of time and effort dealing

:01:48.:01:51.

with it that and getting absolutely nowhere. -- IPSA. The Honourable

:01:52.:02:02.

Gentleman might be aware of for an informal grouping within Parliament,

:02:03.:02:08.

including the member for Gainsborough, to whom you can make

:02:09.:02:12.

representations about the situation that he faces. I hope he understands

:02:13.:02:15.

that is not something that I can deal with in the Chamber just now.

:02:16.:02:24.

No follow-up would normally be required, but the Honourable

:02:25.:02:27.

Gentleman is champing at the bit and I will give him a last chance. I was

:02:28.:02:37.

on that Committee and I was not aware of its continued existence in

:02:38.:02:43.

this Parliament. My understanding had been that there was an

:02:44.:02:47.

opportunity for members to make informal representations. The chair

:02:48.:02:53.

cannot deal with specific cases and the chair is in no position of

:02:54.:02:58.

authority to comment on particular circumstances, especially when given

:02:59.:03:04.

no advance knowledge of them. If the Honourable Gentleman was to pursue

:03:05.:03:07.

the issue further he can do so outside of the Chamber. If there are

:03:08.:03:13.

no further points of order, we come to the ten minute rule motion. I

:03:14.:03:22.

seek the permission of the House into juicy bill to provide local

:03:23.:03:24.

authorities with the duties and powers required to identify and

:03:25.:03:31.

automatically register all children eligible for free school meals, and

:03:32.:03:35.

also to seek powers that those parents who do not wish their

:03:36.:03:39.

children receive them have the power to opt out. That is the aim of the

:03:40.:03:48.

bill. I grew up, as you did, as we all did in this House, in a world

:03:49.:03:52.

where the term progress did not need to speak its name. It was the

:03:53.:03:57.

assumption of all of after that things could only get better. It was

:03:58.:04:03.

not only true in this Chamber country but in every Western

:04:04.:04:09.

society. -- true in this Chamber or this country. I viewed the world

:04:10.:04:14.

that I grew up as the train, there were differing compartments that

:04:15.:04:18.

reflected our social classes. There was a first-class, second class,

:04:19.:04:24.

third class, and fourth class department. The crucial thing about

:04:25.:04:27.

this train journey was that we were all heading towards a better

:04:28.:04:35.

tomorrow. In the past decade, the last carriage, the fourth class

:04:36.:04:41.

carriage, has become detached from the train journey bereft of both our

:04:42.:04:48.

own. It is not only here, but in every Western country, and we see it

:04:49.:04:55.

on the rise of the banks. Last night in each of our constituencies, a

:04:56.:05:01.

large number of children went to bed hungry and took that hunger to

:05:02.:05:05.

school with them. The Secretary of State for Education is concerned

:05:06.:05:12.

about this and is concerned about the number of children who appear

:05:13.:05:16.

eligible for free school meals begin now hot meal at the beginning of the

:05:17.:05:27.

day. -- free school meals but do not get a hot meal. She is looking at

:05:28.:05:31.

how to spread the practice, but we know how long it can take. Bernard

:05:32.:05:38.

Shaw, being Irish, did not have a lot of time for us English. He said

:05:39.:05:43.

that if the English were promoted is from infernal to Paradise they would

:05:44.:05:48.

still gather around and talk about the good old days, and there is

:05:49.:05:53.

something in our culture that this is the spread of good practice. Why

:05:54.:05:59.

these children went to school hungry is moderately complicated to

:06:00.:06:05.

unravel. There is clearly at the bottom of society and increase in

:06:06.:06:09.

the number of low paid jobs and the wages from those jobs are uncertain.

:06:10.:06:14.

There are problems which the cross-party group on hunger have

:06:15.:06:19.

identified to do with benefits and the problems of families who lead

:06:20.:06:25.

such lives that they let their children go to school hungry when

:06:26.:06:30.

they do have the resources to do otherwise. Some families do not, but

:06:31.:06:37.

some families do. This bill takes the campaign against hunger is stage

:06:38.:06:42.

further and it will compel local authorities to use their Housing

:06:43.:06:49.

Benefit data to counter hunger by identifying 160,000 children who are

:06:50.:06:53.

eligible for free school dinners but do not claim them. On average that

:06:54.:07:00.

means that in each of our constituencies, 250 children go

:07:01.:07:07.

hungry who do not need to do so. Equally important, because the last

:07:08.:07:11.

Government like the school premium to eligibility for free school

:07:12.:07:16.

meals. It would mean that in our schools ?211 million would follow

:07:17.:07:23.

that 160,000 children so that schools would be better able to cope

:07:24.:07:28.

with the issue of hunger and better able to integrate those children

:07:29.:07:31.

into school trips along with other children. Your office told me, Mr

:07:32.:07:39.

Speaker, that the second reading is not until the 22nd of January.

:07:40.:07:47.

Already I think we have a record number of hundred and 26 members

:07:48.:07:52.

from all sides of the House and with all kinds of opinions wishing for

:07:53.:07:57.

this bill to proceed. It is in the power of the Secretary of State to

:07:58.:08:01.

beat the bill and seek these powers herself. It would not by itself,

:08:02.:08:07.

that move, bring a happy or more prosperous Christmas to those

:08:08.:08:12.

children, but it would lay the basis that come the New Year there will be

:08:13.:08:19.

fewer hungry children in Britain and are today and I seek the leave of

:08:20.:08:27.

the House introduced the bill. The question is that the Right

:08:28.:08:30.

Honourable member have leave to bring in the bill. As many are of

:08:31.:08:36.

the opinion see aye. I think the aye habit. -- I think the ayes have it.

:08:37.:08:58.

Myself and a Members of Parliament would like to see this brought into

:08:59.:09:02.

the record. Free school meals bill. To be read

:09:03.:09:44.

again on the 22nd of January. 22nd of January 2000 and 16. -- 2016.

:09:45.:09:57.

Unless the Secretary of State backs before then. We come to the

:09:58.:10:03.

opposition motion relating to climate change and flooding. The

:10:04.:10:09.

amendment has not been selected. To move the motion, I called the Shadow

:10:10.:10:15.

Secretary of State for environment, food and rural affairs. I beg to

:10:16.:10:22.

move the motion as on the order paper. Mr Speaker, while the climate

:10:23.:10:27.

deal that was reached and powers of the weekend there is some cause for

:10:28.:10:30.

optimism that the world is now facing up to the global threat of

:10:31.:10:34.

climate change, the recent floods brought home to as the urgency of

:10:35.:10:39.

the situation here in the UK. Climate change is already happening

:10:40.:10:43.

here and people need not only warm words that action from the

:10:44.:10:51.

Government. A premature intervention. For the people of

:10:52.:10:59.

Cumbria, these were the third major floods in a decade. In 2009, they

:11:00.:11:04.

were told that the rainfall was unprecedented and that it was a once

:11:05.:11:11.

in a century event, but the rainfall records have been broken again

:11:12.:11:14.

causing devastation and heartbreak in the run-up to Christmas. Flooding

:11:15.:11:21.

is all where the -- funding is already rated as the greatest risk

:11:22.:11:25.

to the UK and the magnitude of severe flooding across the UK is

:11:26.:11:29.

little to increase. Period of intense rainfall are projected to

:11:30.:11:34.

increase by a factor of five and the most recent Met Office analysis

:11:35.:11:38.

suggests that global warming of 2 degrees, and bear in mind that

:11:39.:11:40.

powers the limit after 2 degrees, would increase the risk of extreme

:11:41.:11:46.

flooding by a factor of seven. Responding to the flood risk by

:11:47.:11:49.

building were flood defences is not enough. We need to look at how we

:11:50.:11:54.

can reduce the risk through improved land and river management and we

:11:55.:11:58.

need to minimise the future risk of floods and other extreme weather

:11:59.:12:01.

events by tackling climate change. We welcome the Paris accord. Nearly

:12:02.:12:05.

every country around the globe has committed to reducing carbon

:12:06.:12:09.

emissions, building a carbon neutral global economy, limiting temperature

:12:10.:12:16.

increases to 1.5 degrees and reviewing our ambitions every five

:12:17.:12:20.

years. There are responsibilities to developing countries. This is very

:12:21.:12:25.

welcome and it will make a positive difference to climate safety, but it

:12:26.:12:29.

would be complacent to suggest that the Paris Accord on its own is

:12:30.:12:30.

enough. The honourable lady is making a

:12:31.:12:41.

strong case. As we heard from Paris, the country's most vulnerable to

:12:42.:12:48.

climate impacts, 80% of fossil fuels need to stay in the ground. Would

:12:49.:12:56.

she be pleased with that? It is very important to make progress on that.

:12:57.:13:02.

Government policy seems to be moving away from encouraging renewables and

:13:03.:13:09.

are harming the renewable sector to a high degree making it very hard to

:13:10.:13:19.

make that transfer from fossil fuel. Would you agree that cuts to

:13:20.:13:26.

renewable energy threaten our economy, a successful local company

:13:27.:13:36.

in my constituency may be forced to closed through the cuts in tariff,

:13:37.:13:40.

making no sense for the environment or our economy? I entirely agree.

:13:41.:13:49.

The renewables sector needs certainty. There is innovative work

:13:50.:13:56.

being done. I visited a company in Stroud yesterday, not just building

:13:57.:14:02.

on the excellent work in the renewables sector but far beyond the

:14:03.:14:08.

mat. This is where the high-tech, high skilled jobs of the future are

:14:09.:14:13.

and the government ought to do more to encourage this. We must act

:14:14.:14:17.

knowledge that the individual pledges of Paris do not add to a

:14:18.:14:23.

commitment to keep temperature rises below 2 degrees. We must ask what

:14:24.:14:29.

further adaptation is needed. It is clear that the UK is not doing

:14:30.:14:38.

enough. Contributing to the global climate fund does not mean that we

:14:39.:14:41.

can pass the buck to developing nations. The UK has gone backwards.

:14:42.:14:52.

The government has axed the carbon cap your storage fund and blocked

:14:53.:14:56.

new wind farms, drastically cutting new energy and efficiency funds. It

:14:57.:15:05.

is selling off the greenie investment bank without protecting

:15:06.:15:09.

its Greenland eight. It is scrapping the zero Carbon standard for homes.

:15:10.:15:17.

Its preoccupation with fracking and fossil fuels means that we have lost

:15:18.:15:25.

thousands of greener jobs. She mentions that the UK is not doing

:15:26.:15:30.

enough in terms of our plans. Could she tell the house one other OECD

:15:31.:15:38.

country which has reduced carbon emissions by as much as the UK since

:15:39.:15:47.

1990. Just one other? As the honourable member says, the UK has a

:15:48.:15:51.

proud record on tackling climate change, not least with the

:15:52.:15:59.

leadership shown by the member for Doncaster North. But we are now

:16:00.:16:06.

coasting on that record and we need to do much more. The chairman of the

:16:07.:16:13.

Committee on Climate Change had no alternative but to conclude last

:16:14.:16:17.

month that the government's existing energy policy is clearly failing.

:16:18.:16:23.

The CBI said that British businesses need clarity and need to know that

:16:24.:16:28.

the government is serious about climate change. That the government

:16:29.:16:33.

won't make superficial cream claims only to U-turn on environmental

:16:34.:16:39.

policies. I understand we have to work together on renewables but we

:16:40.:16:43.

are setting such a good example with Hinkley point on the border of my

:16:44.:16:50.

constituency which is low carbon energy commitment, which is going to

:16:51.:16:54.

generate 25,000 jobs. That is going to be terrific for the economy and

:16:55.:17:00.

energy production. I accept that nuclear is part of the mix but it is

:17:01.:17:04.

not the only solution to greener energy. There may be different

:17:05.:17:16.

solutions going forward but I say to my right honourable friend and the

:17:17.:17:19.

bench opposite that one of key conclusions from 21, the UK will

:17:20.:17:34.

need to reset its reset. Whatever the solutions are, we need to do

:17:35.:17:41.

more and faster. Would she agree with me that whatever the solutions,

:17:42.:17:45.

one of the greatest things we can do is for the government to act set the

:17:46.:17:52.

fifth carbon budget and put in place things to narrow the gap with the

:17:53.:17:56.

fourth carbon budget. I agree entirely. There is almost a

:17:57.:18:03.

consensus that the UK needs to go faster and introduce stronger

:18:04.:18:08.

targets. I was saying that business needs certainty. The people in flood

:18:09.:18:13.

zones need certainty to. I visited Carlisle and Cockermouth with the

:18:14.:18:19.

Leader of the Opposition. We are grateful for the councils, business

:18:20.:18:28.

owners and communities who showed as around their homes. We should reduce

:18:29.:18:34.

their flood risk and make sure they never had to go through this again.

:18:35.:18:40.

She will understand the concerns of many communities affected by

:18:41.:18:47.

flooding that deaf wrap are unable to give any certainty to future

:18:48.:18:48.

spending in relation to future flooding funding. -- Defra. I

:18:49.:19:11.

want to sail a club that more about what I saw in constituencies. -- say

:19:12.:19:23.

a little more. In Carlisle and Cockermouth, people who have seen

:19:24.:19:28.

the TV coverage will be left dismayed by the horrific scenes we

:19:29.:19:32.

have seen with people with their belongings out on the pavements,

:19:33.:19:36.

their homes saturated, in temporary accommodation. There is an issue

:19:37.:19:42.

about temporary accommodation in the area. There is not much private

:19:43.:19:47.

rented accommodation to move into. We spoke to them about the massive

:19:48.:19:53.

excess on their flood insurance premiums. Now that more floods have

:19:54.:20:01.

happened, premiums are going to go up or they may not even be able to

:20:02.:20:08.

insure their homes at all. On the issue of flood premiums, does she

:20:09.:20:13.

share my concern that the government's new scheme does not

:20:14.:20:18.

cover the insurance costs of businesses and does she share my

:20:19.:20:21.

regret at the lack of solidarity in that scheme? This was mentioned to

:20:22.:20:29.

as by small businesses. We were told that the government's logic was that

:20:30.:20:34.

you could shop around in the market. But clearly if you were hit in 2005

:20:35.:20:42.

and 2009, and again now, you are going to struggle to find insurance.

:20:43.:20:45.

It is enough to put them out of his must. Especially if closed for

:20:46.:20:53.

refurbishment for several months because of the floods. The she agree

:20:54.:21:00.

that it would be incorrect to link these very tragic instances to

:21:01.:21:10.

flooding to global warming. As the IPC themselves say, it is impossible

:21:11.:21:16.

to link individual items of bad weather with climate change. I think

:21:17.:21:22.

the honourable gentleman needs to talk to the Environment Secretary

:21:23.:21:29.

who acknowledged that... Individual episodes do not make a pattern but

:21:30.:21:33.

we are clearly seeing a pattern emerging in terms of extreme weather

:21:34.:21:38.

events both at home and abroad. Spending increased by real terms by

:21:39.:21:47.

three quarters between 1997 and 2010. But funding has been slashed

:21:48.:21:57.

by hundred and 60 million in 2011. It was lined up for further cuts in

:21:58.:22:02.

2013 and 2014 before the cuts the Somerset Levels showed they had gone

:22:03.:22:09.

too far. There are always listens to be learned. I will make sure that

:22:10.:22:14.

there are. The Minister hasn't shown signs of learning those lessons.

:22:15.:22:20.

Flood mismanagement expenditure was above ?800 million. It has now been

:22:21.:22:29.

cut to ?700 million. How quickly those images of the Somerset Levels

:22:30.:22:32.

have faded from the Prime Minister's mind. She is making an excellent

:22:33.:22:40.

point. Does she share my regret that when the Prime Minister said money

:22:41.:22:47.

is no object, it seems that when the images have faded from public

:22:48.:22:51.

consciousness that money is an object. It seems that money was no

:22:52.:22:59.

object in terms of the short-term clearer, although there were big

:23:00.:23:05.

delays in some people getting that money. Council leaders have raised

:23:06.:23:12.

concerns that they don't have the resources or staff to do that

:23:13.:23:17.

Administration. I hope that is something the Minister will give

:23:18.:23:21.

clarity on. Last week, the Environment Secretary was assuring

:23:22.:23:25.

the people of Cumbria that the government would learn lessons.

:23:26.:23:30.

After every flood, the thing you do after sitting down is to look at the

:23:31.:23:36.

money you were spending and what you are building and ask if it is

:23:37.:23:41.

enough? I'm not convinced if it is enough. We have had a double red

:23:42.:23:51.

warning. The environment audit committee gave the government a

:23:52.:23:57.

double red card. Experts have provided evidence that we are

:23:58.:24:03.

already not doing enough. In terms of learning the lessons, is my

:24:04.:24:07.

honourable friend surprised that something like half of the

:24:08.:24:14.

Chancellor's plans to fast-track new-build houses are on flood

:24:15.:24:24.

plains. People could struggle to get insurance for these new houses

:24:25.:24:27.

because of their location on flood plains. We have seen that the

:24:28.:24:35.

defences that people thought were safe enough, to withstand what was

:24:36.:24:43.

described in 2009 as a once in a century event, they weren't good

:24:44.:24:47.

enough. Therefore, the government would need to reassure me that any

:24:48.:24:52.

defences they build in those areas would be sufficient to protect

:24:53.:24:55.

people and also deal with the issue of insurance. The honourable lady is

:24:56.:25:04.

making an eloquent case about what is going on in Cumbria. I'm

:25:05.:25:09.

wondering if she took time to visit Lancashire where we have had really

:25:10.:25:15.

bad floods as well. In the same year as floating to increase allowances,

:25:16.:25:22.

Labour run Lancashire County Council have admitted that regular

:25:23.:25:28.

inspection of storm drains has been increased from 12 months to 15

:25:29.:25:33.

months, inevitably leading to higher flood risk. I haven't had the

:25:34.:25:38.

opportunity to visit to Lancashire yet although I did speak with the

:25:39.:25:43.

honourable member for Lancaster and Fleetwood about the situation. I

:25:44.:25:47.

think it is a bit of a cheap point to bring in details of council

:25:48.:25:55.

allowances when we are talking about people's homes. Maybe he needs to

:25:56.:26:01.

speak to his front bench about the massive cuts that his government are

:26:02.:26:09.

imposing. On that point, does she agree with me that it would be worth

:26:10.:26:13.

looking at local authorities running insurance systems to avoid high risk

:26:14.:26:21.

and stop them building on flood plains. Perhaps the government could

:26:22.:26:27.

look at that. It is probably one for the Environment Secretary to answer

:26:28.:26:33.

when she responds in a moment. The government has announced that it

:26:34.:26:38.

will invest 2.3 billion on flood defences in the next few years. This

:26:39.:26:46.

relies on ?600 million of external contributions, less than half of

:26:47.:26:49.

which have been secured. With the private sector providing just 61

:26:50.:26:56.

million, def is looking to local authorities for additional funding.

:26:57.:26:59.

The government clearly doesn't get how hard councils have already been

:27:00.:27:07.

hit by floods. There has been no progress in the past years on

:27:08.:27:10.

schemes in Cumbria which have been delayed. On maintenance, we have

:27:11.:27:14.

been told that the budget will be projected but does the Minister

:27:15.:27:20.

believe this budget is sufficient given years of past neglect? The

:27:21.:27:25.

government spent 71 million on maintenance last year. The

:27:26.:27:28.

Environment Agency has recommended that 417 million should be needed.

:27:29.:27:34.

Friends of the Earth have warned that there is a 2.5 billion hole in

:27:35.:27:36.

the government's flood plans. Last week, Mr Speaker, the

:27:37.:27:51.

Environment Secretary agreed with me about the extreme weather and

:27:52.:27:54.

dealing with climate change and the Government has conceded it

:27:55.:27:58.

underestimated the risks. They are not using the most up-to-date

:27:59.:28:02.

information. I hope the Environment Secretary will be able to tell us by

:28:03.:28:10.

the environment -- why there has been no use of new research that

:28:11.:28:15.

shows river flows could be much greater. Flood defence plans are

:28:16.:28:21.

modelled on the median pathway rather than the high scenario. This

:28:22.:28:28.

would cost more money, to look at the high risk scenarios. However,

:28:29.:28:34.

the costs of ignoring this a much greater. It is 81 priority risk

:28:35.:28:39.

alongside terrorism and cyber attacks. By focusing on optimistic

:28:40.:28:49.

projections, the Government is neglecting its responsibilities on

:28:50.:28:52.

climate change. Ignoring climate change will not make it go away. For

:28:53.:28:56.

two years, the UK was hampered by having a climate change denier as

:28:57.:29:01.

the Environment Secretary and it is rumoured that he tried to replace

:29:02.:29:07.

the word climate change wet weather in every document I had to be

:29:08.:29:11.

explained to him that it was not the same thing. Under his stewardship

:29:12.:29:19.

funding on I'm a change dropped. Thankfully the current climate

:29:20.:29:28.

secretary is more interested in she will have our full support as she is

:29:29.:29:32.

guided by expert advice. We look forward to hearing more details on

:29:33.:29:37.

the national flood resilient review. I welcome the confirmation that the

:29:38.:29:40.

Cumbrian floods partnership will be looking at upstream options and I

:29:41.:29:45.

hope this will be included in the resilient review. The focus on the

:29:46.:29:49.

role of the natural environment is unfortunately long overdue and I

:29:50.:29:55.

know the environment Minister's constituency was badly affected. I

:29:56.:30:08.

hope he is taking this on board. She is talking about national

:30:09.:30:12.

resilience. Does you think it is a failure of the last Labour

:30:13.:30:16.

Government are not have done this in 2005? For example, in Carlisle we

:30:17.:30:22.

are in a flood plain area that was flooded in 2005 and thanks to the

:30:23.:30:30.

hard work of the emergency services was not flooded in 2015. Why did

:30:31.:30:35.

they not looking moving it? We did commission a review. The honourable

:30:36.:30:41.

gentleman mentioned the work of the emergency services. I did meet with

:30:42.:30:46.

mountain rescue when I was in Cumbria and they have done fantastic

:30:47.:30:52.

work. There are calls for the Fire Brigade 's's response to flooding to

:30:53.:31:01.

be on a statutory footing, not as an adult, and the mountain rescue teams

:31:02.:31:07.

do wonderful work based on voluntary contributions and I hope that is

:31:08.:31:09.

something that will be looked at as part of the review. With my

:31:10.:31:16.

honourable friend agree with me that this is a timely opportunity for us

:31:17.:31:19.

to look again at the funding of Fire Services up and down the country. On

:31:20.:31:24.

Merseyside we have had extreme cuts and the whole model needs to be

:31:25.:31:30.

revisited. This was raised with me. There are five fire stations in

:31:31.:31:34.

Cumbria that are due to close and the control centre is in Warrington.

:31:35.:31:38.

One point that has been made is that the firefighters on the ground have

:31:39.:31:44.

the best local Norwich, but people in Warrington were trying to send

:31:45.:31:47.

them to people where there are fire alarm had gone off but they were the

:31:48.:31:53.

ones who knew the towns and villages were already under water and they

:31:54.:31:57.

could not pass the roads. There is a lot to be said for keeping local

:31:58.:32:02.

knowledge and local fire stations. I am sure constituency MPs will have

:32:03.:32:05.

something to say about that. Flooding has had a devastating

:32:06.:32:09.

impact on farmers are many in Cumbria have been hit by a double

:32:10.:32:15.

whammy, having also been informed it will not receive their basic

:32:16.:32:19.

payments until February. Given the losses that they have suffered from

:32:20.:32:22.

flooding and a positive contribution of farmers I would hope that better

:32:23.:32:25.

would be working closely with them to involve them in a long-term

:32:26.:32:30.

strategic approach to flood risk, looking at ways to maximise

:32:31.:32:32.

absorbency and how the Government can promote agricultural forestry.

:32:33.:32:40.

We forcing 5% of land reduces flood peaks by 29%. -- pitting forest-mac

:32:41.:32:50.

into 5% of the land. Sustainable drainage systems can make a positive

:32:51.:32:54.

difference, but progress has been slow and difficult for local

:32:55.:32:56.

authorities to make progress on flood risk management strategy since

:32:57.:33:01.

limited. Especially considering the additional budget cuts. As the

:33:02.:33:04.

climate is Committee reported, many have not yet finalised their

:33:05.:33:07.

strategy is a boulder civil legal requirement for the last five years.

:33:08.:33:12.

I hope the Environment Secretary is coordinating departmental work to

:33:13.:33:15.

manage the flood risk and he is factoring it into plans such as

:33:16.:33:22.

house-building plans. In light of the agreements reached in Paris, I

:33:23.:33:27.

would urge the Environment Secretary to bring forward the climate change

:33:28.:33:31.

risk assessment and to consider whether the national adaptation

:33:32.:33:35.

programme is fit for purpose. As the Committee on climate change has

:33:36.:33:38.

said, the next programme is a clear sense of priorities and measurable

:33:39.:33:42.

objectives. Even if commitments are met, the Paris agreement means that

:33:43.:33:45.

the Government must prepare for temperature rises of nearly three

:33:46.:33:49.

degrees. Will the Secretary of State ensure that the national resilience

:33:50.:33:52.

review which has been announced as only the first step in tackling this

:33:53.:33:57.

problem? It must lead to a realistic plan and action. As yet, Mr Speaker,

:33:58.:34:04.

we do not know what they need to adapt to because they do not know

:34:05.:34:10.

what the Energy and Climate Change Secretary is proposed by way of

:34:11.:34:12.

implementing the Paris agreement in the UK. In her statement on Paris

:34:13.:34:17.

yesterday, there was little sense that the Government has any

:34:18.:34:21.

strategy, let alone a fully funded one, to meet the UK's climate change

:34:22.:34:25.

commitments to help the global community keep temperature rises

:34:26.:34:33.

below to degrees. The UN's chief environment representative as had

:34:34.:34:35.

intervened to challenge the Government's practices in renewable

:34:36.:34:41.

energy. This said disappointed when we see countries like the United

:34:42.:34:45.

Kingdom, who had been in the lead in terms of getting renewable energy up

:34:46.:34:49.

and going, having their subsidies withdrawn and the fossil fuel

:34:50.:34:52.

industry being enhanced. We can only agree that it is a very serious

:34:53.:34:56.

signal that we do not want to create. Mr Speaker, the UK under the

:34:57.:35:02.

last Labour administration had a proud record on climate change. From

:35:03.:35:09.

Laura Prescott's role, Gordon Brown and his role in establishing the

:35:10.:35:12.

global climate fund, and my right honourable friend the member for

:35:13.:35:17.

Doncaster North of the climate change act, which has now been

:35:18.:35:21.

emulated by 100 other countries. We were the first. That legacy is

:35:22.:35:26.

slipping away and it is future generations who will pay the price.

:35:27.:35:31.

As she fields and so my honourable friend's question yesterday, I hope

:35:32.:35:35.

the Environment Secretary will now be able to confirm that they will be

:35:36.:35:40.

reviewing the recently abandoned green policies and that the UK will

:35:41.:35:44.

continue to support raising European targets and reducing carbon

:35:45.:35:49.

emissions by 2030. It is not just energy where they need leadership.

:35:50.:35:52.

Will she ensure that there is more coordination with the Department for

:35:53.:35:56.

Transport, the department for businesses prioritise in green jobs

:35:57.:36:00.

and that our financial services to Nokia promoting investing in fossil

:36:01.:36:04.

fuels. Will she stop the Chancellor for making short-term cuts, ignoring

:36:05.:36:11.

the environmental and human costs. Expert after expert is warning that

:36:12.:36:14.

the Government is failing on climate change and failing to protect people

:36:15.:36:18.

from flooding. They are letting down communities who are dreading the

:36:19.:36:22.

next heavy downfall and they are and future generations who will there

:36:23.:36:27.

the brunt of climate change. I hope, Mr Speaker, both the secretaries of

:36:28.:36:30.

state will agree that this Government has run out of excuses

:36:31.:36:35.

and now is the time to act. The question is as on the order paper.

:36:36.:36:43.

Mr Speaker, the exceptional rainfall we have seen in the last couple of

:36:44.:36:48.

weeks has led to some very distressing situations for families

:36:49.:36:52.

and businesses in the North of England, with serious flooding has

:36:53.:36:57.

occurred. It is rightly we use every opportunity offered in this House to

:36:58.:37:01.

express our sympathy for those most deeply affected. It is also right to

:37:02.:37:07.

be paid tribute to the work of emergency responders, to the

:37:08.:37:10.

Environment Agency, and volunteers from around the country who have

:37:11.:37:14.

worked tirelessly to help get people to safety and to clean up so quickly

:37:15.:37:20.

so that people can return to their homes as soon as possible. The

:37:21.:37:26.

Government mobilised for all national emergency response. We

:37:27.:37:29.

deployed the military from day one to protect the lives of people. The

:37:30.:37:37.

corporate contingency Committee has met every day to see how resources

:37:38.:37:42.

can be deployed to communities and the recovery effort continues. --

:37:43.:37:43.

equal bra. Equal. Can you help the people that

:37:44.:37:57.

have suffered so much for some additional funding and how quickly

:37:58.:38:01.

could that is secured? That is one of the aspects we are looking at

:38:02.:38:04.

that it would take seven months for that money to comment. What we have

:38:05.:38:09.

done is that then one week of these terrible flood occurring, we have

:38:10.:38:13.

made available ?51 million to give immediate relief to the households

:38:14.:38:18.

and businesses in Cumbria, right across the North, that have been

:38:19.:38:24.

affected. The Chancellor announced that last week we were supporting

:38:25.:38:29.

households and businesses in affected areas. The honourable lady

:38:30.:38:34.

asked about accommodation and we are very concerned to make sure that

:38:35.:38:38.

there is available accommodation for those who are out of their homes and

:38:39.:38:41.

we're working with local councils to make sure that they have every

:38:42.:38:45.

possible resource that they need to able to do that. We had divers

:38:46.:38:50.

assessing the bridges to get those open as soon as possible. We had

:38:51.:38:54.

diggers clearing out the roads. We are doing everything we can to make

:38:55.:38:57.

sure that we get Cumbria up and running as soon as possible and that

:38:58.:39:02.

it is open to business as soon as possible. I give way. She rightly

:39:03.:39:09.

says there has been great effort to clear the roads. The main connecting

:39:10.:39:17.

a road between the north and the South has been closed and that has

:39:18.:39:20.

effectively ruin the two this industry on both sides of that

:39:21.:39:25.

divide. The Royal Engineers did a great job clearing the mess and he

:39:26.:39:29.

left yesterday. Can she do something to invite them back to rebuild a

:39:30.:39:37.

quickly? She is right. The road is a critical artery and it is important

:39:38.:39:44.

for up to get about. -- tourism. It is now passable with a four by four

:39:45.:39:50.

vehicle and we tried to get it running as quickly as possible. The

:39:51.:39:53.

Department for Transport are working very closely with the emergency

:39:54.:40:00.

teams to make sure that it happens. The West Coast mainline is up and

:40:01.:40:05.

running and that was put up and running as soon as possible. Almost

:40:06.:40:12.

all of the hundred and 69 households who have had their power cuts have

:40:13.:40:16.

been reconnected apart from a small group of under 50 who require extra

:40:17.:40:23.

work. We have the Environment Agency assessing what more can be done and

:40:24.:40:26.

moving in heavy equipment to clear rivers. Our priority must remain

:40:27.:40:33.

with public safety. Although 84 flood warnings have been removed and

:40:34.:40:39.

the last day, further for now -- further flooding could occur because

:40:40.:40:43.

of saturated ground. I urge people to keep up-to-date with the

:40:44.:40:52.

Environment Agency's website. Although this is of no comfort to

:40:53.:40:58.

those who have suffered, the flood defences have successfully defended

:40:59.:41:02.

over 100,000 houses and businesses from losing their power supplies and

:41:03.:41:05.

what is important is that we look at how we can further improve

:41:06.:41:11.

resilience in our country. My right honourable friend with

:41:12.:41:13.

responsibility for energy and climate change is working to ensure

:41:14.:41:16.

that we have long-term energy security and that we are tackling

:41:17.:41:21.

dangerous emissions. I think that she has showing massive readership

:41:22.:41:27.

over the past week in what she has achieved in Paris. It is a hazard

:41:28.:41:33.

oracle achievement -- it is a historical achievement and think

:41:34.:41:39.

those should be applauding her great leadership at an international

:41:40.:41:43.

level. I can see honourable members on the benches opposite

:41:44.:41:46.

acknowledging that is the case and that is extremely welcome from the

:41:47.:41:49.

former climate change secretary. In an I'm grateful to the Secretary

:41:50.:42:03.

of State and I apologise for bringing back the subject of

:42:04.:42:07.

flooding. Does she think it is time for a radical change in the way we

:42:08.:42:15.

fund flood maintenance? We get promises and they fade. It tends to

:42:16.:42:21.

happen under all governments. Should the responsibility be handed over to

:42:22.:42:27.

a regulated standard, for example the water companies? We have made a

:42:28.:42:36.

change. Rather than seeing a stop -start in flood defence spending, we

:42:37.:42:40.

have laid out a fully funded six-year programme to give

:42:41.:42:45.

communities that certainty. I will be talking about that later in my

:42:46.:42:50.

comments. I was in the middle of praising my right honourable friend

:42:51.:42:55.

for doing a fantastic job and I need that to be acknowledged. At the same

:42:56.:42:59.

time as achieving an international deal on climate change, moving to

:43:00.:43:05.

A-level playing field, it is really important to get countries across

:43:06.:43:14.

the world to contribute, it is also important that we get improvements

:43:15.:43:23.

to customer at home. My noble friend is showing the way that is done. The

:43:24.:43:32.

reality is, under this government, there is a long-term plan for

:43:33.:43:38.

economic and energy security. Part of that plan is improving our

:43:39.:43:42.

resilience and investing in flood defences. There are seeing extreme

:43:43.:43:49.

weather events becoming more common. We have seen devastating floods in

:43:50.:43:54.

Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland, and elsewhere. We saw record

:43:55.:43:59.

rainfall and water levels in our rivers half a metre higher than ever

:44:00.:44:06.

before. I've visited on my second visit to Cumbria in a week, I

:44:07.:44:16.

visited Appleby yesterday and met local residents, army and volunteers

:44:17.:44:20.

who have been tremendous during this rescue effort. I saw the sheer power

:44:21.:44:26.

of the water and the way it had washed away bridges downstream. I

:44:27.:44:32.

also saw huge spirit and resilience throughout the region. I would

:44:33.:44:38.

invite her to come back to the question about maintenance grants.

:44:39.:44:44.

The amount of money spent on maintaining a cyst in flood

:44:45.:44:50.

shortfall of 2.5 billion on what the shortfall of 2.5 billion on what the

:44:51.:44:53.

Environment Agency says is needed and will she fill it? As part of the

:44:54.:45:01.

Autumn Statement we are increasing maintenance spending from real terms

:45:02.:45:07.

from 171 million per year. In a climate where we are having to

:45:08.:45:13.

reduce government budgets, we are increasing in real terms, flood

:45:14.:45:17.

capital spending and flood maintenance spending, which shows

:45:18.:45:23.

the priority we place on this. Sir Michael Pitt in his report after the

:45:24.:45:30.

2007 floods said that flooding was the greatest risk we face from

:45:31.:45:35.

climate change and that spending needed to rise by more than

:45:36.:45:39.

inflation each and every year. Can she explain why in real terms we

:45:40.:45:44.

will be spending exactly the same as we were spending in 2009-10? The

:45:45.:45:55.

reality is that between 2005-10, Labour spent 1.5 billion on flood

:45:56.:46:08.

capital, in 2005-2010 -2015 which is a real term increase not a cut. We

:46:09.:46:14.

are investing 2 billion which is a real terms increase and not a cut.

:46:15.:46:24.

We are spending 2 billion, between 2005-10, Labour spent 1.5 billion.

:46:25.:46:34.

It represents a real terms increase. The question is, does she think that

:46:35.:46:39.

is sufficient given the recent events and the clear and growing

:46:40.:46:46.

link to climate change and the devastating effects it is causing?

:46:47.:46:55.

What these additional funding that we are putting into flood defences

:46:56.:47:00.

will mean is a reduction in flood risk over the next six years. Not an

:47:01.:47:06.

elimination of risk. We need to make sure that we have the right

:47:07.:47:11.

emergency response in place but it will reduce flood risk. I wanted to

:47:12.:47:17.

answer the point raised in the opposition benches about the

:47:18.:47:23.

spending in recent years. The reality is, following the 2013-14

:47:24.:47:30.

floods, we put in an extra 270 million to repair and rebuild those

:47:31.:47:37.

defences destroyed. That is the money the benches opposite are

:47:38.:47:42.

talking about. Even if you take into account the extra funding we put in

:47:43.:47:48.

which was rebuilding those defences after the winter floods, we are

:47:49.:47:53.

still spending more in real terms in this Parliament on flood defences.

:47:54.:47:58.

We are laying it out in a six-year programme for the first time ever.

:47:59.:48:05.

The fact is, when Labour were in power, they never laid out plans for

:48:06.:48:10.

more than one year at a time. We are laying out a six-year plan. Could I

:48:11.:48:20.

ask the Secretary of State, when the ask the Secretary of State, when the

:48:21.:48:25.

Chancellor was pulling together his fast-track terms for housing, half

:48:26.:48:30.

of which are going to be built on flood plain areas, did she have

:48:31.:48:34.

sight on that policy and comment on it? If not, why not? The Environment

:48:35.:48:42.

Agency are part of the planning process, they do not allow

:48:43.:48:48.

house-building on flood plain areas. That is part of the planning

:48:49.:48:49.

process. She will remember, not just Cumbria,

:48:50.:49:04.

but the awful time we had in Somerset with the flooding but I

:49:05.:49:09.

have got to say that the government have committed ?35 billion to

:49:10.:49:17.

Somerset until 2021 and I wonder about the arrangement we are putting

:49:18.:49:21.

into place with the Somerset Rivers authority that may provide a model

:49:22.:49:28.

for other areas. She is absolutely right. The Somerset Rivers authority

:49:29.:49:33.

does form a model which I believe we can use in other parts of the

:49:34.:49:38.

country. It gives local people who understand the area and the local

:49:39.:49:43.

catchment, the power to be able to make decisions. I have given away

:49:44.:49:58.

once, I will make progress. Is to respond to the opposition point

:49:59.:50:03.

about local farmers, I met with them yesterday. We are helping them to

:50:04.:50:07.

get their land are sorted out, much of which is covered with rubble. We

:50:08.:50:13.

are putting in place a special scheme to help farmers which will be

:50:14.:50:18.

open from Friday and we are privatising basic farm payments for

:50:19.:50:26.

those -- prioritising basic farm payments for those worst affected.

:50:27.:50:31.

This is the first time ever a government has laid out future flood

:50:32.:50:35.

defence spending. The private partnership funding is in addition

:50:36.:50:42.

to the real terms increase. That is extra money. To mean that even more

:50:43.:50:51.

flood defence schemes can go ahead. We have secured ?250 million of that

:50:52.:50:58.

money and have a 350 million earmarked. We are only six months

:50:59.:51:03.

into the scheme. Remember what happened between 2005-10. Only ?13

:51:04.:51:11.

million was raised. We raised 134 million in the last Parliament, ten

:51:12.:51:16.

times what was raised under the previous government. What the money

:51:17.:51:23.

we are putting in represents is real defences across the country. In

:51:24.:51:28.

Boston, we are building a new ?90 million barrier. In Lancashire, we

:51:29.:51:35.

are investing ?63 million for a two kilometres sea wall. In Exeter, ?30

:51:36.:51:44.

million on new flood defences. On the Thames, ?220 million on a 17

:51:45.:51:51.

kilometre flood relief channel. In the Honourable Lady's constituency

:51:52.:51:57.

of Bristol East, we will be investing ?1 million in a scheme. In

:51:58.:52:01.

Stockton North, ?8 million in a scheme at Port Clarence. What this

:52:02.:52:13.

real terms increase in spending means is protection for real

:52:14.:52:17.

families and businesses across the country in addition to protection

:52:18.:52:28.

for 420,000 acres of farmland. She knows that local MPs around the

:52:29.:52:32.

Humber supported a proposal looking for around ?1 billion for the second

:52:33.:52:40.

greatest strategic risk after London, the Humber area. What plans

:52:41.:52:46.

are therefore a viable programme for that area coming forward? We are

:52:47.:52:52.

investing ?80 million in flood defences for that area but I'm happy

:52:53.:52:56.

to meet him and colleagues to talk about what more we can do to

:52:57.:53:03.

increase resilience in this area. I think it is very important to note

:53:04.:53:07.

that we are not complacent about our flood defences. We are looking at

:53:08.:53:13.

what has happened in recent weeks to make sure we learn lessons and act

:53:14.:53:18.

upon the new evidence that has come to light. We have committed

:53:19.:53:23.

ourselves to two reviews. First of all, the fund -- the Cumbria

:53:24.:53:36.

flooding partnership. We'll we will look at downstream defences and how

:53:37.:53:41.

we can slow the flow upstream and how we can more involve the

:53:42.:53:46.

community. I saw a fantastic project last week where they are using

:53:47.:53:52.

upstream mitigation to reduce the peaks in river flow. It is already

:53:53.:53:56.

happening and I want to see more of it. That is why we are launching

:53:57.:54:02.

this new work stream. We are putting in place the National resilience

:54:03.:54:06.

review to see how we model extreme weather and how we protect critical

:54:07.:54:13.

assets and how we make future investment decisions which I think

:54:14.:54:15.

my honourable friend was asking about further. To be clear, the ?2.3

:54:16.:54:23.

billion programme we have put in, we want communities to have certainty

:54:24.:54:28.

that projects are going ahead. This will look at future flooding

:54:29.:54:31.

investment to make sure that the formula is adapted to what we now

:54:32.:54:39.

know. We already have some of the most sophisticated flood modelling

:54:40.:54:43.

in the world. For the first time in Cumbria during this flooding we used

:54:44.:54:50.

resilience direct, meaning all the emergency services could communicate

:54:51.:54:55.

together in real time with the Environment Agency which was very

:54:56.:54:59.

effective in getting early action, and we are working to make sure that

:55:00.:55:04.

we keep up-to-date with the latest trends in climate and extreme

:55:05.:55:10.

weather that the Honourable Lady was talking about. Mr Speaker, I'd like

:55:11.:55:16.

to conclude my remarks now. We are completely committed to do whatever

:55:17.:55:25.

it takes to make sure Cumbria and other flood affected areas are more

:55:26.:55:29.

resilient in the future. Without a strong economy, under a strong

:55:30.:55:35.

Conservative government, we wouldn't have money for these crucial

:55:36.:55:40.

schemes. It is our party that is investing in new power stations and

:55:41.:55:45.

make each other we have the energy supply is well reducing carbon

:55:46.:55:49.

emissions. It is our party that is investing to make this country more

:55:50.:55:55.

resilient and adapt to climate change and extreme weather. The

:55:56.:56:01.

party opposite have no plan, they shirk these decisions in office and

:56:02.:56:06.

they wasted our money. Let's remember what the Chief Secretary

:56:07.:56:12.

said, he said, I'm afraid there is no money. That was their legacy. The

:56:13.:56:17.

fact is, it is this side of the house that is affecting our economy,

:56:18.:56:22.

safeguarding our security and our future. Thank you for allowing me

:56:23.:56:32.

the opportunity to take part in this debate. First of all, I'd like to

:56:33.:56:39.

urge all Honourable members on this side of the house, in particular, to

:56:40.:56:43.

pay close attention to what I have to say. Unfortunately, this

:56:44.:56:49.

opposition Day motion shows a fundamental lack of understanding of

:56:50.:56:54.

the reality on the ground in Holly and the Scottish Borders, which is

:56:55.:56:59.

my constituency, which suffered serious flooding earlier this month.

:57:00.:57:05.

I thank the member for giving way and will he also accept that there

:57:06.:57:11.

have been problems in serious flooding in Northern Ireland and he

:57:12.:57:17.

gives no reference to that at all. There are 60 roads still closed in

:57:18.:57:23.

my constituency today. I thank the honourable member for that

:57:24.:57:25.

intervention and it is an excellent point. My constituency is mentioned

:57:26.:57:30.

and emotion but has not been mentioned once in proceedings so

:57:31.:57:35.

far. It is the same experience. It is very disappointing that the

:57:36.:57:39.

motion makes a fundamental error in terms of the funding process for

:57:40.:57:43.

flood defences in Scotland. I hope my speech to explain this and why

:57:44.:57:53.

and make upfront. The River TV broke its banks on the 15th of December

:57:54.:57:59.

and 600 people had to be evacuated. 333 homes were impacted as well as

:58:00.:58:06.

45 local businesses. The town reacted magnificently to the crisis.

:58:07.:58:13.

I was along with the volunteers and community safety Minister on the

:58:14.:58:19.

ground putting down sandbags under the direction of Hawick police and

:58:20.:58:27.

emergency services, who all did a fantastic job. The reality is that

:58:28.:58:33.

if it had not been for their help in intervention then things could've

:58:34.:58:37.

been a lot worse and I like to pay tribute to all of their efforts,

:58:38.:58:43.

including Scottish Borders Council. Our councils tend to be the whipping

:58:44.:58:47.

boys, solid like to pay tribute to them for coordinating the effort. --

:58:48.:58:54.

so I would like. The damage caused by the flood in Hawick has been

:58:55.:58:57.

significant. The Scottish Government made it clear from the start that

:58:58.:59:02.

the scheme would be implemented to fund repair work. It also emphasised

:59:03.:59:09.

that money is available to fund a fool flood prevention scheme. A

:59:10.:59:15.

preferred scheme has been frozen and they are now moving to the detailed

:59:16.:59:19.

design. Have now been chosen. It is critical to get this right. It can

:59:20.:59:25.

feel or make things worse if it is not right. The swift response has

:59:26.:59:31.

eased the worries of people in the towns and shown the Scottish

:59:32.:59:33.

Government to be empathetic and fast acting. I will give way. He thinks

:59:34.:59:41.

that the Scottish Government have been exemplary and wonderful and

:59:42.:59:46.

there is nothing else that he would ask them to do on behalf of his

:59:47.:59:48.

constituents on this important matter. That is a glowing tribute to

:59:49.:00:00.

the people of my constituency. If he would like to listen I will explain

:00:01.:00:05.

the process in more detail. If anyone stands up on any side of the

:00:06.:00:10.

House, and there is a sense that nothing can be learnt, it would be a

:00:11.:00:14.

mistake. It is always possible to improve the response to be better

:00:15.:00:18.

next time. The flooding that took place will be examined in detail and

:00:19.:00:23.

will inform the flood defences that are put in place. Across Scotland

:00:24.:00:28.

there was a first-class and highly impressive multi-agency response.

:00:29.:00:35.

Madam Deputy Speaker, the truth is Madam Deputy Speaker, the truth is

:00:36.:00:38.

that we will never be able to stop flooding. It has been with us

:00:39.:00:42.

throughout history. The old throughout history. The old

:00:43.:00:46.

Testament and the Koran tells us about now and the Ark and I must be

:00:47.:00:53.

people in Scotland and in Carlisle who thought that they were extras in

:00:54.:01:01.

the sequel. As we cannot prevent water, we must do our best and

:01:02.:01:06.

redirecting it. In Scotland, all of the flood defences that we had in

:01:07.:01:12.

place held. In Galashiels, they stayed in place and in Selkirk where

:01:13.:01:20.

they had only been half built they still did their job. That highlights

:01:21.:01:24.

how well designed schemes can make a difference. The Scottish Government

:01:25.:01:30.

regards reduced flood risk as a priority and provide annual funding

:01:31.:01:35.

of ?42 million for councils to invest in major flood prevention

:01:36.:01:40.

schemes. Does he accept that there is an issue of urban flooding, that

:01:41.:01:47.

is less reported. I know my constituency it is now been renamed

:01:48.:01:50.

as an island because all the access roads were blocked with flooding. It

:01:51.:01:55.

is important that local authorities invest this money appropriately. He

:01:56.:02:03.

is absolutely right. It is not just the challenge, the flooding can be

:02:04.:02:09.

exacerbated by the Constitution of dwellings. In some parts of

:02:10.:02:20.

Scotland... I will give way. Having been in charge of flood risk

:02:21.:02:25.

management to Wales and all have imported the devolved administration

:02:26.:02:29.

is in this respect. Can I ask him if he is looking at the situation of

:02:30.:02:34.

capturing water on buildings in box so that it believes the amount they

:02:35.:02:39.

goes down into sewers and secondly whether they are investing in the

:02:40.:02:42.

resilience of particular properties in terms of waterproofing, because

:02:43.:02:51.

no defence is 100% reliable. I think he displays an Admiral knowledge of

:02:52.:02:55.

the subject and if my House is ever in a flooding plane I know who to go

:02:56.:03:04.

to for advice. This debate is about time it change and flooding, but

:03:05.:03:08.

there are so many other issues in terms of land use that could be

:03:09.:03:12.

covered in more detail. You must always plan to prevent at a local

:03:13.:03:17.

level and mitigate where you can. He makes an excellent point. The

:03:18.:03:23.

Scottish Government enacted its flood risk management act in 2009.

:03:24.:03:28.

This introduces our sustainable and modern approach to flood risk

:03:29.:03:32.

development, which considers the problems of climate change. For

:03:33.:03:39.

example, it provides a streamlined process for protection schemes and a

:03:40.:03:42.

framework for quarter nation between organisations involved in flood risk

:03:43.:03:45.

management. New methods have also management. New methods have also

:03:46.:03:48.

been put in place to ensure that stakeholders have a proper input

:03:49.:03:51.

into this process as is happening in Hawick now. Another hugely important

:03:52.:03:56.

piece of legislation is that climate change Scotland Act, enacted in

:03:57.:04:08.

2009. It sets the hard as climate change targets in the world with an

:04:09.:04:14.

80% reduction target by 2080. Ministers are required to report

:04:15.:04:17.

regularly to the Scottish Parliament on progress on emissions. By earlier

:04:18.:04:21.

this year, the Committee on climate change concluded that Scotland had

:04:22.:04:25.

continued to make good progress towards meeting these ambitious

:04:26.:04:29.

greenhouse gas reduction targets and we are on track to make that 42%

:04:30.:04:34.

target ahead of schedule. We continue to outperform the UK as a

:04:35.:04:40.

whole. In Western Europe, only one of the EU 15 states, Sweden, has

:04:41.:04:44.

achieved greater reductions. The Scottish Government has not hit all

:04:45.:04:50.

of its targets, partly because of the per4-mac revisions but I think

:04:51.:04:57.

it should be applauded for its ambitious vision to want to lead the

:04:58.:05:01.

way. The determination is that Scotland should continue to be a

:05:02.:05:05.

world leader in this area and that surely is the right approach to

:05:06.:05:12.

take. We should acknowledge its ambition and successes so far and I

:05:13.:05:16.

hope in this Chamber we can recognise there is a lot to learn

:05:17.:05:20.

from this in terms of best practice. The Scottish Government has pledged

:05:21.:05:23.

?1 billion of funding for two years of climate change action and there

:05:24.:05:28.

are plenty of reasons for optimism. Last year, renewables overtook the

:05:29.:05:39.

clear as Scotland's largest forum of power and wind turbines produce 139%

:05:40.:05:43.

of the electrical needs of Scottish hassles. These are highly

:05:44.:05:50.

encouraging figures. However no nation can ever live in isolation.

:05:51.:05:54.

Only by working together can world leaders properly address this, the

:05:55.:06:01.

greatest environmental threat of our age. At the summit last week we

:06:02.:06:06.

managed to achieve universal agreement, one that has been signed

:06:07.:06:09.

up to by rich and poor countries alike. I would like to congratulate

:06:10.:06:15.

the Secretary of State for her hard work in securing success at this

:06:16.:06:19.

historic convention, one which Scotland, and Ireland's First

:06:20.:06:26.

will not solve global warming, it is will not solve global warming, it is

:06:27.:06:30.

not a panacea. Paris finally showed that the world, along with the

:06:31.:06:36.

commitment, is there. I'm grateful to him for giving way. Emissions

:06:37.:06:43.

from aviation and shipping were left out from the Paris agreement. That

:06:44.:06:47.

he agree that is a fatal omission? Does he think that airport expansion

:06:48.:06:56.

would make a problem for the UK to meet its climate change commitments?

:06:57.:07:02.

That is an excellent point and it was notable in a recent carbon

:07:03.:07:09.

reports that air contributions were excluded. We must start looking at

:07:10.:07:18.

the whole picture. Paris did show that they will for a strong

:07:19.:07:21.

commitment is there as long as the hundred and 96 Nations the signed up

:07:22.:07:26.

to the declaration are going to prove that their word is their bond.

:07:27.:07:32.

Then we can look forward to a future that is bright and greed. In

:07:33.:07:35.

Scotland, as in so many other countries, this agreement could

:07:36.:07:41.

reshape our landscape. At the moment increasing rainfall and changes in

:07:42.:07:44.

patterns mean our 50,000 kilometre is of rivers are likely to flood

:07:45.:07:51.

more often. This create affect most of our major airports as well as the

:07:52.:07:59.

petrochemical complex. Rising sea levels mean that some of our coastal

:08:00.:08:03.

habitats could be lost entirely. There is another factor. I may

:08:04.:08:09.

change affects a disease that affects sheep and renders their

:08:10.:08:15.

lungs unusable as food. I hope not to disturb my colleagues here, but

:08:16.:08:20.

sheep lungs are key ingredient in haggis. This is central to Scottish

:08:21.:08:28.

culture. What with Burns night they were about haggis? -- with haggis.

:08:29.:08:37.

But now we can avoid some of the worst consequences of climate change

:08:38.:08:44.

and its affect on our food. The SNP has argued strongly against UK

:08:45.:08:49.

Government moves to roll back support for renewable energy.

:08:50.:08:58.

Subsidies to onshore wind, solar, and wind power are being reversed

:08:59.:09:01.

and cyber funding is being scrapped. Some of my colleagues plan to talk

:09:02.:09:06.

about this in more detail, the Treasury's decision to cut

:09:07.:09:10.

investment in carbon capture and Scottish technology, which is

:09:11.:09:12.

short-sighted. Some environmentalists say that we are

:09:13.:09:15.

now going through the worst period in green policy for 30 years. They

:09:16.:09:20.

need for positive and dramatic action stares us in the face.

:09:21.:09:27.

Climate change can no longer be denied. After Paris, every nation is

:09:28.:09:32.

going to have to be bolder. This offers us an opportunity to change

:09:33.:09:35.

the direction of travel. It is a perfect time for ministers to

:09:36.:09:39.

reverse the recent negative attitudes towards renewable and like

:09:40.:09:45.

Scotland turn the UK into a leader. They must walk the walk. This is our

:09:46.:09:51.

moment of choice. We can turn back the tide. For us and for our

:09:52.:09:55.

children and grandchildren there is still time. I employ this Government

:09:56.:10:06.

to help do so. Thank you. It is a pleasure to take part in this

:10:07.:10:11.

debate. It follows the excellent news from Paris and the more

:10:12.:10:17.

depressing news of recent flooding. I have just lost two of my favourite

:10:18.:10:23.

ministers from the bench, but I have another still on the front bench so

:10:24.:10:26.

I'm delighted to have their temporary audience. I would like the

:10:27.:10:35.

right honourable lady to congratulate -- I would like, like

:10:36.:10:40.

the right honourable lady, to congratulate the Minister on the

:10:41.:10:44.

deal in Paris. There will be different colleagues throughout this

:10:45.:10:46.

debate who will talk about how effective that deal was and how it

:10:47.:10:51.

contrasts the Copenhagen, which the Right Honourable Gentleman opposite

:10:52.:10:56.

has such scars from. Despite a lot of the detail being left for future

:10:57.:11:03.

work, I think we do have a framework in Paris which can give us hope for

:11:04.:11:07.

the future by building on these national contributions. We have the

:11:08.:11:12.

building blocks that we can use to go forward and we have got in place

:11:13.:11:17.

in the agreement the promise of a stock take and a review and

:11:18.:11:21.

hopefully a growth in ambition over time. It seems to me that following

:11:22.:11:27.

Paris, the Secretary of State on the front bench half to things to do. --

:11:28.:11:33.

had two things today. They had to make sure that UK reduction of

:11:34.:11:39.

carbon proceeds within the framework of the climate change act 2008 and

:11:40.:11:46.

those produced by the climate change Committee. I think it is worth

:11:47.:11:50.

saying, Madam Deputy Speaker, that we do not always have it right. For

:11:51.:11:55.

instance, if we look at onshore wind, which is currently the lowest

:11:56.:12:00.

cost form of renewable energy that we have, there was a misdiagnosis of

:12:01.:12:08.

the problem. The diagnosis of the problem which people like me have to

:12:09.:12:12.

provide to our constituencies that they did not like having onshore

:12:13.:12:17.

wind turbines forced on them, the local councillors ignored, and have

:12:18.:12:23.

a distant directorate in and then being built, losing any control over

:12:24.:12:27.

the local environment. Local people want to have control over the local

:12:28.:12:30.

environment and what they want to do is in the areas where there is least

:12:31.:12:34.

opposition, over the recompense could be such, they should go ahead,

:12:35.:12:39.

but where they do not want them, they should not go ahead. That was a

:12:40.:12:44.

mistake that the party opposite made with they were in Government and we

:12:45.:12:47.

tried to get them to see that we would ultimately end up with more if

:12:48.:12:51.

we went with the grain of local opinion rather than try to fight

:12:52.:12:55.

against it. And inevitably, those two were having the local

:12:56.:12:59.

environment dominated by these shots are as we divided political voice

:13:00.:13:03.

and eventually they would bring it to a halt and we would end up with

:13:04.:13:08.

less rather than more. That is how it has proved. The misdiagnosis of

:13:09.:13:12.

that my party came to the conclusion the difficulty was not about the

:13:13.:13:16.

planning, it was about the subsidy, although it is the lowest subsidy of

:13:17.:13:20.

any renewable energy. We are in a bizarre situation where we have no

:13:21.:13:24.

subsidy on the cheapest for but we talk about lowering the cost to

:13:25.:13:28.

consumers. We should have removed the right to appeal to the

:13:29.:13:31.

inspectorate and allowed the developers to provide packages that

:13:32.:13:36.

won support in certain parts of the country, and personally I think we

:13:37.:13:40.

would've ended up with more. Now we have a situation with the cheapest

:13:41.:13:43.

form of renewable energy does not get any support, which is a bizarre

:13:44.:13:47.

situation for us to BN. We do not want to make further mistakes like

:13:48.:13:50.

that. In my local area we have offshore wind and by next year we

:13:51.:13:54.

should have six gigawatts of offshore wind in this country, more

:13:55.:13:58.

than the rest of the world combined. By 2020 we should have ten gigawatts

:13:59.:14:02.

and as the Secretary of State recently laid out, and the

:14:03.:14:06.

Chancellor, there is every hope that we can see a doubling of that

:14:07.:14:15.

between 2020 in 2030. The like 2020 and 2030. We are making significant

:14:16.:14:19.

process and it is only because of the pipeline that we have seen the

:14:20.:14:22.

supply line manufacturers able to invest a lower cost.

:14:23.:14:30.

In a a big task is to work out how we are going to deliver lower carbon

:14:31.:14:39.

emissions at the lowest possible cost. Ten years ago, in Montreal,

:14:40.:14:45.

the conclusion was that we had to get costs down otherwise it was

:14:46.:14:49.

going to be hand-wringing environmental concern, sadly, which

:14:50.:14:58.

is not shared that widely amongst the populace of this country or

:14:59.:15:03.

parliamentarians. We needed to get costs down so it becomes politically

:15:04.:15:09.

more acceptable to people to do that which is more effective as tackled

:15:10.:15:18.

by the science. Every decision in this area should be about creating a

:15:19.:15:22.

framework which encourages investment. The state is a

:15:23.:15:27.

relatively small player. Sometimes we talk as if the state is the key

:15:28.:15:34.

driver, it isn't. It is a small player. We create the framework and

:15:35.:15:40.

then we get the investment, in solar, in private companies in

:15:41.:15:47.

China, which has led to a massive reduce in costs. With the help of

:15:48.:15:53.

the greening investment bank, we have accelerated the curve downwards

:15:54.:15:59.

in offshore wind. That is what we have to do. There was a lot of

:16:00.:16:03.

positive rhetoric under the last government from Labour but there was

:16:04.:16:10.

remarkably little action. In 2010, there was not the progress which we

:16:11.:16:16.

should have seen. In the United States, by comparison, the rhetoric

:16:17.:16:20.

is negative but the policy environment has been more positive.

:16:21.:16:25.

That is why we have seen investment in the United States and more

:16:26.:16:29.

innovation and more jobs created and we have seen in this country, even

:16:30.:16:36.

though we have appeared and try to be world leaders. I tried to say

:16:37.:16:48.

this on a cross-party basis, the success in offshore wind which is

:16:49.:16:52.

quite remarkable and needs to be kept going, was built on the back of

:16:53.:16:58.

the pipeline that was set up in that period of a Labour government where

:16:59.:17:02.

they put in the investment import facilities that allows Siemens to

:17:03.:17:12.

manufacture here. I know the pipeline. Quite a lot of progress

:17:13.:17:19.

made in the last five or six years was built on that basis but in the

:17:20.:17:24.

13 years of the Labour government remarkably little progress was made.

:17:25.:17:30.

If you compare the investment environment in renewable

:17:31.:17:33.

technologies in the United States with the actual investments in this

:17:34.:17:36.

country, I don't think we come out all that Bromley. I wanted to make a

:17:37.:17:46.

few remarks about challenges the government faces about lessening

:17:47.:17:58.

carbon. Building confidence at a national level to go further than us

:17:59.:18:05.

when we have the review in five years' time to raise the ambition

:18:06.:18:12.

and not heading towards under three degrees but genuinely heading for a

:18:13.:18:16.

sub 2 degrees world. There is a gym in this amount to be done in

:18:17.:18:21.

engaging parliamentarians. Colleagues from across the chamber

:18:22.:18:29.

attended the summit in Paris. We need to engage more with

:18:30.:18:34.

parliamentarians, particularly, it is equally true in parliaments like

:18:35.:18:39.

this where there are, despite the attendance today, remarkably few

:18:40.:18:43.

colleagues with much interest in the subject matter, we have got to

:18:44.:18:48.

engage more people in the subject matter and get those frameworks that

:18:49.:18:54.

will deliver investment. In developing countries there is a huge

:18:55.:18:58.

role for the UK in diplomacy and with engaging with parliamentarians

:18:59.:19:05.

to pass laws, set budgets and hold governments to account. I aim to

:19:06.:19:14.

finish in ten minutes. I will briefly say something about

:19:15.:19:19.

flooding, following my intervention on the other secretary of state

:19:20.:19:25.

earlier. The threat to the Humber is real and growing with rising sea

:19:26.:19:29.

levels. Last December we saw a bigger surge than we saw in 1953, if

:19:30.:19:36.

the wind direction and other factors have been slightly different we

:19:37.:19:40.

almost certainly would have seen loss of life. It is a growing issue

:19:41.:19:46.

and we need a long-term solution. Leaving it to government which has

:19:47.:19:50.

to decide on investment between schools, hospitals and other things,

:19:51.:19:56.

and investment long-term from other things, there's a tendency to cut

:19:57.:20:01.

that back, would it not be better to set the regulatory standard on which

:20:02.:20:07.

you rely, hand it over to companies like water companies, whose job is

:20:08.:20:11.

to borrow money from international markets, invest at the lowest

:20:12.:20:16.

possible cost to deliver an agreed standard. If we had a statutory

:20:17.:20:21.

agreed standard with a duty placed on those companies to deliver, with

:20:22.:20:26.

the whole taxpayers picking it up, it would save the Chancellor from

:20:27.:20:34.

hitting the exchequer directly, we would also have lower cost for the

:20:35.:20:40.

long-term and stop having heated debates every time we have a flood

:20:41.:20:45.

disaster which, given climate change, is likely to happen more

:20:46.:20:52.

often in the future. Let me say it is a pleasure to follow the

:20:53.:20:57.

Honourable member for Beverley and Holderness who plays an important

:20:58.:21:02.

role in the global organisation of parliamentarians and this is coming

:21:03.:21:06.

at a timely moment after the Paris agreement and the tragedy of the

:21:07.:21:10.

floods. I know many Honourable members on my side want to talk

:21:11.:21:16.

about this, so I will try and keep reasonably brief. I want to focus on

:21:17.:21:22.

what it means for domestic policy. I want to praise the Secretary of

:21:23.:21:27.

State for Energy and Climate Change because she played an important role

:21:28.:21:30.

in these talks and I believe she was the host of the high ambition

:21:31.:21:34.

coalition. Her office was the headquarters of the coalition

:21:35.:21:39.

between developed and from rubble countries and she deserves credit

:21:40.:21:42.

for the role she played in these talks. Having said that, when I

:21:43.:21:52.

listen to her statement yesterday, I don't want to be unfair to her, I

:21:53.:21:57.

felt her situation was everything has changed and nothing has changed.

:21:58.:22:02.

Internationally, everything has changed, high ambitions, all that

:22:03.:22:10.

stuff. But in the UK nothing has changed. 1.5 degrees. No agreement

:22:11.:22:29.

before. No agreement has enshrined a commitment to limit the increase in

:22:30.:22:35.

global warming to 1.5 Celsius. This is high ambition than in any

:22:36.:22:40.

previous agreement. The Secretary of State knows that because she was one

:22:41.:22:44.

of the people who helped broker the agreement. It is interesting as to

:22:45.:22:50.

why it was. It was the case put forward by countries like the

:22:51.:22:54.

Marshall Islands who will disappear with warming of more than 1.5

:22:55.:23:00.

degrees. The fear is this high ambition coalition was a ruse. A

:23:01.:23:07.

ruse to break up the grouping of the G 17 plus China in order to put

:23:08.:23:11.

pressure on the Chinese to get an agreement. I don't believe it was.

:23:12.:23:17.

But we cannot say our domestic policy doesn't change will stop if

:23:18.:23:26.

our attitude to 1.5 agreement is the same as 282 degrees -- at 2 degrees

:23:27.:23:35.

agreement, is the same, countries like the Marshall Islands are going

:23:36.:23:43.

to wonder if we are serious. There was a suggestion that it was even

:23:44.:23:47.

more important to me to recommendations on carbon budgets. I

:23:48.:23:54.

would be interested to hear from her what she thinks are the implications

:23:55.:24:04.

for this more exacting target. This is a really strong case which I

:24:05.:24:08.

appreciate but on the issue between 1.5, it surely means that we need to

:24:09.:24:15.

think about aviation expansion. Nobody even mention climate

:24:16.:24:20.

yesterday and yet aviation is one of the biggest sources of climate

:24:21.:24:31.

change gases. I played a part in that unhappy saga when we were in

:24:32.:24:37.

government. I pushed for a target for aviation emissions. That has got

:24:38.:24:43.

to be looked at as part of the 1.5 degrees target. There can't be

:24:44.:24:49.

unconstrained expansion of aviation. This agreement doesn't contain just

:24:50.:24:55.

a 1.5 degrees end but a long-term goal of zero emissions. The

:24:56.:25:00.

Secretary of State said she was happy pursuing existing targets in

:25:01.:25:05.

the climate change act. I think those targets are very important. I

:25:06.:25:09.

helped legislate for them and I am happy that she wants to make sure

:25:10.:25:14.

that we meet them. When I was climate change Secretary, we haven't

:25:15.:25:19.

had a global agreement for net zero emissions. It can't possibly be the

:25:20.:25:25.

case that we got this global commitment to zero emissions but it

:25:26.:25:30.

has no implications for UK domestic policy. Of course we have got to

:25:31.:25:35.

think what it means for the UK. My case is, I'm not answering for an

:25:36.:25:40.

answer today, when the energy Bill comes back in the New Year, she

:25:41.:25:44.

amends the bill to last the climate change committee to look at the

:25:45.:25:49.

issue and make a recommendation to government about when we should

:25:50.:25:53.

achieve zero emissions. I think this would do a number of things, it

:25:54.:25:58.

would send a cross-party message that Britain is determined to be a

:25:59.:26:02.

climate leader. She has talked eloquently about that. It would

:26:03.:26:09.

reduce, not increase, the cost of transition and provide a clear

:26:10.:26:12.

trajectory to business and future government. To the members opposite

:26:13.:26:17.

who have concerns about this, it would be supported by business. I'm

:26:18.:26:23.

not the most radical person on this. The most radical people are Richard

:26:24.:26:28.

Branson, the head of Unilever, they don't just want what I am saying,

:26:29.:26:38.

they want zero emissions by 2050. I'm taking a much more pragmatic

:26:39.:26:42.

approach. With the honourable gentleman who I will give way to,

:26:43.:26:47.

let's not plucked a figure out of the air. Let's not do that without

:26:48.:26:54.

having experts look at it. Let's see what the implications are for having

:26:55.:26:59.

a global goal of zero emissions for the UK.

:27:00.:27:07.

I'm grateful to the right honourable gentleman and I agree with what he

:27:08.:27:14.

has said. Doesn't the involvement of Unilever suggest that if we get to

:27:15.:27:20.

the conditions and the money flowing, then we can create these

:27:21.:27:24.

jobs here. If we are lagging behind with uncertainty, then we will not

:27:25.:27:28.

have pioneering businesses investing here and providing jobs here and

:27:29.:27:33.

let's do the best we can for this country and do the best we can. I

:27:34.:27:39.

think the honourable gentleman makes an important point. He and I have

:27:40.:27:44.

discussed this many times in our conversations. What are we working

:27:45.:27:50.

towards? That is why leading businesses are putting forward is. I

:27:51.:27:53.

do say to the Secretary of State, I don't want to say it is easy because

:27:54.:27:58.

it is a long way off, she would go down in history as the person who

:27:59.:28:04.

helped legislate for zero emissions which is the ultimate backstop. When

:28:05.:28:09.

I was Secretary of State, 80% was the ultimate backstop. Now we know

:28:10.:28:12.

it must be zero emissions at some point. I will give way. I am

:28:13.:28:20.

interested in his specific policies to tackle CO2 emissions. In the US,

:28:21.:28:27.

fracking is credited by the IPCC as the principal reason why greenhouse

:28:28.:28:33.

gases have been reduced. Is he supportive of shale gas exploration

:28:34.:28:38.

in the UK? I am sceptical that it is a solution. We have to get to zero

:28:39.:28:43.

carbon. It is true replacing coal with gas has helped to reduce our

:28:44.:28:50.

emissions. I welcome the Secretary of State saying she will phase out

:28:51.:28:53.

coal but that is not a long-term solution. What this agreement is

:28:54.:28:58.

about is the end of fossil fuels. That is what it is about. CCS can

:28:59.:29:05.

make a difference in terms of what it can do, but essentially, we are

:29:06.:29:10.

transitioning to a world after fossil fuels. I will give way. Does

:29:11.:29:16.

the right honourable gentleman not accept that if we are going to use

:29:17.:29:21.

wind power and solar we will have to have CCS otherwise we will not be

:29:22.:29:25.

able to match grid demand? I am afraid one of the other sorry sagas

:29:26.:29:31.

is the CCS competition. This is a recipe for how not to make policy.

:29:32.:29:37.

It was started, believe it or not, I think ten years ago by the Labour

:29:38.:29:42.

government. I think it was started under Alistair Darling. I then

:29:43.:29:45.

pushed it forward. This government have cancelled the competition,

:29:46.:29:49.

restarted and cancelled it. I will come to that at the end. I will give

:29:50.:29:56.

way. This has been an incredibly sorry saga but I don't think the

:29:57.:30:00.

previous Labour government can have anything positive to say about CCS,

:30:01.:30:06.

given how bad they treated it. I am not saying this is glorious for

:30:07.:30:11.

anyone's point of view. What I put simply is a mechanism to provide

:30:12.:30:18.

four projects. Then they cancelled that mechanism and then they said

:30:19.:30:21.

there would be public funding and then they cancelled that competition

:30:22.:30:25.

and then restarted the competition, etc. I think we can all agree it has

:30:26.:30:31.

not been a glorious episode. The third reason, Madam Deputy

:30:32.:30:36.

Speaker, why I think the world has changed, is the five-year ratchet

:30:37.:30:39.

agreement. This is a mechanism to ratchet up ambition so that the

:30:40.:30:43.

pledges the countries make meet the aspiration. At the moment, we have a

:30:44.:30:50.

situation where we are saying 1.5 degrees but the pledge is out three

:30:51.:30:53.

degrees. The EU said before the summit it wanted to have at least

:30:54.:31:00.

40% reductions in emissions by 2030. At least, as I understand it, if

:31:01.:31:04.

there was a stronger agreement, we would ratchet up the EU ambition.

:31:05.:31:09.

The case I would make to the Secretary of State and the

:31:10.:31:12.

Government is what is the mechanism to make that happen? The world has

:31:13.:31:17.

changed, how are we going to ratchet up? Resident Holland said in his

:31:18.:31:23.

closing remarks at the summit that he wanted to raise French ambition.

:31:24.:31:28.

I want to hear how she thinks we can raise that ambition. There is a

:31:29.:31:32.

fourth and final thing that has changed since Paris. That is about

:31:33.:31:38.

the Secretary of State and her role in government. I want to say

:31:39.:31:43.

something personal to her about this. I think the thing that has

:31:44.:31:47.

changed after Paris is her negotiating power. Anyone who has

:31:48.:31:51.

been a Secretary of State knows that not all the decisions go your way.

:31:52.:31:56.

That is certainly true when I was Secretary of State as well. I'm sure

:31:57.:32:03.

she has heard a number of times that she wanted a decision to go a

:32:04.:32:06.

particular way but it went another way. Successful secretaries of State

:32:07.:32:13.

recognise their power. I want to say to her, she is empowered by the

:32:14.:32:19.

Paris agreement, because she is empowered by the agreement to tell

:32:20.:32:25.

the Prime Minister that he can't just use words abroad and not follow

:32:26.:32:29.

them through with deeds at home. She is empowered to tell the Chancellor

:32:30.:32:33.

that British business is frankly furious at the neglect of a growing

:32:34.:32:38.

and crucial sector of the economy. Above all, she is empowered to be

:32:39.:32:43.

the champion of tackling climate change in the Cabinet. If she is

:32:44.:32:47.

that champion, I think she will get support from all the sides of the

:32:48.:32:54.

House that believe in these causes and will support her in her

:32:55.:32:59.

endeavours. Whatever she does, we need to match, the high ambition

:33:00.:33:06.

coalition with soaring Paris, with a high ambition coalition at home.

:33:07.:33:11.

That high ambition coalition has got to combine trade unions, business,

:33:12.:33:18.

civil society. I don't see Paris in any since the end. It is merely the

:33:19.:33:22.

beginning but it gives us a new beginning on climate change. I think

:33:23.:33:25.

in the interests of future generations we have to seize that

:33:26.:33:29.

moment. Order. This is a short debate. Lots

:33:30.:33:36.

of people want to speak so I have to put a time limit of five minutes.

:33:37.:33:45.

James Heaton. Thank you for -- thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I'm going

:33:46.:33:50.

to speak initially on flooding and if time allows, I will move on to

:33:51.:33:56.

climate change. In Somerset, we are affected by both elements. We have

:33:57.:33:59.

recent and painful experience of flooding and we have a well

:34:00.:34:03.

developed energy industry with everything from Hinkley Point to

:34:04.:34:07.

widespread deployment of solar, wind and anaerobic digester. It would be

:34:08.:34:14.

better if we could harness the power of the Severn Estuary. After

:34:15.:34:20.

speaking on our experience in Somerset at Flood Expo this year,

:34:21.:34:24.

I've been visited by people from the Lincolnshire drainage board and the

:34:25.:34:30.

NFU who were keen to discuss a one size fits all approach to flood

:34:31.:34:34.

management. Cumbria will have its own circumstances, just a Somerset

:34:35.:34:38.

is different from Lincolnshire, so I stress while I fully develop the

:34:39.:34:42.

measures being developed in Somerset, some and not all will not

:34:43.:34:46.

be applicable elsewhere. That said, the speed of the full spectrum

:34:47.:34:50.

response in Cumbria indicate lessons have clearly been learned since our

:34:51.:34:57.

floods in 2013-14. I congratulate the front bench for the speed of

:34:58.:35:01.

that response and I commend the emergency services, Armed Forces and

:35:02.:35:04.

volunteer groups who answered that call. I was disappointed to hear the

:35:05.:35:09.

honourable member for Bristol East reflect in her opening speech that

:35:10.:35:13.

the Government have not delivered on their commitment for the floods.

:35:14.:35:18.

There are not many Southwest MPs on the benches opposite but she is one,

:35:19.:35:22.

so she must know that there have been huge improvements made in our

:35:23.:35:26.

region since those floods. Work on the great Western mainline at

:35:27.:35:30.

Dawlish was completed within months of the floods, and the Peninsula

:35:31.:35:34.

pass Grell force has since made clear its plans for improving

:35:35.:35:39.

resilience both on the Somerset Levels and with a new line to open

:35:40.:35:44.

north of Dartmoor. On the roads, work to improve culverts underneath

:35:45.:35:48.

the M5 have been concluded and Somerset County Council has also

:35:49.:35:53.

completed widespread improvements to the road network. There has been

:35:54.:35:57.

significant in the structure in pumping, dredging and the sluice

:35:58.:36:01.

network and Sedgemoor district county council push on with plans

:36:02.:36:07.

for an advanced tidal barrier. There was public money for flood relief

:36:08.:36:10.

for the villages which were impacted, and most importantly,

:36:11.:36:15.

there is a scheme which will provide real peace of mind for those who

:36:16.:36:19.

will be able to assure their homes. Above all of that, there is the

:36:20.:36:24.

support for the Somerset Rivers authority which will be a very

:36:25.:36:29.

welcome strategic authority looking after the interests of the county

:36:30.:36:33.

when it comes to flood defence. All of this, Madam Deputy Speaker, is

:36:34.:36:37.

happening just four junctions down the M5 from Bristol East, and I'm

:36:38.:36:42.

sure that if the Shadow Secretary of State would like to see me and my

:36:43.:36:46.

fellow MPs, and the leadership of Somerset district Council, we will

:36:47.:36:49.

show just how much the Government has achieved in Somerset and how

:36:50.:36:53.

much more the Government is yet to deliver -- Somersetshire county

:36:54.:36:59.

council. I very much welcome the ?2.3 billion which will be invested

:37:00.:37:04.

in flood defences over the next six years. On energy and climate change

:37:05.:37:09.

in the very short time which remains, I would like to welcome the

:37:10.:37:14.

Paris deal. The energy and climate change select committee, of which I

:37:15.:37:19.

am a member, looks forward to discussing it with the Secretary of

:37:20.:37:21.

State tomorrow. It is not perfect but it is a remarkable feat and I

:37:22.:37:25.

congratulate the Government for the leading role they played in

:37:26.:37:29.

brokering the deal. Meeting those targets from Paris will be

:37:30.:37:34.

challenging, especially as we must concurrently ensure both security of

:37:35.:37:39.

supply and keeping bills affordable. The programme for new nuclear power

:37:40.:37:44.

will be very welcome in that, but I also congratulate the Government for

:37:45.:37:48.

its an easy as for offshore wind, and the success in growing the solar

:37:49.:37:53.

industry in recent years. However, I also appreciate that later in the

:37:54.:37:58.

week, there may be changes in subsidy that could challenge that

:37:59.:38:02.

industry. The industry protests very loudly, the Government says the

:38:03.:38:05.

subsidy has become a crutch and it is now ready to go alone. I hope

:38:06.:38:10.

very much that it is the Government that is right, because there are a

:38:11.:38:13.

great deal of jobs in the solar industry in the south-west that I

:38:14.:38:18.

would like to see continue. Finally, Madam Deputy Speaker, I welcome very

:38:19.:38:20.

much the announcement from Paris. The Government has a real challenge

:38:21.:38:37.

to make sure we achieve the right domestic policies to achieve those

:38:38.:38:39.

aims, while maintaining our security of supply and keeping bills down.

:38:40.:38:42.

There are plenty of developments and my personal interest is in achieving

:38:43.:38:44.

greater management of demand which I hope the Government will take

:38:45.:38:47.

forward. Caroline Flint. Thank you, it is a

:38:48.:38:54.

pleasure to follow the honourable member for Wales, but it is sad how

:38:55.:39:00.

many members have had to talk about the impact of floods on the

:39:01.:39:04.

communities they represent and it would be remiss if the discussion

:39:05.:39:08.

today did not bear a thought for the people of Cumbria and across the UK

:39:09.:39:13.

facing flooding and many facing Christmas away from their own homes.

:39:14.:39:18.

In the latest committee on climate change report, the committee rated

:39:19.:39:23.

planning for residual flood risk for properties at red, both in terms of

:39:24.:39:27.

plans in place and actual progress. As the Secretary of State for the

:39:28.:39:31.

environment, food and rural affairs has admitted, the models we are

:39:32.:39:34.

currently using are in need of updating. Many people are sick and

:39:35.:39:40.

tired of being told that the floods that wrecked their homes are one in

:39:41.:39:44.

a hundred-year events, when the severe floods we have seen in the

:39:45.:39:49.

last ten years suggests that such erratic weather will be far more

:39:50.:39:53.

frequent than every century. If the Government or all of us learn

:39:54.:39:57.

anything from this, and I hope we can work across the benches on these

:39:58.:40:00.

issues, if in the past centuries these have been a poor guide, the

:40:01.:40:05.

patterns of whether for future risk, we have got to make sure that the

:40:06.:40:08.

new models we need to have going forward take this into account, or

:40:09.:40:13.

they will lead to the public gaining false confidence from security.

:40:14.:40:20.

Secondly, the Government must make sure it works across departments. It

:40:21.:40:24.

is very worrying that the Secretary of State failed to answer what I

:40:25.:40:27.

thought was a very common-sense question which is this: have you had

:40:28.:40:32.

a discussion with the Chancellor about zones which they are fast

:40:33.:40:37.

tracking for development? I believe we need more homes. Don't get me

:40:38.:40:41.

wrong on that. But we really need to have a sense of joined up policy on

:40:42.:40:46.

government if we are to make progress on housing but also

:40:47.:40:49.

limiting the risk to our communities. I found it very

:40:50.:40:54.

worrying that the Secretary of State failed to answer that question.

:40:55.:40:59.

Perhaps the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in her

:41:00.:41:01.

summing up could come back to that. I believe in that particular area,

:41:02.:41:05.

as long climate change, that if we can find a better way to work

:41:06.:41:10.

together, not saying there should not be scrutiny, that on these

:41:11.:41:13.

benches I know we want to work with making the future better and more

:41:14.:41:17.

secure and brighter for ourselves, but also in doing so can show

:41:18.:41:22.

leadership in the world. That brings me to Paris. There are many positive

:41:23.:41:28.

things which have come out of Paris. We still have an unprecedented

:41:29.:41:33.

binding deal which aims to limit the temperature rise to be me 2 degrees

:41:34.:41:37.

and make efforts to stay below 1.5 degrees and that is very welcome.

:41:38.:41:41.

And the progress has been impressive. I have to commend the

:41:42.:41:46.

right honourable lady for her work on this bill and our French

:41:47.:41:49.

colleagues who, despite everything which has happened in France in

:41:50.:41:54.

recent times, they managed to hold this vitally important conference

:41:55.:41:57.

for the world and produced such a good result.

:41:58.:42:04.

The UK's 2020 renewableable targets or carbon budget. As my honourable

:42:05.:42:09.

friend said the Government's recent recess contained little help to get

:42:10.:42:13.

threws. I want to see the UK develop a credible plan to deliver the 80%

:42:14.:42:19.

reduction in emissions by 2050 that are ground-breaking climate change

:42:20.:42:24.

act of 2008 requires, because it is important in of itself but is a

:42:25.:42:27.

stepping stone, a foundation to move to net zero, as well. I would say

:42:28.:42:33.

this in the time I have got left, which is limited, that net zero is a

:42:34.:42:38.

huge ask. As Paris demonstrated, the world is a long way from that 2050

:42:39.:42:44.

aspiration. And even more for the net zero. We have got to begin work

:42:45.:42:48.

on what a net zero and carbon society should require. We have to

:42:49.:42:51.

look at the research, we have to engage the scientists and the

:42:52.:42:56.

engineers to make this a reality. If I learned one thing from my time as

:42:57.:43:00.

Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, my job was not

:43:01.:43:06.

just to talk to the converted, but to convince those who this is not

:43:07.:43:09.

top of their agenda, it's a reality for them and something they feel

:43:10.:43:12.

they can be part of and benefit from. Let's get down to the Prague

:43:13.:43:21.

calmities and across this House make this happen -- practicalities. Thank

:43:22.:43:29.

you. I don't have a direct constituency interest in this, I am

:43:30.:43:32.

going to talk to Paris, it's a pleasure to follow the two speakers

:43:33.:43:35.

that have spoken from the opposition so far on this. But I am afraid of

:43:36.:43:41.

my analysis of Paris, much as I commend the Secretary of State for

:43:42.:43:44.

the work she has done, is not quite as San Quinn as that we have heard

:43:45.:43:49.

so far. First of all, I would say that the 2. 7% they say it adds up

:43:50.:43:54.

to is not true. It's a somewhat dishonest analysis because it's only

:43:55.:43:59.

based on the fact that it will be continued further in a way that

:44:00.:44:05.

hasn't been committed to happen. But the fundamental point about Paris,

:44:06.:44:09.

and the honourable lady that spoke called it a universally binding

:44:10.:44:11.

agreement, it's not binding on anybody. That doesn't mean it's not

:44:12.:44:17.

a good start and we have to start somewhere but the fundamental thing

:44:18.:44:20.

about Paris is if the world had adopted the climate change act in

:44:21.:44:25.

the way that the Shadow Secretary of State told the House it had a few

:44:26.:44:28.

minutes ago, if the world had done that, we would be on track for a

:44:29.:44:35.

1.5% reduction. The UNFCC says to get to 1.5% the world must reduce

:44:36.:44:41.

carbon emissions by between 75 and 90%, the climate change act is 80%.

:44:42.:44:45.

A fair challenge would be that developing countries find it much

:44:46.:44:48.

harder to do that than developed countries, and I accept that. China

:44:49.:44:52.

and India and these countries do need more slack so there is an

:44:53.:44:55.

implication maybe we need to go further and that's where some of the

:44:56.:45:00.

numbers the member for Dons caster North came from. I want to spend the

:45:01.:45:05.

minutes available to me to analyse the performance of the developed

:45:06.:45:10.

countries in Paris, in particular, the EU. One of the most startling

:45:11.:45:18.

factors in terms of the INDC that went forth into the mix in Paris is

:45:19.:45:24.

that the EU submission, which is 40% reduction over a period of 40%, 1% a

:45:25.:45:32.

year, if you like in that period, is 33% slower than that implied or

:45:33.:45:36.

demanded by the climate change act and the budgets that come from that.

:45:37.:45:42.

33%. But that's not the whole of it. If you take the UK bit of that EU it

:45:43.:45:52.

implies a rate of reduction between 40 and 45% slower than the UK. Now,

:45:53.:45:58.

this is odd. What is it that they find so difficult about reducing

:45:59.:46:04.

emissions that we apparently don't? Firstly I looked at possibility

:46:05.:46:08.

parts of the EU are actually relatively developing, if you like,

:46:09.:46:11.

to use that word, they've catch up to do in terms of GDP. If you look

:46:12.:46:16.

at countries like Poland and Romania, it might be reasonable that

:46:17.:46:19.

they get more slack. In fact, the truth of it is if you look at

:46:20.:46:24.

countries like Romania, they've made the most rapid reductions, that's

:46:25.:46:29.

not the issue. Romania has made reductions because the baseline

:46:30.:46:34.

period of 1990s coincided with their industry being very heavy and needed

:46:35.:46:38.

to be sorted out. The issue isn't there. The issue is in a developed

:46:39.:46:44.

countries. The issue is in countries like Austria which since 1990 has

:46:45.:46:49.

increased emissions by 20%. The issue is in countries like Ireland,

:46:50.:46:54.

like Holland, like Spain, like Portugal. None of which have reduced

:46:55.:47:04.

emissions at all since 1990. Now the House has been talking and has been

:47:05.:47:08.

criticising the Secretary of State for lack of ambition. And yet we are

:47:09.:47:14.

part of an EU submission to a global conference which puts up with that

:47:15.:47:19.

kind of thing and the question I would ask the Secretary of State to

:47:20.:47:22.

address is why it is that this can happen and what are the sanctions on

:47:23.:47:28.

these countries within the EU, within that will stop that

:47:29.:47:32.

happening? There is reasons. Some of these countries have banned nuclear.

:47:33.:47:37.

Some of these countries have banned CCS, not invested in it, they ban

:47:38.:47:42.

it, it's illegal in some countries. Germany CCS is illegal. They're

:47:43.:47:47.

building unabated brand new coal-powered stations and have

:47:48.:47:51.

emission that is are a hird higher than ours in terms of per... ... A

:47:52.:47:57.

-- third. I wonder whether he could expand further on the points he is

:47:58.:48:02.

making because I am finding it most interesting?

:48:03.:48:03.

LAUGHTER He is always a team player. That

:48:04.:48:08.

extra minute will be put to great use. I would just make the point, as

:48:09.:48:17.

I was making, that the EU, taken collectively, without us in it, has

:48:18.:48:23.

failed abysmally to put anything forward into Paris close to what the

:48:24.:48:28.

member for Doncaster North was probably rightly saying we would

:48:29.:48:33.

need to deliver to achieve 1.5%. We have to understand what the

:48:34.:48:36.

sanctions are around that. The reasons for it are many and varied.

:48:37.:48:42.

I think the EU got completely bogged down as members in this House do

:48:43.:48:47.

sometimes about a fixation around renewables and renewables targets,

:48:48.:48:50.

rather than a carbon reduction target and what that means is that

:48:51.:48:56.

you put into place considerable renewables and continue to burn coal

:48:57.:49:03.

at scale. The truth is actually replacing coal with gas globally if

:49:04.:49:06.

you were able to do that would be equivalent to increasing the number

:49:07.:49:10.

of renewables we have in the world by a factor of five. There's many

:49:11.:49:13.

things like that. The fundamental point and it's one the Secretary of

:49:14.:49:19.

State will have to address in her high ambition coalition, which

:49:20.:49:23.

presumably hasn't got Austria in it, she will have to address this issue

:49:24.:49:29.

in terms of making sure that there is some fairness because otherwise

:49:30.:49:32.

places like Redcar, like Motherwell, will have to get used to what's

:49:33.:49:37.

happened to them and that really isn't right. Thank you. Colleagues

:49:38.:49:43.

on all sides of the House are rightly praising the Secretary of

:49:44.:49:46.

State for her role in Paris. I haven't time to go into that in

:49:47.:49:51.

great length, except to say that she did indeed play a blinder in Paris,

:49:52.:49:57.

as this country did as a whole. However, it's very, very difficult

:49:58.:50:00.

on the one hand to stack up signing an agreement in Paris and then on

:50:01.:50:06.

the other hand slashing subsidies for renewables, ending the green

:50:07.:50:09.

deal and privatising the green investment bank. The Secretary of

:50:10.:50:15.

State if she will forgive me is the Jose Mourinho of environment

:50:16.:50:20.

politics, woeful domesticically. Climate change is clearly not an

:50:21.:50:27.

eterric matter. The reality throughout my constituency and other

:50:28.:50:30.

places is a real one and the impact on families out of their homes at

:50:31.:50:34.

Christmas, hundreds upon hundreds of children who do not - are not able

:50:35.:50:39.

to look forward to Christmas at home is utterly and completely heart

:50:40.:50:42.

breaking and I want us to think first and foremost about the human

:50:43.:50:45.

cost and amongst the things I am seeking from this Government is

:50:46.:50:50.

additional support for Cumbria, for health and social services to

:50:51.:50:53.

support mental health provision, counselling for people in desperate

:50:54.:50:58.

need. I want to praise the response, not just from the emergency

:50:59.:51:04.

services, but Kendall cares, churches within the area, the

:51:05.:51:07.

response has reassured you about human nature in many respects as

:51:08.:51:10.

people who have lost almost everything went next door to help

:51:11.:51:13.

people who lost absolutely everything. Look, the scale needs to

:51:14.:51:19.

be put in a numerical sense I guess, it was reckoned the cost to Cumbria

:51:20.:51:25.

is ?500 million of these floods. Therefore, the Government support of

:51:26.:51:29.

?50 million is welcome. It's clearly nowhere near enough. I want in the

:51:30.:51:32.

few moments I have available to me to set out why we need additional

:51:33.:51:36.

support and indeed to ask for it. There will be some who will dismiss

:51:37.:51:41.

people who are uninsured and underinshired and call them

:51:42.:51:46.

feckless, they're not, they're feckless, they're not, they're

:51:47.:51:50.

penniness. They couldn't afford insurance or it was cheap and

:51:51.:51:55.

inadequate. Many people couldn't get coverage in the first place. For ?5

:51:56.:52:00.

hundred in the Cumbria foundation is welcome and I praise them but ?500

:52:01.:52:05.

will not get you far if you consider what you would lose if your ground

:52:06.:52:09.

floor flooded, all the white goods. We need support for that ?50 to be

:52:10.:52:16.

increased by a significant amount. -- ?500. What is promised is for

:52:17.:52:21.

flood prevention in the future, not to help people who have lost

:52:22.:52:23.

significant amounts of money right now. That money should be delivered

:52:24.:52:28.

to people in Cumbria right away and directly. I want to reit ray might

:52:29.:52:33.

comment about the A 591. Those who heard the Secretary of State for

:52:34.:52:38.

Defra talk about being passable by a 4x4, I was there yesterday, you can

:52:39.:52:41.

just about pass it on a pike, it's not true. I happily give way. -- on

:52:42.:52:46.

a bike. Would he agree that actually in the

:52:47.:52:50.

long run the investment and renewable of our infrastructure in

:52:51.:52:55.

Cumbria, like the 591 and the bridge beyond that, our road infrastructure

:52:56.:52:59.

must be one of the priorities in Cumbria. He is doing an excellent

:53:00.:53:03.

job for his constituents in Carlisle. He is right the investment

:53:04.:53:06.

now will help the County in the long run. I would like to ask the

:53:07.:53:13.

Government to invest in making sure the A 591 is open in weeks, not

:53:14.:53:17.

months. I want to point out that there is a plan on the table from

:53:18.:53:21.

Cumbria tourism that the Government needs to provide funding for right

:53:22.:53:25.

now, a short-term immediate, like today, strategy to boost the economy

:53:26.:53:29.

up to Christmas in the marketing campaign and a meddup term campaign

:53:30.:53:34.

that they need to fund to make sure we back on our feet there. Are other

:53:35.:53:39.

parts of the Lake District hit, one village cut in two by the closure of

:53:40.:53:42.

its bridge, we need support for that to happen, again in weeks and not in

:53:43.:53:50.

months. Like wooifz a bridge that connects two communities is closed

:53:51.:53:53.

again and needs to be invested in straightaway to make sure it's

:53:54.:53:57.

reopened. It's very important that people get the message and the

:53:58.:54:03.

Government gets out the message that Cumbria is open for business. I was

:54:04.:54:08.

in Grasmere yesterday, I can't think of a more quiet place, people are

:54:09.:54:12.

not going there because they think it's closed, it's not. May the

:54:13.:54:15.

Government get out the message that is what people need to do. A quick

:54:16.:54:19.

note about farmers. I am very concerned that the Government is

:54:20.:54:23.

planning to close the valley pumps in June, I was there yesterday, we

:54:24.:54:26.

cannot allow that to happen. Will they commit to funding them in the

:54:27.:54:30.

future beyond the end of June? Will they also commit to help farmers who

:54:31.:54:33.

have lost stock in tragic circumstances up and down the

:54:34.:54:38.

County? And recognise that much of the funding that goes into, for

:54:39.:54:43.

example, keeping the valley dry is about protecting infrastructure as

:54:44.:54:47.

the honourable member for Carlisle mentioned, the A 590 is often

:54:48.:54:52.

flooded as a consequence of that farmland not being drained and those

:54:53.:54:56.

pumps are important for infrastructure also. I want to make

:54:57.:55:01.

a final point about the long-termism needed here. We often hear the frame

:55:02.:55:06.

long-term economic plan and so on. The problem is that we had an autumn

:55:07.:55:09.

statement recently where the Chancellor pulled out of his hat

:55:10.:55:15.

lots of white rabbits, but none were for energy or climate change or

:55:16.:55:20.

Defra, the departments we need to be in the front line to protect people.

:55:21.:55:26.

We have local authorities, SLDCs, Cumbria County and others working

:55:27.:55:30.

very hard and doing a good job with about 20% less people and less

:55:31.:55:33.

resources than they had six years ago. It's vital this Government

:55:34.:55:38.

commits to the ?500 million that Price Waterhouse has identifieded so

:55:39.:55:44.

that we can rebuild our communities, support damaged people and

:55:45.:55:46.

communities and get back people back in their homes and do so quickly.

:55:47.:55:54.

Thank you, you got me out there. I am standing up today really to speak

:55:55.:56:03.

about, first of all we have some praise for this historic agreement

:56:04.:56:07.

that was made in Paris and I do commend my honourable friend, the

:56:08.:56:12.

Secretary of State and also the home team sat on the benches for all of

:56:13.:56:17.

the work in the past. We also have commiserations because of all those

:56:18.:56:22.

poor people suffering from flooding and we are dealing with all of these

:56:23.:56:27.

things into day's motion. I need to speak, coming from some sort --

:56:28.:56:34.

Somerset, like my honourable friend, about the flooding from December

:56:35.:56:46.

2012 to January 2014, so I can see a device with people people of

:56:47.:56:51.

Cumbria. In Somerset, the devastation was enormous. It cost

:56:52.:56:56.

businesses ?47 million, they reckon, as a knock-on effect. It affected

:56:57.:57:01.

half of all businesses in Somerset, even the ones that weren't flooded

:57:02.:57:06.

because of road closures. It was a one in 100 event. It was not exactly

:57:07.:57:12.

expected and it was not just a result of not dredging rivers. That

:57:13.:57:17.

was one of the things that made it happen because actually, the rivers

:57:18.:57:20.

had not been dredged during the 1990s. I do have to do a level that

:57:21.:57:27.

over to the Labour Party because that is when the dredging stop. That

:57:28.:57:34.

was not the only cause, there were many other things including

:57:35.:57:36.

increased run off from the urban areas. Whether this extreme flooding

:57:37.:57:42.

was to do with climate change or not, that is still debatable, what

:57:43.:57:47.

is still clear is that we have to be prepared for these events. In

:57:48.:57:52.

Somerset, as we mentioned before, I am very pleased that the programme

:57:53.:57:57.

has been put in place with the Somerset Rivers Authority to set a

:57:58.:58:04.

preset that everyone in Somerset will be affected and it will deal

:58:05.:58:09.

with tackling flooding in the future. 15 and a half million pounds

:58:10.:58:16.

will be spent on flood defences in Somerset, defending thousands of

:58:17.:58:24.

properties, and 35 ?9 until 2021. They are taking flooding extremely

:58:25.:58:38.

seriously. -- 350 ?9 million. I wonder if the secretary will join

:58:39.:58:45.

me. Ayes I do thank my honourable friend because in only with in

:58:46.:58:49.

Paris. I will mention it now, it is one of the really crucial thing

:58:50.:58:53.

about this debate and no one has mentioned so far, is the investment

:58:54.:58:57.

in science and technology to guarantee all of these commitments

:58:58.:59:01.

and get to these ego rating. We can do it. I am absolutely sure with our

:59:02.:59:05.

brains and our scientists that we can do it. The investment in

:59:06.:59:10.

flooding that we are putting in is very well spent. For every pound

:59:11.:59:17.

they put into flooding, it gives 14 Helen -- 40 ?9 million benefits.

:59:18.:59:27.

With my agricultural act on, I did just want to highlight a view of the

:59:28.:59:30.

things and here I have some agreement with the honourable member

:59:31.:59:35.

from Bristol-based because they are many other things we can do to help.

:59:36.:59:49.

The wider catch approach with water or that goes into our rivers. In my

:59:50.:59:52.

friend from the select committee will agree. They aim to plant one

:59:53.:00:03.

planned for -- 13 for every five people. That will help slow the flow

:00:04.:00:13.

of water. Storage areas, higher in the valleys, is stop the water

:00:14.:00:17.

coming down very quickly. All of these things ought to be included

:00:18.:00:21.

and I will put my usual call in for more grass. Grass is the way

:00:22.:00:27.

forward. Grass in the water, grass in the economy, suppressed carbon, I

:00:28.:00:34.

look at the Minister to work more closely at the grass in our

:00:35.:00:38.

policies. You may laugh about black, but it is serious. It is the way

:00:39.:00:42.

forward and it will help manage the countryside. I am going to commend

:00:43.:00:47.

the Government on everything they are doing because we are making a

:00:48.:00:52.

mint steps forward and making this ambitious global deal possible. We

:00:53.:00:56.

are moving in the right direction and as much to do. If we are going

:00:57.:01:00.

to meet a zero carbon emissions, that is a really testing... I would

:01:01.:01:05.

be delighted to give way to my honourable friend from our course

:01:06.:01:16.

details. We only have to say that across Devon and the West Country,

:01:17.:01:20.

the amount of solar panels in the fields. They were there for the last

:01:21.:01:25.

governments. They have only just been put there recently. My

:01:26.:01:31.

honourable friend makes a great point. We have made great progress.

:01:32.:01:36.

16% of energy comes from renewables and also because of steps this

:01:37.:01:40.

Government has made. People are still buying into renewables and it

:01:41.:01:43.

has got cheaper. The cost of panels have come down and that is likely

:01:44.:01:47.

have to remove subsidies and put the subsidies where we can have more

:01:48.:01:51.

energy from other sources added a bit of egos. I am right the

:01:52.:01:55.

secretary of state for energy on that. -- a bit of a boost. We do

:01:56.:02:01.

need to lead by example. We need to continue to do so. I am a great

:02:02.:02:09.

environmentalist but we have to do it within the constraints of the

:02:10.:02:11.

economy. That is something this Government is dealing with at all

:02:12.:02:19.

costs. We have a debt, we are still paying off all of the legacy that

:02:20.:02:22.

was left over. We have to be realistic about what we are doing in

:02:23.:02:27.

me to provide energy within this whole situation to the lowest course

:02:28.:02:31.

at the taxpayer. Whatever they do, that has to be a balance. I am just

:02:32.:02:37.

going to say a big applause to the Government for getting rid of

:02:38.:02:41.

coal-fired power stations. It was one single thing you could do, it

:02:42.:02:45.

was that. Applause for Hinkley point right in my constituency. That was

:02:46.:02:51.

the best thing you could possibly think of. I will wind up by saying

:02:52.:02:56.

that we can all do our own bit at home. We can all also bought local

:02:57.:03:09.

produce, region by our own food, we can save energy at home, we buy into

:03:10.:03:16.

this whole thing and we have to do it internationally across the world

:03:17.:03:22.

and we have to do in our own homes. Thank you. Before I start, I would

:03:23.:03:29.

like to apologise for being absent from this place during last week. I

:03:30.:03:35.

am sure honourable members are aware of the devastating floods that we

:03:36.:03:38.

have had in Cumbria. It has been discussed during this debate. I felt

:03:39.:03:46.

that I should stay in my constituency to visit and support as

:03:47.:03:49.

many people and businesses as possible. I welcome the secretary of

:03:50.:04:00.

state's statement during business questions that she intends to visit

:04:01.:04:04.

Cockermouth on Tuesday. I hope members will indulge me if I take

:04:05.:04:10.

from the heart about one of the events of the last ten days. On

:04:11.:04:15.

Sunday morning, nine days ago, I stood with shopkeepers and residents

:04:16.:04:21.

shocked and horrified at seeing Cockermouth Main Street underwater

:04:22.:04:27.

again. After only six years. Every member here will have a high Street.

:04:28.:04:32.

Can you imagine standing at the end of that high Street with shopkeepers

:04:33.:04:37.

and that whole high-street top to bottom is underwater? It is

:04:38.:04:46.

shocking. After the water subsided, over the coming days, we were able

:04:47.:04:52.

to assess the damage. Flooding is not just about water, although it is

:04:53.:05:00.

talked about being about water, the water is incredibly powerful and, in

:05:01.:05:05.

Cumbria, it rolls down Phelps. It carries everything in it pass. - in

:05:06.:05:17.

its path. Lastly, I stood in the village of flame me -- fling the

:05:18.:05:29.

with a family who had lost everything. I stood in hallways that

:05:30.:05:32.

stank of diesel oil. I think families in Worthington throw

:05:33.:05:39.

Christmas trees into skips. I visited flooded schools and went

:05:40.:05:47.

into the county see more damage. Parents are telling me their

:05:48.:05:51.

children are too frightened to go to sleep in case it happened again.

:05:52.:05:55.

They are frightened of the rain. It is heartbreaking. Our community is

:05:56.:06:02.

resilient. It has pulled together in an extraordinary way and I want to

:06:03.:06:07.

pay tribute to the local councils, the emergency services, Coast Guard,

:06:08.:06:13.

mountain rescue, supermarket to gay free food, community centres, so

:06:14.:06:21.

very many volunteers from churches of Christianity to Muslims. I want

:06:22.:06:25.

to thank everyone for their generosity from right across the

:06:26.:06:32.

country who have given money to the Cumbrian Community Foundation. We

:06:33.:06:41.

have some flats were elderly residents were trapped upstairs. 30

:06:42.:06:44.

forums and could not get out. They had no power, water or food. This

:06:45.:06:52.

man crawled through to give them the support they needed with porches and

:06:53.:07:01.

food. One family told me that they had bought their home because they

:07:02.:07:04.

thought the previous ones were a one off event. They fought the floods

:07:05.:07:09.

were not press it ended. We have to stop using this language. --

:07:10.:07:18.

unprecedented. They did what they were designed to do and they did

:07:19.:07:22.

make a big difference in some areas. That is little comfort to the many

:07:23.:07:25.

people have been made homeless just before Christmas. What do you need

:07:26.:07:32.

to do? I welcome the Government's announcement with the Cumbria Floods

:07:33.:07:42.

Partnership Group, because they have great experience to bring and I want

:07:43.:07:49.

to thank the honourable member for Penrith and the Borders for coming

:07:50.:07:54.

to Cumbria. Will you give way? I will. Actually, she makes a very

:07:55.:08:04.

powerful speech I thought I would like to continue and intervene.

:08:05.:08:10.

Thank you. The Government has said it will find more defensive as the

:08:11.:08:14.

honourable friend next to me has mentioned. The Cumbrians alone at

:08:15.:08:20.

home have a set of five hundred million pounds and there has been a

:08:21.:08:26.

discussion of building firewalls. If you are not careful, we will build

:08:27.:08:33.

high defences in one place, projecting that, and forget about

:08:34.:08:37.

others. We have to think about Bridges as well. The great in

:08:38.:08:44.

Cockermouth ended up being a dam. We need to get planning. It has already

:08:45.:08:51.

been said that is too much concentration on flood plains. I

:08:52.:08:58.

call for a complete ban on housing in the west Country flood plains. I

:08:59.:09:04.

want to finish talking about insurance. Time and time again,

:09:05.:09:09.

residents told me, after the floods of 2009, they were either unable to

:09:10.:09:17.

get household as unions -- insulins or it had huge excesses. Now they

:09:18.:09:24.

cannot sell their homes. I thank my honourable friend for making such

:09:25.:09:30.

powerful speeches. I am sure this also applies to many small local

:09:31.:09:34.

businesses who cannot afford premiums. Thank you. That is an

:09:35.:09:38.

important friend Jimmy and I thank my friend back from eating it. --

:09:39.:09:46.

that is an important point to make and I thank my honourable friend for

:09:47.:09:55.

making it. There are some streets and premises that might as well be

:09:56.:10:01.

demolished. One person asked if they might as will not down your house

:10:02.:10:11.

and start over because the devastation was that bad. Many

:10:12.:10:16.

hard-working and decent people have lost, not just the content of their

:10:17.:10:20.

homes, but the cars and their livelihoods. We were told that the

:10:21.:10:27.

answers were there after the last flight but it has been no good to my

:10:28.:10:31.

constituents today. It will not come into next year, it is arbitrary and

:10:32.:10:38.

it does not cover properties built after 2009, even those built on

:10:39.:10:41.

flood plains. It does not cover businesses. Insurance companies are

:10:42.:10:48.

refusing to pay for resilience measures. My constituency need help

:10:49.:10:53.

now. They need it quickly. Climate change is here. It can be seen in

:10:54.:10:59.

Cumbria and we need a Government who are serious with a long-term

:11:00.:11:02.

strategy to prevent this from happening again and we need the

:11:03.:11:05.

money and resources to make it happen.

:11:06.:11:11.

I would like to remind the House that the rules of interventions are

:11:12.:11:20.

there to allow debate to happen. It is right to intervene and it is a

:11:21.:11:23.

great compliment to certain members to be complemented by senior members

:11:24.:11:30.

of their party. That has happened to a degree on both sides of the House

:11:31.:11:34.

this afternoon. I would remind the House that when the clock adds an

:11:35.:11:39.

extra minute for intervention, it does not add minimum minutes to be

:11:40.:11:46.

day and it does not add more minutes to the debate. What it will mean is

:11:47.:11:52.

someone who is less fortunate in their placing on the list will speak

:11:53.:12:00.

for less time. I appreciate that are many people that members would like

:12:01.:12:03.

to speak for less time and many B would like to speak for more time

:12:04.:12:06.

but one has to be careful how that is managed.

:12:07.:12:15.

I am not sure which category I fall into. I suspect I know. Can I begin

:12:16.:12:22.

by expressing my sympathy to be victims of floods. And to all those

:12:23.:12:29.

who have helped with the clean up. Can I take issue with the idea that

:12:30.:12:34.

all of this has been caused as a result of climate change. I think it

:12:35.:12:38.

is unfortunate that the two issues have been mixed up. The reality is

:12:39.:12:44.

we have had very few debates about global warming and climate change.

:12:45.:12:49.

Climate change has been with us since the earth was created. I would

:12:50.:12:54.

urge the Minister to ask questions to those who are showing hysteria

:12:55.:13:01.

about the issue of climate change. We know over 2000 years there have

:13:02.:13:06.

been periods of warming and cooling. It was warmer during the Roman

:13:07.:13:11.

period. It was cooler during the dark ages. It then got cooler again

:13:12.:13:17.

to about 1680 during the so-called ice age. How much of the very small

:13:18.:13:25.

amount of warming that has taken place over the last two centuries,

:13:26.:13:31.

zero point eight degrees. How much of that is down to man-made carbon

:13:32.:13:37.

emissions and how much is down to completely natural factors. I have

:13:38.:13:42.

asked the question on many occasions and nobody has been able to give me

:13:43.:13:48.

an answer. I will happily give way. 95% of climate science and tests to

:13:49.:13:55.

be max I entered is seem to suggest man-made climate change is the

:13:56.:14:01.

problem. Many of us would like my honourable friend to be right in his

:14:02.:14:05.

scepticism because that will mean everything would be OK. 95% of

:14:06.:14:10.

climate scientists disagree with him. Can I take issue with my

:14:11.:14:18.

honourable friend? This 95% figure is floated around rather a lot. It

:14:19.:14:28.

comes from a survey which was set up from 257 potential respondents. Only

:14:29.:14:34.

77 responded and 75 responded and said it was all down to man. If any

:14:35.:14:40.

other honourable members know where that came from, they are welcome to

:14:41.:14:48.

let me my normal no. They have put out some misleading statements as

:14:49.:14:55.

well. They said it is extremely likely that more than half of the

:14:56.:15:00.

increase in global temperatures from 1951 was caused by man. Out of that

:15:01.:15:08.

not .8 figure, not .5 comes from the second half of the 20th century. If

:15:09.:15:15.

they are correct then just over 0.25 out of 0.28 is due to man. That

:15:16.:15:21.

means the rest of it is due to other more natural factors. The honourable

:15:22.:15:27.

lady may wish to ask about is the lack of form correlation between the

:15:28.:15:30.

increases in temperature and the increases in carbon emissions. Over

:15:31.:15:37.

the last 200 years there has been a sharp increase in CO2 that there has

:15:38.:15:40.

not been a sharp increase in temperatures. They were going down

:15:41.:15:48.

between, I mean going up between 1940 and 1977. Leading many to think

:15:49.:15:55.

we were on the brink of another ice age. From the mid-70s to 1997

:15:56.:16:02.

temperatures were rising as well as carbon emissions. From 1997 until

:16:03.:16:07.

now there has been a sharp increase in CO2 but no increase in

:16:08.:16:14.

temperatures. Another question is why that is so. I have had meetings

:16:15.:16:21.

with the Royal Society and I asked this question to the lead offers

:16:22.:16:29.

that was held in public. I asked him why is it that there has been no

:16:30.:16:34.

increase in temperatures? He said it was statistically insignificant.

:16:35.:16:39.

That is a fair comment. He was not trying to see it was the oceans or

:16:40.:16:45.

the volcanoes. He said it was statistically insignificant. He may

:16:46.:16:50.

have a point about that. If the last 17 years with no increase in

:16:51.:16:54.

temperature is statistically insignificant. Why are the 27 years

:16:55.:17:00.

before that with an increase in temperature is so significant that

:17:01.:17:04.

we have to go ahead with policies that are going to have a massive

:17:05.:17:08.

impact in homeowners and businesses in the UK? I do not think anyone is

:17:09.:17:13.

going to be kind enough to intervene on me. I have been waiting. I give

:17:14.:17:20.

way to the honourable gentleman because I always prefer the

:17:21.:17:27.

opposition. It is more fun. I recall appreciate scepticism. I am sure his

:17:28.:17:35.

scepticism is sincere but the problem is if he spreads this

:17:36.:17:40.

nonsense, you give an excuse to people not to take action. It gives

:17:41.:17:45.

comfort to those who want to do nothing about what is the biggest

:17:46.:17:51.

challenge facing humanity. I appreciate his kind words. I am just

:17:52.:17:55.

trying to raise questions. If you want me to go to my constituents and

:17:56.:18:00.

tried to sell policies that are going to push at their energy bills

:18:01.:18:03.

and make it more likely that some of them are out of work, only to have

:18:04.:18:11.

actions answers to the questions. Why is a low correlation over the

:18:12.:18:17.

last few hundred years. What is just down to natural factors? I will give

:18:18.:18:23.

way any moment. Why is it that of the CO2 that has gone into the

:18:24.:18:29.

atmosphere, why is less than 5% man-made anyway? Most of it is

:18:30.:18:34.

generated naturally from the Earth and the sea. We can all talk in

:18:35.:18:43.

different debates and different views but that is no consolation to

:18:44.:18:48.

people in Cumbria. The people of Cumbria wants to know when the

:18:49.:18:54.

insurance companies will pay up. The people in Cumbria are right to know

:18:55.:18:58.

that that they should not have the issue of flooding blamed on

:18:59.:19:02.

something which is unproven. When the impact of the changes we are

:19:03.:19:06.

going to make is going to affect the whole of the UK. Honourable members

:19:07.:19:11.

opposite at the first to complain of policies that have pushed up energy

:19:12.:19:16.

prices and made it harder for steel manufacturers to make a profit. Some

:19:17.:19:21.

have closed down recently partly due to be high energy costs. I would say

:19:22.:19:26.

to the honourable lady, the people opposite are not going to support

:19:27.:19:32.

her policies if the lead to an increase in energy prices. She will

:19:33.:19:36.

be attacks from the members opposite when fuel poverty happens. The aid

:19:37.:19:46.

agencies talk about living standards in the third World, in actual fact

:19:47.:19:50.

they are making it harder for African villages to get access to

:19:51.:19:58.

cheap call. They talk about wanting more wind power that they are

:19:59.:20:03.

opposed to fracking for gas, which is necessary if we want to have

:20:04.:20:09.

nuclear energy. They are inconsistencies and an answer

:20:10.:20:11.

questions. I ask the honourable lady to answer them. Given the recent

:20:12.:20:18.

controversies the way I have addressed the members of the House,

:20:19.:20:24.

that speech was enthusiastic and make no reference to any of its

:20:25.:20:29.

content. I want to express my solidarity with the... On behalf of

:20:30.:20:36.

my constituents and the people of Cumbria and other areas for the

:20:37.:20:41.

dreadful situation that they have been in over the last week. I want

:20:42.:20:48.

to pay my respects and thanks to the men may agencies -- many agencies

:20:49.:20:57.

who have pulled out all the stops to help people in this difficult time.

:20:58.:21:04.

To community organisations, to individual members of the community

:21:05.:21:07.

who have pulled together. I also want to give my heartfelt thanks to

:21:08.:21:19.

my fellow parliamentarians, amongst my honourable friend to give a

:21:20.:21:21.

magnificent speech. She is doing a magnificent speech. She is doing a

:21:22.:21:23.

wonderful job for her constituents at this terrible time. Despite

:21:24.:21:34.

really challenging conditions they read you managed to keep

:21:35.:21:36.

broadcasting and emergency services during this situation. We debates on

:21:37.:21:47.

responsibility and fault in the past is valid, it helps us to understand

:21:48.:21:55.

what has gone wrong in terms of public policy and what has worked.

:21:56.:22:01.

It only goes so far. It is really important that our focus in this

:22:02.:22:08.

House is on the future on what has been deficient and what can be done

:22:09.:22:12.

in the future to make it better. In that sense, I do hope the Ministers

:22:13.:22:18.

on the bench opposite will have the courage to look at this and assess

:22:19.:22:23.

this issue dispassionately and where they can identify genuine genuinely

:22:24.:22:33.

they will take the difficult steps of arguing with their colleagues to

:22:34.:22:36.

put it right in the future. The all it to the people of England and the

:22:37.:22:44.

south-west to our suffering so badly and the whole country to make sure

:22:45.:22:48.

this is recognised. It is not going to be won in 100 years. It is not

:22:49.:22:58.

good if we are coming to that description, given the prevalence of

:22:59.:23:03.

this in recent years. I want to use the remaining part of most beach --

:23:04.:23:11.

speech to talk about issues in my area. About what happens next. First

:23:12.:23:18.

of all in transport links. The people in my constituency were very

:23:19.:23:24.

fortunate this time unlike in 2009 when we were badly hit by floods.

:23:25.:23:30.

There are still some areas that are suffering from the six-year long

:23:31.:23:35.

process to try and get back on their feet and the difficulty of getting

:23:36.:23:40.

insurance. We were hit by the transport links where both the roads

:23:41.:23:46.

going out both ends of the constituency were flooded and an

:23:47.:23:50.

passable. This is an all too frequent occurrence in the area. Not

:23:51.:23:55.

simply for adverse weather conditions for accidents. I would

:23:56.:24:01.

urge the Environment Secretary to speak to the Transport Secretary

:24:02.:24:06.

Andrew agreed to a reassessment of the a 590. To push anti-flooding

:24:07.:24:16.

measures up the agenda. This is very needed and it could be genuinely a

:24:17.:24:23.

matter of life and death given the vital health services we have two

:24:24.:24:32.

addax is too. I would use the speech to call on the District Council to

:24:33.:24:35.

reopen the issue of building on flood planes. They have set their

:24:36.:24:45.

face against a reassessment. This must surely lead them to have the

:24:46.:24:52.

courage to think again. Finally, I want to add weight to the message

:24:53.:24:58.

first given by my honourable friend. I have been contacted by the brink

:24:59.:25:09.

company passing on... This is a vital time. It remains open for

:25:10.:25:14.

business and that message should go out loud and clear.

:25:15.:25:30.

Does the five-year average global temperatures and Emile ten warmest

:25:31.:26:01.

years on record. I just wondered... Just wonder if it all wrong about

:26:02.:26:06.

that as the leader of Met Office. -- if he is wrong. I do have another

:26:07.:26:13.

minute so I appreciate that. There is also an increase in extreme

:26:14.:26:19.

weather events in 19th century. We have all seen the terrible scenes

:26:20.:26:24.

for for homes, businesses and farmers. The devastation as water

:26:25.:26:29.

recedes. In my constituency, the town of Pickering suffered a

:26:30.:26:33.

devastating floods four times in ten years. The secretary of state did

:26:34.:26:38.

join me in opening an innovative scheme at Pickering which other

:26:39.:26:51.

members, mentioned. Planting 60,000 trees. Restoring wetlands, all of

:26:52.:26:59.

which will help matters upstream and I would urge the Secretary of State

:27:00.:27:02.

to look at this as a model moving forward. Our TV screens over recent

:27:03.:27:10.

weeks have been dominated by the fall of migrants across continents

:27:11.:27:14.

and perhaps this is a warning of much greater population booms ahead

:27:15.:27:19.

if we do not tackle climate change. It is the threat to our lives, our

:27:20.:27:24.

livelihoods and also to national security and global security. And

:27:25.:27:28.

economic security. I welcome the Secretary of State's effort in Paris

:27:29.:27:36.

to get together 119 nations to a single agreement. There are

:27:37.:27:42.

difficult races ahead and I do not envy ministers are to make such

:27:43.:27:47.

tough decisions. Many years in advance and admits the tough voices

:27:48.:27:53.

and choices. Credit credit is due, in the UK has a proud record on

:27:54.:28:00.

climate change and we are number two in the performance index, only

:28:01.:28:07.

behind Denmark. Lady Hynde -- way in front of most other Western

:28:08.:28:15.

countries. We travelled renewable energy production to 19% but we have

:28:16.:28:22.

much more to do. The energy performance of our housing has to be

:28:23.:28:30.

improved. We have two replays the complex defunct green deal. -- have

:28:31.:28:40.

two replays. I thank my honourable friend for giving way. When we talk

:28:41.:28:43.

about insulating homes, I think we can do a lot more with solid wall

:28:44.:28:50.

properties. It is much easier than in Google areas. -- rule areas.

:28:51.:29:05.

Because of the demographic in our housing stock, we have some of the

:29:06.:29:08.

worst in Europe. We must also be pragmatic. Only 7% of our energy

:29:09.:29:15.

today comes from renewables. Fossil fuels will be part of the mix for

:29:16.:29:26.

the foreseeable future. We are only for meals away from anarchy. We are

:29:27.:29:30.

probably only true dark days Andrew dark night away from anarchy. We

:29:31.:29:36.

have to keep the lights on. Fossil fuels are the way to do that for the

:29:37.:29:41.

foreseeable future. Thank you. The has to be an understanding here that

:29:42.:29:48.

shale gas, natural gas is fossil fuel. If we continue to burn to

:29:49.:29:55.

replace coal-fired power stations, we will never hit the limits which

:29:56.:30:00.

we have just agreed in Paris only a week ago. I will come to that point

:30:01.:30:07.

shortly. If we look at the USA, they are the second biggest emitters of

:30:08.:30:14.

CO2. They have made great progress on climate change and the important

:30:15.:30:18.

reason for this is the reduction of greenhouse gas in the United States

:30:19.:30:23.

and the CO2 production of shale gas. Environmental campaigners such as

:30:24.:30:34.

Stephen Tindale and Baroness Wellington have expressed a support

:30:35.:30:46.

for fracking. There is a shale gas application in my constituency and,

:30:47.:30:51.

having heard both sides of the debate after many months, I decided

:30:52.:30:54.

to visit Pennsylvania receiver fracking had happened and see

:30:55.:30:59.

whether it is possible to do it safely and if it is possible to do

:31:00.:31:03.

it in a way that does not industrialise the countryside. I

:31:04.:31:07.

believe that is possible. We need to paint the picture for local people

:31:08.:31:12.

to shoulder that it is possible -- show them that it is possible. I

:31:13.:31:24.

think we are losing the PR fight and people fail to understand that

:31:25.:31:26.

fossil fuels have to still be part of the mix. I believe we need a lead

:31:27.:31:34.

agency. We need independent regulations and we also need a local

:31:35.:31:41.

plan so residents can see how it will change and how it will not

:31:42.:31:46.

change. In my constituency, there are only ten conventional gas well

:31:47.:31:49.

sites. Most residents do not even know where they are. Not only do we

:31:50.:32:01.

need ten more sites, but 950 Wells, which scares people. There is a

:32:02.:32:10.

great amount of impact in poultry farms. Much more than just a well

:32:11.:32:16.

sites. Most people see that this will not change countryside and it

:32:17.:32:20.

can be done safely, but we must proceed cautiously and make sure

:32:21.:32:24.

that we win the argument and reduce the evidence and make sure that the

:32:25.:32:36.

public have all access to that site. We need to show people how much is

:32:37.:32:40.

possible to do this to move a much cleaner source of fossil fuels. We

:32:41.:32:45.

need to provide an important bridge to a carbon free future. My

:32:46.:32:55.

prediction about time not standing still has come to pass. We have to

:32:56.:33:03.

reduce the time when 24 minutes. -- reduce it to four minutes. We have

:33:04.:33:12.

seen much devastation at this time of year, much more so than usual. We

:33:13.:33:18.

have held a number of eloquent speeches around the devastation that

:33:19.:33:22.

has rocked many places but we also need to render that we are in the

:33:23.:33:27.

fortunate position as a rich, and nation that he can afford to

:33:28.:33:31.

rebuild, we house and protect those affected. Other parts of the world

:33:32.:33:40.

will not be so fortunate. For me, the standout part of the Paris

:33:41.:33:45.

agreement is that $100 billion for mitigation in terms of climate

:33:46.:33:51.

change to allow other nations the access to the finance they need to

:33:52.:33:56.

develop in a way that allows them to be protected. It will give us an

:33:57.:34:01.

opportunity to lock in carbon emissions without locking in poverty

:34:02.:34:04.

and that has to be fundamental to the way in which we deal with this.

:34:05.:34:10.

What has rightly been described as the greatest threat facing humanity

:34:11.:34:13.

today. We have heard from my colleague in the Scottish Borders

:34:14.:34:20.

about the Scottish Climate Justice Fund. That is something as a party

:34:21.:34:26.

that they are rightly proud. This is not a devolved matter but we have

:34:27.:34:31.

put our money where our mouth is. That money has to be seen as

:34:32.:34:36.

additional contribution. It cannot be put into the pot ordered out of

:34:37.:34:40.

the pot because of what we have done. -- or taken out. We have had

:34:41.:34:49.

many debates in this place as many conversations about the changes that

:34:50.:34:54.

need to be made to renewables and the Green economy more widely. It

:34:55.:34:59.

disappoints me to say that our target in Scotland of 100% of our

:35:00.:35:02.

electricity generation are under threat because of the changes to

:35:03.:35:09.

contracts for difference. We have seen much slower progress around our

:35:10.:35:13.

feet which is maybe bigger challenge. -- our heating. ?700

:35:14.:35:24.

million has been taken out and, in the context of what we are dealing

:35:25.:35:28.

with falling Paris, sitting like another short sighted move. Speaking

:35:29.:35:34.

of which, carbon capture storage. You may have held about this, I will

:35:35.:35:39.

continue to go on about it, I will continue to ban this blog. This is

:35:40.:35:47.

one of the worst decisions. We need to put this in. We are speaking

:35:48.:35:52.

about spending billions and billions of pounds preventing the symptoms

:35:53.:35:58.

but not tackling the queue. -- the queue. It is potentially a game

:35:59.:36:07.

changer. It is the most straightforward way. It is the least

:36:08.:36:12.

impactful on our economic model if we are to use carbon capture

:36:13.:36:15.

storage. If Ally was asked to extract the fossil fuels that we

:36:16.:36:23.

extract. Its allies to do so without having to invest. We will still have

:36:24.:36:26.

to invest in other technologies but it gives us the opportunity... I

:36:27.:36:32.

certainly will. Does he share with the accents of...

:36:33.:36:48.

INAUDIBLE New rule for our future. ?1 billion.

:36:49.:36:55.

Comedy of the blackest sort would be my response to that. It is

:36:56.:36:58.

short-sighted and does not take into account how we can target industry

:36:59.:37:06.

and reduction. The reaction your full is very short of the rhetoric.

:37:07.:37:13.

The action falls very short of what is required to deliver and protect

:37:14.:37:18.

those people both at home and abroad from climate change. We need to up

:37:19.:37:22.

our game. It is time to reset the reset. We want to match the

:37:23.:37:32.

Doncaster North MP's high ambition and the SNP are more than willing to

:37:33.:37:35.

play our part in achieving that. Thank you. Can I start associating

:37:36.:37:46.

my friends with everyone who has expressed compassion for the victims

:37:47.:37:55.

of the floods. I would also like to commend the earlier speech and say

:37:56.:38:00.

that I could envision myself at the bottom of my high street with those

:38:01.:38:04.

shopkeepers. I want to speak about the environmental threats that this

:38:05.:38:09.

country faces but I do not appreciate the threat to hang this

:38:10.:38:12.

is that the member from the SNP raised earlier. -- haggis. Members

:38:13.:38:24.

of the judiciary and academic community, the business and society

:38:25.:38:27.

all gathered to discuss the challenges in Paris in the post-2015

:38:28.:38:41.

agenda. The president of France, the head of the environment programme,

:38:42.:38:46.

and contributions from legislators around the world. It was a

:38:47.:38:55.

cross-party effort from across the UK. I wondered if, when summing up

:38:56.:39:06.

the secretary of state's statement, we can add to that debate. I feel

:39:07.:39:13.

like it was one of a cross-party support and consensus for the

:39:14.:39:16.

ambitious deal in Paris. I think there is such a strong delegation

:39:17.:39:20.

from the UK and that is vital. I would like to pay tribute to my

:39:21.:39:25.

honourable friend who dealt with it so ably. Despite all these attempts

:39:26.:39:37.

to cut greenhouse gas, that will limit the global average

:39:38.:39:40.

temperature, it is historic. I do believe that the cost of an action

:39:41.:39:46.

is -- inaction on climate change will do more to shift the balance of

:39:47.:40:05.

is a lie. -- in this life. We want to ensure that necessary action is

:40:06.:40:08.

being taken to tackle climate change. I think the country has

:40:09.:40:13.

legally obliged to try to reduce emissions every five years until

:40:14.:40:21.

2025 and I want to welcome the billion-dollar fund to help

:40:22.:40:24.

developing nations decarbonise the energy mix. We also wanted and

:40:25.:40:31.

edition from burning fossil fuels. It is clear that, going forward in

:40:32.:40:36.

the UK, decolonisation will have to be a key part of our fiscal policy

:40:37.:40:41.

and lip service will not be enough going for the Secretary of State

:40:42.:40:47.

agreeing with me here on that point. I am very grateful. You are making

:40:48.:40:50.

some powerful point about the climate change

:40:51.:40:54.

Does he agree with me that is incredibly important that the plan

:40:55.:41:05.

is published, which would be on top of local flood resilience plans. We

:41:06.:41:10.

both know the terrible effect flooding has had in our local areas.

:41:11.:41:15.

I thank my honourable friend from that point. I agree with him on the

:41:16.:41:19.

importance of that and will do everything to do to work with him on

:41:20.:41:27.

that going forward. During the conference is she said she would do

:41:28.:41:33.

anything to assure that deal. Can I commend her for playing such a

:41:34.:41:37.

successful role in the negotiation. It is a long-term goal of zero

:41:38.:41:44.

emissions by the end of the century. The deal represents a huge step

:41:45.:41:48.

forward in securing the future of our planet. It is a privilege to

:41:49.:41:57.

speak in this debate and to follow the honourable member. He is a

:41:58.:42:02.

fellow member of the environment audit select committee. It is the

:42:03.:42:08.

leadership that has been shown in terms of the negotiations, not just

:42:09.:42:11.

by the Right Honourable member opposite, but by the whole team. I

:42:12.:42:24.

met my honourable friend to... Outcome is good. I'm sure they will

:42:25.:42:28.

agree with me that the outcome is nothing unless we rise to the

:42:29.:42:34.

challenge. We are looking at 3.5, 3.7 degrees based on a current

:42:35.:42:40.

trajectory on global warming. If all of the actions are delivered, may

:42:41.:42:46.

take us down to 2.5. It may take us down to that aspiration of 1.5 if we

:42:47.:42:52.

wrapped it up every year. The scale of this transition is huge. We

:42:53.:42:57.

cannot base it on the plans we currently have. The leadership that

:42:58.:43:00.

has been shown should be commended. We need that leadership to purple

:43:01.:43:05.

charge what we do here in the UK. But also in international

:43:06.:43:16.

negotiations as well. In areas of flooding in Wales and Northern

:43:17.:43:22.

Ireland or from the words of my honourable friend. I was there just

:43:23.:43:28.

a few years ago when we thought it was the worst flooding we had ever

:43:29.:43:34.

seen. That came on the back of the 2005 floods. Back in 2009 there were

:43:35.:43:40.

over 2200 properties affected. 25 bridges closed, waste treatment

:43:41.:43:48.

works, 40 of them were closed down. Here we are again. In answer to my

:43:49.:43:56.

honourable friend, he is wrong. He is completely wrong. This is not an

:43:57.:44:03.

issue of climate change. Whether it is the issues in Cumbria, Northern

:44:04.:44:11.

Ireland, Bangladesh, this is a pattern of climate change that is an

:44:12.:44:15.

arguable and we need to rise to deal with it. In the short time available

:44:16.:44:22.

I would simply say to the UK Government as the go forward on

:44:23.:44:26.

this, we do need to have a step change now in light of the Paris

:44:27.:44:31.

commitments. If we are going to make them work and go further. It does

:44:32.:44:35.

require going further on the international stage. I would urge

:44:36.:44:40.

the Minister and go back and look at what we are doing at the EU level

:44:41.:44:44.

and whether we are being ambitious enough. In terms of this country,

:44:45.:44:50.

the Right Honourable lady herself has admitted at the moment we have a

:44:51.:44:57.

policy vacuum. Whether it is on the closure of various schemes. We have

:44:58.:45:04.

a policy vacuum. Whether it is in energy efficiency in homes, the type

:45:05.:45:13.

of green energy we do, in demand reduction, in residential commercial

:45:14.:45:16.

properties, all of those aspects we are being told there is a policy

:45:17.:45:26.

vacuum. I will indeed give way. I thank him for giving way. Would you

:45:27.:45:36.

not agree that it would be a good way going forward for reducing tidal

:45:37.:45:40.

energy. We could use this all the way round the United Kingdom? I was

:45:41.:45:46.

not going to be able to get that point on. I hope what the government

:45:47.:45:51.

will do, even though we have had frustration over a lack of

:45:52.:45:56.

announcements, let's see the commitment that will take not only

:45:57.:46:01.

the Swansea Bay lagoon forward but also the Cardiff Bay lagoon. One of

:46:02.:46:07.

my recommendations would be, let us use this as an opportunity to create

:46:08.:46:12.

jobs and be a world leader so that we can export that technology. It is

:46:13.:46:20.

the taking. When we were warned about the dangers of climate change,

:46:21.:46:25.

make the early investment because it will save you money down the line.

:46:26.:46:31.

That is what we have to do. I have enormous respect for him. I wonder

:46:32.:46:35.

whether you might like to comment on, with the plan you are

:46:36.:46:42.

suggesting,... I am not suggesting anything. It is she, not you. I

:46:43.:46:53.

apologise. I am as being whether we need more detailed inspections and

:46:54.:46:56.

government departments or that we are all doing our bit. What about

:46:57.:47:00.

all the other departments. Should we not be working more together? The

:47:01.:47:07.

honourable lady is right. It needs to be cross departmental. It needs

:47:08.:47:12.

to be rigorous and it needs a step change. What we have been doing is

:47:13.:47:16.

trying to turn this supertanker around slowly. What Paris says is

:47:17.:47:22.

that it is not fast enough. The chair of the climate change

:47:23.:47:26.

committee says we need to do more. The head of the National Audit

:47:27.:47:30.

Office said we need joined up thinking and joined up thinking

:47:31.:47:33.

right across. She is absolutely right. One of the biggest commitment

:47:34.:47:40.

is the government could do and they would have my support in doing this

:47:41.:47:45.

is fairly accept that when the committee looks at the outcomes of

:47:46.:47:49.

Paris and says we need to go further and faster than the already said

:47:50.:47:54.

last June. We need to go faster again and deliver more. I would say

:47:55.:48:01.

to her, except it. Go beyond it if you can. Look at how we can do that.

:48:02.:48:06.

What technologies should we be investing in. We are is a private

:48:07.:48:14.

going to put its money? So except that and also fill the gap that we

:48:15.:48:19.

currently have from the fourth carbon budget. This is to do with

:48:20.:48:24.

leadership. It is great coming back from Paris with excellent

:48:25.:48:28.

commitments, better than many were expecting. The UK played its role in

:48:29.:48:32.

leadership they are. We need to take it now to a whole other level. Paris

:48:33.:48:40.

means it is not business as usual. Let us go further and I look forward

:48:41.:48:45.

to the Secretary of State seeing how we are going to do that. It has been

:48:46.:48:55.

really interesting to follow the member around his debate around

:48:56.:49:00.

climate change and his views on that. We have talked about the Paris

:49:01.:49:08.

deal and the relationship that we have on that historic agreement. I

:49:09.:49:13.

want to also highlight another historic agreement. That was made

:49:14.:49:17.

between the Northern Ireland government and the Ireland

:49:18.:49:22.

government back in 1950. It included Westminster as well. We had an

:49:23.:49:27.

agreement between the three governments to have a hydropower

:49:28.:49:31.

station in the Republic of Ireland using the water from Loch earn. I

:49:32.:49:38.

was disappointed that this Motion did not mention Northern Ireland. In

:49:39.:49:46.

my constituency we have had huge amount of damages to businesses,

:49:47.:49:54.

homes, we have a number of people will have indeed people not in their

:49:55.:50:00.

home for Christmas. That is a really demoralising situation. Local

:50:01.:50:03.

businesses, family owned businesses which have lost over ?100,000 worth

:50:04.:50:11.

of stock and a lot of the Christmas business as well. That is

:50:12.:50:14.

devastating for them and may put some of them out of business. The

:50:15.:50:18.

farmland have been highlighted here as well. The aspect of that

:50:19.:50:22.

agreement between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have

:50:23.:50:29.

comes into play. The levels of Loch earn have not been looked in to

:50:30.:50:34.

since 1950s. We need that historic agreement to move on. We need a

:50:35.:50:40.

review of that. We need to assure some of the actions that took place

:50:41.:50:44.

at that time, dredging the lock and making sure the levels could be the

:50:45.:50:56.

safe again. I am asking the Secretary of State to speak to the

:50:57.:51:03.

Irish Northern Irish Minister to see if there would be some flexibility,

:51:04.:51:09.

just as there was in 1950 to do that. I did note the Secretary of

:51:10.:51:14.

State indicated about a special finance scheme for farmers. I am

:51:15.:51:20.

wondering whether they would be any knock on effect for those in

:51:21.:51:24.

Northern Ireland? For farmers in Northern Ireland as well to help

:51:25.:51:29.

clean that up. It is really important that we get assistants,

:51:30.:51:34.

just as the will in England and Cumbria and in Scotland as well.

:51:35.:51:42.

Unlike my colleagues in Scotland, the Northern Ireland departments

:51:43.:51:45.

have not dealt with it as well. The people on the ground and the staff

:51:46.:51:50.

have been very effective in helping businesses and domestic homes and

:51:51.:51:55.

indeed farmers but when it comes to the wider access of planning, the

:51:56.:52:01.

key aspects we need to get from this debate is how the planning will go

:52:02.:52:05.

forward into the future. We do not want a repeat of what happened this

:52:06.:52:13.

year. We had it in 2009 and again six years later. We do not want

:52:14.:52:19.

another repeat again. I am appealing to the Secretary of State and

:52:20.:52:21.

government to do all they can to assure this will not happen once

:52:22.:52:25.

again. And that they will liaise with the officials in Northern

:52:26.:52:33.

Ireland departments as well. We had a time limit of four or five

:52:34.:52:37.

minutes, several members spoke for seven or eight minutes. They know

:52:38.:52:43.

who they are those who are still to speak can be agreed and take it up

:52:44.:52:44.

with them and with me. -- agreed. I speak for a constituency that was

:52:45.:53:07.

also affected by the recent flooding, although we are not in

:53:08.:53:12.

Cumbria and I do urge members of the House to remember the effects of the

:53:13.:53:18.

floods beyond those county boundaries. I would like to pay

:53:19.:53:23.

tribute to our local radio station which continued broadcasting. For

:53:24.:53:27.

many people it was their only source of June occasion to the outside

:53:28.:53:32.

world as we lost power. The station managed to get back online even

:53:33.:53:36.

though there were power cuts and kept local people informed. There

:53:37.:53:43.

have been lots said about the effects of the flooding in the city

:53:44.:53:48.

centre but I want to talk about the beautiful part of Lancashire which

:53:49.:53:52.

has a very big farming committee. I would like to thank the cheer of the

:53:53.:53:59.

parish council who helped introduce me to many people I did not know. I

:54:00.:54:05.

welcome the news from the government about the support for farmers and I

:54:06.:54:11.

will look forward to seeing that. The floods we have seen in recent

:54:12.:54:12.

weeks is what we should be expecting from the world's. The annual

:54:13.:54:19.

rainfall has been increasing in the UK and five out of six wettest years

:54:20.:54:24.

on record have been in the new millennium. Businesses have been

:54:25.:54:31.

badly affected in my constituency. I pay tribute to the businesses that

:54:32.:54:36.

step up and played a role when the flood water breached the city

:54:37.:54:39.

centre. Including the landlord of the pup who opened up his part to

:54:40.:54:44.

allow people to come inside. When they were unable to return from

:54:45.:54:50.

their Saturday night out as the bridges had been hit by a shipping

:54:51.:54:54.

container, it reminds us of the force of nature meaning people

:54:55.:55:02.

enjoying the night life are stranded in the city centre. 52% of

:55:03.:55:09.

constituents do not have flooding insurance. I fear that may go on to

:55:10.:55:13.

increase as premiums are going to be increasing. The Environment Agency

:55:14.:55:21.

long-term investment scenario recommends an investment of 470

:55:22.:55:26.

million a year more than is currently being spent. The

:55:27.:55:30.

government needs to be spending 2.5 billion over this period from 2015

:55:31.:55:36.

to 2051. This sounds like a lot of money but the cost of doing nothing

:55:37.:55:42.

is far greater than the cost of protecting our committees. I have

:55:43.:55:45.

seen them first-hand and the devastation I have lived around. I

:55:46.:55:57.

call on our government do not -- to realise climate change is a serious

:55:58.:55:58.

issue. UK current analysis shows that there

:55:59.:56:11.

will be more heavy rainfall events. We have to ask ourselves, are we

:56:12.:56:15.

prepared for the ramifications of the changes in our weather? Is a

:56:16.:56:22.

report published in the summer of 2016 will hopefully help us find

:56:23.:56:31.

sustainable solutions because we have had rain before, floods before

:56:32.:56:36.

and reviews before. We need to see, not more parliamentary people

:56:37.:56:42.

navel-gazing, but making the governments better. They need to

:56:43.:56:52.

acknowledge the flood defence funds and how much money from taxpayers is

:56:53.:56:58.

being spent on preventing this. Sticking your finger in the dam does

:56:59.:57:06.

not solve the problems. Turning it around is a massive task and

:57:07.:57:11.

sticking plaster porting is will not address that. This Government has

:57:12.:57:17.

decided to cut investment in carbon capture storage technology. They are

:57:18.:57:22.

just finding solar and blocking the source for wind technology. We will

:57:23.:57:28.

now see another annual basis. There will be losses of the tackling

:57:29.:57:37.

findings for this issue. We must also recognise that we have changed

:57:38.:57:41.

our environment and expose the risk of flooding. That will give serious

:57:42.:57:49.

consideration to reforestation, taking water from the soil water for

:57:50.:57:53.

planning and actively our first line of defence. If you manage trees

:57:54.:58:04.

correctly, it can help. If all the public buildings bought the boilers,

:58:05.:58:12.

we could start to see a coherent lookalike industry employing local

:58:13.:58:17.

people as part of an environmentally friendly solution. Reforestation is

:58:18.:58:20.

one of many policies they could implement to improve our catchment

:58:21.:58:25.

management in the long-term. The upland bogs and straightened rivers

:58:26.:58:31.

are other measures we wish to consider as they seek to look for

:58:32.:58:34.

more permanent solutions. One change will not fix the problem. A series

:58:35.:58:39.

of correct adjustment will help any number of different ways. Whether it

:58:40.:58:45.

is reforestation or tackling climate change, we have to be bold with our

:58:46.:58:49.

policy-making and ensure that no more lies, businesses or homes are

:58:50.:58:57.

ruined by flooding. I speak as a normal cheer flood manager for Wales

:58:58.:59:03.

helping adapt well to climate change. -- chair flood manager. I

:59:04.:59:11.

will be talking about adaptation but, in Paris, can I simply say that

:59:12.:59:15.

the Secretary of State has do carefully at the back that a lot of

:59:16.:59:27.

the suggestions are not enforceable, and you should be looking at what

:59:28.:59:31.

the Government is moving ahead on. And there was adaptation, Regent

:59:32.:59:37.

advice from Kuala number which is drowned in water every year until

:59:38.:59:40.

they actually had storage lakes upstream. -- weekly advice from

:59:41.:59:49.

Kuala Lumpur. We have to look at reader version of rivers upstream to

:59:50.:59:53.

stop some of this. -- reader version. It is not enough to just

:59:54.:00:00.

have grass verges for absorption, all public buildings and all

:00:01.:00:05.

new-build should have but that take all the water of the ball buildings.

:00:06.:00:14.

This would help it actually we can over a period of days rather than

:00:15.:00:20.

sleeping the sewage systems, those fake flooding and sewerage and when

:00:21.:00:24.

they come up through the drains, everybody's everything is ruined by

:00:25.:00:29.

sewage. We can stop that happening by adding storage and capture on

:00:30.:00:32.

booze, that would save enormous amounts of money. -- on roofs. The

:00:33.:00:42.

other suggestions give us a false sense of security, that should be

:00:43.:00:45.

investment in our budget also need to invent an -- invest in common

:00:46.:00:53.

sense. Steps going into houses with water downstairs so that, after the

:00:54.:00:59.

floods, people can get back to their normal lives. We need to minimise

:01:00.:01:06.

the trauma of this. There should be local governments Keynes on

:01:07.:01:08.

insurance and that would also incentivise them. -- local

:01:09.:01:19.

governments Keynes. We need to ensure that there are enough

:01:20.:01:26.

emergency services and that all into that. We need to finally ensure that

:01:27.:01:33.

the ratio of cost versus value is correct. We have heard that many

:01:34.:01:38.

times but we need to ensure that people in a low value of houses are

:01:39.:01:43.

also protected. In Wales, we are changing it so that you don't just

:01:44.:01:49.

get protected in rich areas, you get it if you are in a poor area and you

:01:50.:01:52.

can get insurance if you are an April area. That is the adaptations

:01:53.:01:57.

and I wish you the best of luck. Many thanks. I am delighted to be

:01:58.:02:02.

able to speak in this debate today as our party spokesman on Klein. --

:02:03.:02:11.

on climate. Storm Desmond, which affected a lot of us, has had

:02:12.:02:16.

devastating consequences. At a time that most of us are looking forward

:02:17.:02:20.

to Christmas and looking forward to our festivities, those affected by

:02:21.:02:27.

the flooding is likely to face away from home. They have a massive

:02:28.:02:33.

clean-up process ahead of them. Our thoughts are with those affected and

:02:34.:02:37.

our gratitude is with all of the emergency services and councils have

:02:38.:02:43.

helped. This is not an isolated event and, over the recent years,

:02:44.:02:47.

there have been a number of extreme floods in the UK in both winter and

:02:48.:02:52.

summer. Many people have experienced in on multiple occasions. These

:02:53.:02:58.

floods have substantial human and emotional, and financial toll on the

:02:59.:03:02.

GMC is affected. Both in the immediate aftermath and over the

:03:03.:03:06.

long term. -- in the communities affected. Public immunities and

:03:07.:03:14.

transport links have been closed. Most tragically of all, it has

:03:15.:03:19.

resulted in a number of fatalities. In Scotland, our governments are

:03:20.:03:23.

very aware of the climate change both domestically and globally and

:03:24.:03:26.

have introduced pioneering policies which aim to alleviate the effects

:03:27.:03:31.

of climate change, both in Scotland and in developing countries across

:03:32.:03:35.

the world. In this week, the Scottish Government have been

:03:36.:03:39.

investing in number of initiatives to reduce carbon emissions as

:03:40.:03:43.

Scotland is well on its way to meeting our target of 47% of

:03:44.:03:49.

reductions by 2020. We have made massive progress in building

:03:50.:03:54.

renewable energy sources do help a sustainable energy supply. Thank you

:03:55.:04:04.

for taking the intervention. We recognise the investment of the

:04:05.:04:09.

Scottish Government to the Climate Justice Fund. Do you agree with my

:04:10.:04:20.

honourable friend about this investment helping existing flows?

:04:21.:04:28.

Thank you. I was just moving on to those very points. We have been

:04:29.:04:33.

encouraging investment in the climate Justice fund. Over the last

:04:34.:04:38.

five years, this fund has already invested ?6 million for 11 projects

:04:39.:04:47.

in African countries. In Malawi, many people now have access to safe

:04:48.:04:50.

drinking water and more than 100 communities have been trained in

:04:51.:04:58.

natural resource management. The Government has said it will double

:04:59.:05:06.

this fund by pledging another ?12 million to help these countries. It

:05:07.:05:09.

is recognised that richer countries have already do more and for longer

:05:10.:05:16.

-- polluted more and for longer, so we should help the countries it has

:05:17.:05:22.

affected. I applaud the hard work in reaching the agreement in Paris by

:05:23.:05:25.

UK ministers, Scottish Government ministers and governments across the

:05:26.:05:31.

world. I was also able to play a small role by attending the

:05:32.:05:37.

legislator summit. I recently had the pleasure of visiting the London

:05:38.:05:42.

Natural History Museum during recess and, thinking about climate change

:05:43.:05:46.

across the world as it hit the dinosaurs of the past and led to

:05:47.:05:50.

their extinction. Climate change is not new. It is now once again

:05:51.:06:00.

reaching crisis point. I will finish by saying, let us fix this for the

:06:01.:06:09.

future and not be the dinosaurs of the past. I am fangled to make a

:06:10.:06:14.

brief contribution to this fascinating debate. -- or not.

:06:15.:06:28.

Honoured. Unprecedented rainfall. More rain fell in one day on

:06:29.:06:34.

Saturday the 5th of November and Cumbria received levels higher than

:06:35.:06:38.

those ever recorded. Storm Desmond led to school closure, business

:06:39.:06:44.

Collier, power supplies cutting off for many people and flood damage

:06:45.:06:52.

across most of the region. Lancaster University had to declare the end of

:06:53.:06:57.

term one week early. I did have my own small personal experience of

:06:58.:06:59.

this on Sunday the 6th of December when they added the drive -- when we

:07:00.:07:08.

had to drive because the university had no power since Saturday evening.

:07:09.:07:11.

This raises the question of flood defences around power stations.

:07:12.:07:15.

Surely they should be able to be protected in order to deters such

:07:16.:07:24.

disruption. I am pleased the Secretary of State has announced the

:07:25.:07:28.

review which will carry out assessments of infrastructure,

:07:29.:07:34.

including, I am pleased to say, electricity substations. 1.I would

:07:35.:07:38.

like to mention is the creation of a statutory duty for the firefighters

:07:39.:07:50.

attending the floods. This will help Fire And Rescue Services and other

:07:51.:07:53.

emergency services, as well as the Government. We can plan effectively

:07:54.:08:03.

and reduce risk to life and property. This is already in place

:08:04.:08:07.

in Scotland and Northern Ireland. These bonds to recent floods as

:08:08.:08:15.

shown the recent ones of our emergency teams, Army and junior

:08:16.:08:22.

veggies overall. They have been -- communities. They have been

:08:23.:08:28.

fantastic. But we have to do is keep this up and up our game. Emergency

:08:29.:08:34.

service also need to be addressed. Five fire stations in Cumbria are

:08:35.:08:39.

set to close in money-saving measures and it sounds like a

:08:40.:08:41.

statement of the obvious, but he cannot go on to cut the Fire Service

:08:42.:08:51.

when things like this are happening. I am grateful that the words of the

:08:52.:08:57.

Prime Minister was quoted, we should sit down, look at what we are

:08:58.:09:04.

spending and ask, is it enough? Clearly it is not. This Government's

:09:05.:09:09.

approach is failing to unity is blighted by flooding. Thank you. I

:09:10.:09:16.

want to start by thanking all the honourable members on all sides of

:09:17.:09:19.

the house for giving a voice to those communities who have been

:09:20.:09:22.

affected by flooding today. We wanted to call this debate so that

:09:23.:09:26.

those communities could have a voice. I think all the members who

:09:27.:09:31.

have spoken about in the 20s crowd. They have done something else as

:09:32.:09:36.

well. They have given a voice to all of us who are deeply concerned about

:09:37.:09:41.

the cost of inaction on climate change and what it will mean to the

:09:42.:09:45.

United Kingdom. I think there is a remarkable degree of consensus,

:09:46.:09:48.

perhaps with the exception of the honourable member for more than

:09:49.:09:56.

about the clear link between the trends in flooding and what we are

:09:57.:09:59.

seeing. The Met office analysis suggests that global warming at, or

:10:00.:10:05.

about 2 degrees, from 1990 levels will increase the floods and risk of

:10:06.:10:13.

floods by a factor of seven. This was once seen as rare, once in a

:10:14.:10:19.

matter of 100 years, and happening more frequently and it is right that

:10:20.:10:23.

the Government has acknowledged that. It is their own adviser on

:10:24.:10:27.

climate change who has said that if global greenhouse gas emissions do

:10:28.:10:36.

not subside soon, global warming could take place this century. This

:10:37.:10:41.

will lead to severe flood risk. This level of rise will affect an extra

:10:42.:10:50.

million homes. The annual cost of flooding damage could increase from

:10:51.:10:54.

?1 billion to ?5.6 billion and I need 20 80s. The member for

:10:55.:11:01.

Lancaster and Fleetwood in our short but moving contribution made signed

:11:02.:11:05.

a stand the real human consequences of what that could mean. It is about

:11:06.:11:16.

the future. The committee on climate change said the programme lists a

:11:17.:11:21.

range of useful activity but it does not amount to lead to hearing

:11:22.:11:28.

programme. I see two members, they must rectify this. We need a real

:11:29.:11:36.

plan, a long-term land as the member pointed out. We need to recognise as

:11:37.:11:43.

the member made clear from his contribution, in action has a cost.

:11:44.:11:48.

These are lives, homes and livelihoods that are on the line.

:11:49.:11:52.

The member for Aberdeen South said we are spending billions on the

:11:53.:11:58.

symptoms and not because. We cannot go on like this. My honourable

:11:59.:12:05.

friend for Bristol East as to renew flood assessment. I would like to

:12:06.:12:10.

take this opportunity to commend the Secretary of State for the

:12:11.:12:14.

environment to agree to this. It will not fully account for the

:12:15.:12:18.

latest understanding of climate change impact on UK flooding, given

:12:19.:12:23.

we have to wait for 2017 for the risk assessment. I would ask her,

:12:24.:12:31.

will she bring this forward? Will that be a new national climate

:12:32.:12:34.

adaptation plan to follow these reviews? The leadership that was

:12:35.:12:42.

shown in Paris must be followed by the leadership at home. I will take

:12:43.:12:47.

this opportunity to ask her again, will she take this chance, the

:12:48.:12:52.

chance presented by the Paris Summit and stop the sell-off of the green

:12:53.:13:00.

investment blank and blocking wind farms where there is local support

:13:01.:13:05.

for it. Will she make progress on the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon. Will

:13:06.:13:15.

she find money to give carbon capture storage and give committees

:13:16.:13:22.

a chance to build a future of energy and future jobs. Will she think

:13:23.:13:25.

again about the deep cuts that have been made to the solar industry,

:13:26.:13:31.

just at the moment when it stood on the cusp of becoming economically

:13:32.:13:37.

viable. There are many members today in the contributions topped about

:13:38.:13:40.

the need to take the public with us on the journey to climate safety.

:13:41.:13:47.

Just like human it is like mine in Wigan helped to build this country's

:13:48.:13:53.

prosperity in dirty work down the coal mines, amenities in Wigan and

:13:54.:14:02.

across the country to be given the chance to control the future through

:14:03.:14:08.

jobs in solar. The Department for energy and climate change theme and

:14:09.:14:16.

the member for Beverley and the cheer men of global, should this

:14:17.:14:21.

weekend in Paris just what is possible if we keep our minds to it.

:14:22.:14:28.

We raise our ambition and we work together to build the future. We

:14:29.:14:33.

built on a proud record of leadership shown by the UK. The 1997

:14:34.:14:45.

Kyoto agreement, doubled up in 2015 I was proud to stand with 50 Labour

:14:46.:14:50.

councils around the UK who have pledged to go clean by 2015 -- 2050.

:14:51.:15:00.

My honourable friend said we all our thanks to the emergency services,

:15:01.:15:05.

the charities, the individuals who are doing what they can to help

:15:06.:15:11.

those families whose homes are under water. We all it to them to

:15:12.:15:16.

understand the risks and to prevent future flooding. I would say to the

:15:17.:15:22.

Secretary of State, if she will not listen to me, please will she

:15:23.:15:27.

listened to the powerful and moving speech made by my honourable friend.

:15:28.:15:33.

Homes underwater and children frightened by the rain, shopkeepers

:15:34.:15:38.

devastated and acts of courage by the members of public. This is the

:15:39.:15:42.

courage we need now from the Secretary of State. The cost of an

:15:43.:15:48.

action on climate change is right before us. I ask her to show the

:15:49.:15:52.

leadership we saw desperately need because the alternative is

:15:53.:16:00.

unthinkable. I would like to thank the party opposite for bringing this

:16:01.:16:04.

issue to the House and all those who have taken part. It has been an

:16:05.:16:09.

animated and energetic debate. The exceptional brain for that we have

:16:10.:16:14.

seen has led to some very distressing situations. The member

:16:15.:16:22.

for Workington did speak movingly about the impact on her

:16:23.:16:28.

constituency. The member for Barrow in Furness reminded us that despite

:16:29.:16:33.

that devastation, communities are open for business. I I thank you for

:16:34.:16:41.

setting out the situation in Scotland. We will liaise closely

:16:42.:16:48.

with our Northern Ireland counterparts. I pay tribute to the

:16:49.:16:55.

emergency responders, the Fire Service and volunteers who have

:16:56.:16:59.

worked tirelessly to get people back to safety. To get power supplies

:17:00.:17:06.

back on and to clean up quickly so that people can return to their

:17:07.:17:11.

homes as soon as possible. Thank you for giving way. With regard to the

:17:12.:17:15.

Fire And Rescue Services, it has been said time and time again, how

:17:16.:17:20.

valuable they have been in the cases of flooding. Not just in Cumbria but

:17:21.:17:27.

in Northumberland this week as well. Why is there so much resistance to

:17:28.:17:36.

allowing a duty for flood water rescue to the Fire and Rescue

:17:37.:17:43.

Service I know it has been one that has been made by several other

:17:44.:17:49.

colleagues here. All I can say is I hope various government Ministers

:17:50.:17:53.

will look at it. This year his admiration for the amount of work

:17:54.:17:57.

that has gone into helping people buy the Fire and Rescue Service.

:17:58.:18:02.

Over the next six years will be investing 2.3 billion pounds in

:18:03.:18:07.

flood defence. A real terms increase compared to the last Parliament. My

:18:08.:18:13.

honourable friend made some suggestions for future spending.

:18:14.:18:20.

More support has been called for and I would remind her that 60 million

:18:21.:18:23.

pounds has been invested in Fleetwood. There are schemes in

:18:24.:18:30.

construction in England and we will continue to reject more homes. My

:18:31.:18:38.

honourable friend recognised Biot the amount of effort going into

:18:39.:18:45.

supporting Cumbria. I will certainly pass these on to my friend. Her

:18:46.:18:55.

right honourable friend said earlier on there may not have been a bid for

:18:56.:19:00.

EU Solidarity funding yet because it takes seven months to come through.

:19:01.:19:05.

Can I make it clear that 10% could be made immediately to help us do

:19:06.:19:15.

things like rebuild motorways. I am told by my right honourable friend,

:19:16.:19:20.

the Secretary of State for environment and rural affairs. They

:19:21.:19:25.

are already discussing that. I hope they will see some action in that

:19:26.:19:32.

area. We are very short of time. There is a link between climate

:19:33.:19:36.

change and an increase in extreme weather events. I do not sure the

:19:37.:19:43.

views of my honourable friend, who always speaks with enthusiasm. What

:19:44.:19:47.

I will say to him, we cannot attribute every storm or flood to

:19:48.:19:51.

climate change, all the evidence from scientists suggests the

:19:52.:19:57.

changing climate will lead to more frequent events. The Met office

:19:58.:20:02.

released papers on the study of exceptional rainfall of 2013 to

:20:03.:20:10.

2014. Extreme rainfall over ten consecutive days may be about seven

:20:11.:20:15.

times more likely now then in a world without man-made greenhouse

:20:16.:20:21.

gas emissions. It is clear that the impact of climate change is already

:20:22.:20:26.

being felt. Especially in vulnerable countries, this is why the member of

:20:27.:20:31.

East Kilbride is right when she commented on the need to assist

:20:32.:20:35.

developing countries with funds. Unless we limit the rise in the

:20:36.:20:39.

global average temperature, we will have to live with more extremes. The

:20:40.:20:43.

global agreement that was reached in Paris was so important. The French

:20:44.:20:49.

played a very important role in making sure it all came together. No

:20:50.:20:54.

single country acting alone can hope to limit climate change, it is only

:20:55.:21:00.

by acting together that we can hope to succeed. With nearly 200

:21:01.:21:05.

countries coming to an agreement, Paris is a turning point to a

:21:06.:21:10.

sustainable and low carbon future. We limit the temperature rise, we

:21:11.:21:14.

will limit the frequency of extreme weather, like the flooding we have

:21:15.:21:19.

seen recently. I am grateful for her. She will recall that the

:21:20.:21:28.

Chancellor mentioned properties whose flood risk was being reduced.

:21:29.:21:37.

Is she aware of the report that has said this largely moves property

:21:38.:21:41.

from a low risk to an even lower one. In other words, her department

:21:42.:21:48.

have asked the officials to achieve the maximum number. I will allow the

:21:49.:22:01.

Secretary of State for rural affairs to respond on that. I will make some

:22:02.:22:07.

progress. With the global agreement we signalled to business this is a

:22:08.:22:12.

turning point. Business is critical for delivering on our ambitions. As

:22:13.:22:22.

the member said, accompanied by the member for Thornbury who was there

:22:23.:22:32.

to support him. We know in isolation Britain's own greenhouse gas

:22:33.:22:37.

emissions would do little to limit climate change. Our most important

:22:38.:22:43.

task is giving a compelling example of how to cut carbon whilst

:22:44.:22:48.

controlling costs. The member of Aberdeen South has many spending

:22:49.:22:51.

commitments to recommend but no more. In a tight Spending Review he

:22:52.:22:56.

should welcome the increase in our project. We are going to committed

:22:57.:23:04.

to meeting the target. We are going to be setting out to meeting the

:23:05.:23:08.

fourth and fifth carbon budgets next year. My honourable friend asked the

:23:09.:23:19.

fairness of the butter that I assure him he it is fear and we will be

:23:20.:23:25.

addressing that next year. We need to get the right balance of

:23:26.:23:29.

supporting new technologies and being tough on subsidies. When costs

:23:30.:23:35.

come down, as they have in wind and solar, I share the enthusiasm for

:23:36.:23:43.

solar but we will always look after the Bill here as well. I have

:23:44.:23:48.

announced we support and accelerate the cost reduction by making funding

:23:49.:23:57.

available this Parliament. This and other measures such as supporting

:23:58.:24:02.

nuclear and gas powered gas stations could provide us with the energy

:24:03.:24:08.

security we need to close call. We have committed two double spending

:24:09.:24:13.

and development research. We will be spending an excess of ?400 million

:24:14.:24:20.

by 2020. We will only tackle climate change if we find technologies that

:24:21.:24:28.

are clean and cheap. This is the answer to the question regarding

:24:29.:24:34.

ambition. It is the answer by my other honourable friend. We will

:24:35.:24:39.

only reach this to percent reduction is operational, 1.5 is that

:24:40.:24:47.

aspiration. This is the leadership, by having our plans linking with

:24:48.:24:51.

other countries for an international, low carbon task

:24:52.:24:56.

force. Mission innovation. We believe we can achieve that. The

:24:57.:25:05.

last Labour government and energy security Blackwall in 2010. No

:25:06.:25:09.

nuclear power pants. Under investments. In her endless

:25:10.:25:22.

recommendations to increase subsidies, it is unknown what the

:25:23.:25:25.

opposition actually has in their own plan. It is clear to us on the side

:25:26.:25:34.

of the House that a responsible national energy policy demands a

:25:35.:25:38.

willingness to take decisions today for the good of tomorrow. It is this

:25:39.:25:43.

government that will not take any risk with our energy security. The

:25:44.:25:50.

government agrees with the idea that she'll will provide a low carbon

:25:51.:26:00.

bridge. We will get on with building low energy infrastructure fit for

:26:01.:26:01.

the 21st-century. As many as are of the opinion, say

:26:02.:26:10.

"aye". To the contrary, "no". The ayes to the right, 214. The noes

:26:11.:39:34.

to the left, 296. The ayes to the right, 214. The noes to the left,

:39:35.:39:49.

296. The noes have it. We now come to the second motion and the Leader

:39:50.:39:55.

of the Opposition relating... We now come to the second opposition

:39:56.:40:14.

Day motion in the name of the Leader of the Opposition relating to the

:40:15.:40:18.

Government's housing record. I now called John Healey to move the

:40:19.:40:29.

motion. Thank you. Out of schools, wages, crime and foreign affairs and

:40:30.:40:33.

terrorism, people now plays housing as the most pressing concern. It is

:40:34.:40:39.

for in the latest long-running issues for Britain survey. In all

:40:40.:40:48.

sides of this house, we know the increasing pressure, frustrating and

:40:49.:40:54.

sometimes despair our constituents feel when affordable homes to rent

:40:55.:41:00.

or buy are beyond them. This is why they have called the debate today on

:41:01.:41:05.

the Government's record on housing. It is a truly shameful record. Five

:41:06.:41:12.

years of failure on every front. For the Minister for Housing, I know is

:41:13.:41:13.

a of social media, #Fiveyearsoffailure. Five years of

:41:14.:41:31.

failure on homelessness. We feel keenly at Christmas. Rough sleeping

:41:32.:41:39.

has increased by more than half in the last five years. Homelessness is

:41:40.:41:43.

up by over a third and rising rapidly. Five years of failure on

:41:44.:41:49.

home ownership. The rate of home ownership fell each and every year

:41:50.:41:55.

since 2010. The total number of home owning households in this country is

:41:56.:42:00.

now over 200,000 fewer then when the Tories took control and it is young

:42:01.:42:04.

people that are being hit the hardest with a number of home owners

:42:05.:42:09.

under 35 down by a fifth in the last five years.

:42:10.:42:16.

Incomes have stagnated and private rents a new let's have sought. Five

:42:17.:42:26.

years of failure on housing benefit costs. It rose by 3.5 billion in the

:42:27.:42:34.

last Parliament, despite punishing cuts such as they bedroom tax. Five

:42:35.:42:43.

years of failure on house-building. The House of Commons library have

:42:44.:42:47.

confirmed to me that the last government wrote fewer new homes

:42:48.:42:52.

than any peacetime government since the 1920s. Speaking of

:42:53.:42:58.

house-building, isn't the most important that sadistic this one.

:42:59.:43:07.

Across the UK there were 120,000 housing stocks. That had gone up to

:43:08.:43:13.

hundred and 25,000. That is a very impressive record. Order. I think

:43:14.:43:22.

you intended to speak out, in which case it would be a very short

:43:23.:43:29.

intervention. These statistics that matters most is the number of homes

:43:30.:43:33.

that was built. In 2009 the honourable gentleman is right, that

:43:34.:43:38.

was the lowest level of house-building under 13 years of

:43:39.:43:41.

labour. The figure was still higher than the best year we have seen

:43:42.:43:48.

under the Tory government. Mr Deputy Speaker, we have seen five years of

:43:49.:43:52.

failure on every front in every erasure. The Prime Minister gave a

:43:53.:44:00.

speech two years ago. Housing was a central theme. He said, this is a

:44:01.:44:05.

government that delivers. Well, not on housing. The government spent the

:44:06.:44:12.

last five years blaming Labour. It has a track record of its own now

:44:13.:44:17.

and that is five years of feel you're on housing under Conservative

:44:18.:44:22.

Ministers. The Chancellor, he gave his Autumn Statement and Spending

:44:23.:44:25.

Review three weeks ago and housing was a central theme. The Chancellor

:44:26.:44:33.

said we are doubling the money for housing to build 400,000 new

:44:34.:44:38.

affordable homes. Well, let me tell the House, after the Chancellor's

:44:39.:44:42.

Autumn Statement, the annual investment in housing will be ?1.7

:44:43.:44:49.

billion. Under the money inherited in 2010 from Labour it was ?3.1

:44:50.:44:56.

billion. Not and an increase but a cut. Not a doubling but a halving of

:44:57.:45:01.

this vital investment in our housing, in our country for our

:45:02.:45:07.

people. The honourable gentleman is a long serving minister. Would you

:45:08.:45:12.

reflect that on his government's watch. The waiting list went up and

:45:13.:45:18.

there were 420,000 fewer social housing homes than before. Is that

:45:19.:45:25.

not 13 years of failure? He might need to reflect on the fact that

:45:26.:45:29.

under Labour we sold more than 2 million homes built in the country.

:45:30.:45:35.

The number of home owners rise by over a million. Under the five years

:45:36.:45:41.

and his government it has fallen by over 200,000. So much for the party

:45:42.:45:50.

of the so-called home owners. We should remind the government that it

:45:51.:45:55.

was the Conservative when they were last in power that stopped local

:45:56.:46:01.

authorities from building social housing. As a result of that, rents

:46:02.:46:06.

have gone through the roof and young people cannot get housing today. My

:46:07.:46:12.

honourable friend is right and she will share the view with me that

:46:13.:46:16.

looking at our own labour record, deeply proud of the billions of

:46:17.:46:21.

investment we made to make housing good again. I remember when I was

:46:22.:46:27.

housing minister in that final year of the last Labour government, we

:46:28.:46:31.

got underway the largest council housing building programme. Councils

:46:32.:46:37.

for the first time were able to get the same support on same terms as

:46:38.:46:41.

housing associations building new affordable homes. They were so badly

:46:42.:46:48.

needed. I want to return to the Chancellor and his boast for

:46:49.:46:53.

doubling the money for housing for 400 new affordable homes. Not a

:46:54.:47:02.

doubling but it halving. 400,000 homes. Most of these have been

:47:03.:47:07.

announced before. Many of the new homes will not be affordable for

:47:08.:47:11.

those on ordinary incomes, either to rent or to buy. I would just say to

:47:12.:47:17.

the housing minister, perhaps we need a new House hashtag. Four more

:47:18.:47:28.

years of failure. He makes an important point about how affordable

:47:29.:47:32.

bees affordable homes are likely to be. The data I have seen would show

:47:33.:47:37.

that in a rear legs Stockport. Somebody would need to have an

:47:38.:47:43.

average income of ?53,000 just to have a deposit on one of these new

:47:44.:47:48.

starter homes. My honourable friend is right and I will come onto

:47:49.:47:52.

starter homes any moment. They have tried to fiddle the figures by

:47:53.:47:59.

trying to fiddle the definition. They have redefined what constitutes

:48:00.:48:03.

affordable. So-called affordable rented homes in London, mean rents

:48:04.:48:10.

of over ?1000. That may be affordable to Tory Ministers in the

:48:11.:48:15.

book but for many people on ordinary jobs and ordinary incomes, this is

:48:16.:48:20.

beyond their reach. More is required of this government to help those

:48:21.:48:24.

people who are working hard and struggling most. I am grateful. Will

:48:25.:48:34.

he confirm although he did not attend the Housing Bill committee

:48:35.:48:40.

stage. Will he confirm that it was comprehensively demonstrated by all

:48:41.:48:43.

the witnesses at the committee at the evident stage that what there

:48:44.:48:49.

was no evidence that starter homes was going to be unaffordable in

:48:50.:48:54.

those areas, most of the north west, east and West Midlands. Mr Speaker,

:48:55.:49:02.

I am not sure how much attention he was playing. He should have looked

:49:03.:49:08.

at the report. He should have listened to the honourable friends

:49:09.:49:15.

who led from the Labour benches so ably and strongly throughout the

:49:16.:49:19.

many sessions of the scrutiny bill. I want to return to the fact that we

:49:20.:49:26.

have seen such a serious failure of the last five years led by the

:49:27.:49:34.

Conservative government. My right honourable friend, thank you. What

:49:35.:49:44.

does he think the forced sale of council homes will exasperate the

:49:45.:49:49.

homeless crisis. Will he get the honourable friend to speak in this

:49:50.:49:53.

debate and get his view on extending the Right to Buy for that voluntary

:49:54.:49:59.

Right to Buy for voluntary housing associations. I hope we will make a

:50:00.:50:07.

chance return to those arguments when that's Bill returns to the

:50:08.:50:14.

House after Christmas. He asks about my view of weather forced sale of

:50:15.:50:18.

council homes, particularly in London, is likely to lead to a rise

:50:19.:50:25.

in homelessness. I would agree. It is much more significant that the

:50:26.:50:30.

Conservative Association agree. That is why they oppose the plan. They

:50:31.:50:36.

said warning of the consequences in particular on council waiting lists,

:50:37.:50:42.

homelessness and housing benefit. In many ways these are not simply

:50:43.:50:50.

abstract arguments or drive statistics, these are the lives of

:50:51.:50:54.

our friends, neighbours and constituents. A couple on an average

:50:55.:50:59.

income who want to start a family but are now less rather than more

:51:00.:51:04.

likely able to get a home of their own. The family renting privately,

:51:05.:51:10.

whose kids like 1.4 million others in the same situation, I less likely

:51:11.:51:17.

to go through school to be forced out by the landlords. The pensioner

:51:18.:51:22.

needing affordable supported accommodation who is now less not

:51:23.:51:27.

more likely to find a suitable home and help they need. Human stories of

:51:28.:51:31.

this housing crisis which has worsened over the last five years.

:51:32.:51:37.

Do we not need to see a bit of contrition rather then synthetic

:51:38.:51:43.

anger on the benches opposite. Is it not a fact that homelessness and

:51:44.:51:51.

rough sleeping has risen 50 7% since the Prime Minister has taken office.

:51:52.:51:56.

He said it was a public disgrace. He is right and when Labour first came

:51:57.:52:01.

to office in 1987, how serious the levels of homelessness and rough

:52:02.:52:05.

sleeping wearer. Albee fell in the policies we put in place of 13

:52:06.:52:12.

years. He is right, he has seen a homelessness and rough sleeping rise

:52:13.:52:18.

again. Just a pause at this point ahead of the Christmas period, we

:52:19.:52:23.

should all reflect on that and asked hard questions to why that is

:52:24.:52:28.

happening and what he is going to do about it and what he is going to do

:52:29.:52:34.

over the Christmas period to help. He will of course be aware that

:52:35.:52:42.

homelessness peaked in 2004. The very serious point he made, we

:52:43.:52:47.

should all consider homelessness at Christmas. He would have been part

:52:48.:52:53.

of the solution perhaps you could tell the House what the solution is.

:52:54.:52:58.

Part of the solution is not to be deep cuts in council budgets that

:52:59.:53:02.

we're going to hear the detail of later this week. It is not to cut

:53:03.:53:07.

back on the support for social housing, this will lead to cutting

:53:08.:53:12.

the provision for many of the most honourable people in this country.

:53:13.:53:18.

At this point, we are still close to the start of a new five-year

:53:19.:53:23.

parliament, unfortunately. This is the most crucial part of the

:53:24.:53:29.

political cycle when political and policy direction is set. It should

:53:30.:53:34.

be a time for stock taking and fresh thinking. The autumn budget and the

:53:35.:53:39.

Housing and Planning Bill do nothing to correct the problem of five years

:53:40.:53:44.

of failure. In many areas it will make the problem is much worse. He

:53:45.:53:51.

raises a very serious matter here. If his facts are correct, why was it

:53:52.:53:57.

that the property website is it plus stated just before the general

:53:58.:54:04.

election a win for the Labour Party could spell trouble for first-time

:54:05.:54:07.

buyers. Why would they have said that? Why?

:54:08.:54:21.

Zoopla. I have to tell him... I am not sure I will bother, he is not

:54:22.:54:40.

listening anyway. I will give way. I am struggling to hear the Shadow

:54:41.:54:44.

minister expressing the views on housing. Can we please be a bit more

:54:45.:54:53.

tolerant and stop shouting? I am grateful. Will he agree with me that

:54:54.:54:58.

it is time the Conservatives in government took responsibility and

:54:59.:55:03.

took responsibility for their failure. Their housing policy has

:55:04.:55:09.

been based on a miss of capitalism. It has been focused on helping

:55:10.:55:16.

people buy one of the big 2-mac in sufficient numbers rather than

:55:17.:55:20.

increasing the supply. -- in significant numbers. If we're going

:55:21.:55:26.

to have interventions, make them short. He makes an important point.

:55:27.:55:34.

There is a serious question about the plans ahead. Whether the right

:55:35.:55:40.

use of public money is to try and subsidise the demands for new

:55:41.:55:46.

housing. The demand at a time when in many parts of the country, the

:55:47.:55:51.

housing market is already out of control. I am going to make some

:55:52.:55:57.

progress now. I will give weight later on. In this point of the

:55:58.:56:03.

political cycle, we need to look now at what is ahead. Two areas

:56:04.:56:09.

demonstrate this direction the Tory government are taking on housing. It

:56:10.:56:14.

serves as a warning of what is to come. The first is a systematic

:56:15.:56:19.

attack on the housing opportunity for young people and families on

:56:20.:56:24.

ordinary incomes. The very people who the housing market is failing

:56:25.:56:25.

most at the moment. Ministers have launched a full

:56:26.:56:33.

frontal assault on council and housing Station homes which will

:56:34.:56:38.

have those on low and middle incomes hardest -- Housing association. It

:56:39.:56:44.

has been said that the result of the Budget and Autumn Statement together

:56:45.:56:48.

will be 24,000 fewer housing association homes built. A while,

:56:49.:56:54.

the Housing Bill strangles the ability and the obligation of the

:56:55.:56:58.

private and public sector is to build the affordable homes to rent

:56:59.:57:02.

and to buy that so badly needed in both urban and rural areas alike.

:57:03.:57:08.

In addition, there is an extraordinary forced sell-off of

:57:09.:57:11.

council homes to fund an extension of right to buy, with no prospect or

:57:12.:57:17.

commitment, as Labour has urged, of like-for-like, 141 replacement in

:57:18.:57:24.

the local area. In many areas of the country, both rural and urban, but

:57:25.:57:28.

especially in London, these council homes won't go to families

:57:29.:57:32.

struggling to buy, but to speculators, second home owners and

:57:33.:57:37.

buy to let landlords. And, of course, the greater the demand for

:57:38.:57:41.

affordable housing in an area, the higher the value of their houses,

:57:42.:57:45.

the more the Chancellor will take in his annual levy.

:57:46.:57:51.

I give way. Thank you. Does the shadow minister not agree that

:57:52.:57:55.

council house building is at a record 23 year high, and there has

:57:56.:58:00.

been more cancer housing built in the last five years that there ever

:58:01.:58:03.

were under 13 years of the last Labour government? -- more council

:58:04.:58:12.

housing. If she looks at the Homes And Communities Agency data, they

:58:13.:58:17.

will confirm, as my honourable friend said yesterday, that more

:58:18.:58:22.

than eight in ten of the social homes and council homes built under

:58:23.:58:26.

her Government under the last five years were started and funded under

:58:27.:58:35.

the Labour programme. Now, Mr Deputy Speaker... I will give way. Before

:58:36.:58:42.

my honourable friend leaves the point of speculation, is he aware

:58:43.:58:47.

that the largest amount of foreign money coming into the London

:58:48.:58:50.

property market is from Russia, and the average price they pay is ?6.3

:58:51.:59:00.

million? Do you know, Mr Deputy Speaker, that

:59:01.:59:04.

detail had escaped me, but I am very grateful to my honourable friend. I

:59:05.:59:09.

will give way. I am very grateful. I think he would agree with me, it is

:59:10.:59:13.

time to kill this myth that the Tories are the people's friends,

:59:14.:59:17.

they built council houses, because the reality is this, those council

:59:18.:59:25.

houses were left by the previous Tory government in a right mess, and

:59:26.:59:30.

the amount of money spent by the last Labour government had to go

:59:31.:59:35.

into refurbishment of those. It was a disgraceful legacy.

:59:36.:59:41.

My honourable friend is right, ?22 billion, the last Labour government

:59:42.:59:45.

invested to bring homes that were barely decent up to scratch. 1.4

:59:46.:59:51.

million council homes with new kitchens, central heating, doors

:59:52.:59:57.

that fitted, double glazing. For the first time, homes fitted to live

:59:58.:00:01.

then that had been left as a legacy from the previous Tory government.

:00:02.:00:05.

My fear in the future is that when Labour yet back into government, we

:00:06.:00:09.

will be faced with a similar legacy of neglect of our council housing.

:00:10.:00:16.

Now, looking to the next five years, we look forward to a huge loss of

:00:17.:00:22.

affordable homes to rent and to buy in this country. In total, the

:00:23.:00:27.

chartered Institute of Housing expect the loss of 195,000

:00:28.:00:31.

affordable homes for social rent over the next five years. On top of

:00:32.:00:37.

this, in the very last sitting of the Housing Bills committee --

:00:38.:00:43.

Housing Bill committee, ministers addressed plans to scrap the secure

:00:44.:00:46.

tenancies that Margaret Thatcher herself brought into -- for council

:00:47.:00:52.

tenants, giving tenancies of between two to five years. The message from

:00:53.:00:55.

this government could not be clearer, if you are on a low or

:00:56.:01:02.

middle in, and rent a council home, then a stable family home is too

:01:03.:01:06.

good for the likes of you. Grateful to him for giving way.

:01:07.:01:10.

Thanks to years of Tory leadership in Redbridge we have the lowest

:01:11.:01:14.

social housing stock in London. Is he also aware that one in 27

:01:15.:01:18.

households in the private rented sector are at risk of the eviction

:01:19.:01:23.

due to a whole load of factors, the majority of which are due to the

:01:24.:01:27.

policies of this government? I am indeed. I say to the Minister,

:01:28.:01:32.

because there is still time for him to think again, his Housing and

:01:33.:01:36.

planning Bill is a huge missed opportunity to help 11 million

:01:37.:01:41.

people who live in the private rented sector without the security

:01:42.:01:45.

to start their lives and bring up their families. He could legislate

:01:46.:01:48.

for longer tenancies, he could legislate for better consumer

:01:49.:01:53.

rights, he could legislate for better and more decent standards of

:01:54.:01:57.

obligations on landlords. He has refused to do so so far, I hope he

:01:58.:02:01.

will think again. I give way. Can I ask the right

:02:02.:02:05.

honourable gentleman just to clear up one point upon which I am still

:02:06.:02:10.

and I think many people are still in doubt, is he himself in favour of

:02:11.:02:14.

giving housing association tenants the rights to buy their home? Is he

:02:15.:02:18.

in favour of aspiration for those people to buy homes, yes or no?

:02:19.:02:25.

I am certainly in favour of aspiration and homeownership, the

:02:26.:02:29.

last Labour government saw the rise in home owners of over a million.

:02:30.:02:34.

But on right to buy, funded by the forced sale of council homes, I

:02:35.:02:38.

confirmed at second reading we will oppose it throughout the passage of

:02:39.:02:43.

this bill because it will lead to a huge loss of affordable homes to

:02:44.:02:46.

rent and by that people in this country need. And a policy that will

:02:47.:02:52.

penalised people on ordinary, modest incomes. I give way. I will give way

:02:53.:02:58.

to my honourable friend and then proceed.

:02:59.:03:04.

Is my right honourable friend not amazed that the government's policy

:03:05.:03:07.

of selling of high-value council homes and claiming that will fund

:03:08.:03:10.

the replacement of Housing association properties, the

:03:11.:03:13.

replacement of those council homes and the contribution to the

:03:14.:03:17.

remediation of brown field sites, despite these claims the government

:03:18.:03:21.

is not able to table before this house the figures to justify those

:03:22.:03:26.

claims? He is right. Obviously the select committee is looking hard at

:03:27.:03:30.

some of these questions. It is not the first time the sums do not add

:03:31.:03:34.

up. I have to say to the Minister and the benches opposite, if they

:03:35.:03:36.

will force the sale of council assets to fund this programme to

:03:37.:03:41.

extend the right to buy in housing associations, why not start with

:03:42.:03:45.

some of the Government's own acid? Why not start by funding Government

:03:46.:03:49.

policy with Government supported instead of taking it likes a

:03:50.:03:52.

medieval baron from councils because their covers are running dry? Let me

:03:53.:03:57.

turn to starter homes, I will get on. Yet we to starter homes. The

:03:58.:04:03.

list is make much of starter homes and there is clearly a need for more

:04:04.:04:07.

affordable homes to buy, especially as the number has fallen in the last

:04:08.:04:12.

five years by nearly 30%. But these starter homes will be a nonstarter

:04:13.:04:18.

for families on ordinary incomes. Shelves are calculated across the

:04:19.:04:22.

country you need an annual income of around ?50,000 and a deposit of

:04:23.:04:29.

?40,000 to afford a starter home. -- Shelter calculate. In London, an

:04:30.:04:34.

income of ?77,000 and a deposit of ?98,000. This is simply out of reach

:04:35.:04:41.

for most of those on middle-income, working families, who need their

:04:42.:04:47.

help to buy the most. And, of course, there are no controls to

:04:48.:04:51.

stop those who can afford to buy without help from the Government

:04:52.:04:54.

taking advantage of the scheme. There is a big risk that the people

:04:55.:04:59.

who benefit most will be those who need it least.

:05:00.:05:03.

I give way. I thank the honourable gentlemen, he has been most

:05:04.:05:07.

generous. If right to buy is, as you suggest, a disaster by housing

:05:08.:05:10.

associations, why have they therefore entered into a voluntary

:05:11.:05:15.

arrangement with the Government to deliver right to buy? Can he

:05:16.:05:24.

explain? Has he ever heard of the term shotgun arrangements? Because

:05:25.:05:29.

if he talks to a lot of housing Association chief executives, or

:05:30.:05:32.

their boards or their tenant is, as I have, they feel they have been

:05:33.:05:38.

left with no choice. They don't like it, they don't believe it, they

:05:39.:05:42.

don't trust ministers that they have signed up because it is the least

:05:43.:05:48.

worst for them. Mr Deputy Speaker, with so many

:05:49.:05:52.

people's dreams of buying their own home totally unaffordable and out of

:05:53.:05:57.

reach, how have ministers responded? By announcing plans to fiddle the

:05:58.:06:01.

figures again, by changing the definition of affordable homes to

:06:02.:06:06.

include so-called starter homes for sale at up to ?450,000. This is an

:06:07.:06:12.

insult to young people and families on ordinary incomes, a mockery of

:06:13.:06:18.

and sound policy. It is like the Minister for health tackling the GP

:06:19.:06:24.

shortages by reclassifying cashiers at Boots pharmacy as qualified

:06:25.:06:30.

doctors. The second area which demonstrates the direction this

:06:31.:06:34.

Government is taking for this Parliament is the systematic

:06:35.:06:37.

sidelining of local people and local decision-making. Whatever they say,

:06:38.:06:44.

ministers' actions are renting local is. At every turn since the

:06:45.:06:49.

election, housing policy has been set to undermine the sale of local

:06:50.:06:53.

people and override their local representatives. The housing and

:06:54.:06:59.

planning Bill -- Housing and Planning Bill puts 33 new

:07:00.:07:01.

centralising power was in the hands of the Secretary of State, from

:07:02.:07:04.

directing starter homes are built instead of affordable homes to

:07:05.:07:08.

fixing red is for so-called high income tenants. The powers include a

:07:09.:07:15.

legalised annual cash grab from councils which totally undermines

:07:16.:07:18.

the ability of councils to plan for housing need in their area and rips

:07:19.:07:25.

up the contract of localising local finance for housing which has up to

:07:26.:07:29.

this point been the subject of all-party support. And these powers

:07:30.:07:33.

include sweeping new powers for ministers to award an automatic

:07:34.:07:37.

planning permission, so called in principle permission. This is not,

:07:38.:07:42.

Mr Deputy Speaker, as the house has been led to believe, simply a policy

:07:43.:07:47.

for dealing with Brownfield site. It is a power and a policy for any site

:07:48.:07:53.

allocated for any use in a local plan, no need to apply for full

:07:54.:07:57.

planning permission, no limitations on what sort of develop and, no

:07:58.:08:02.

planning gain or obligations on developers, just the technical

:08:03.:08:08.

details left to the locally elected planning authorities to deal with.

:08:09.:08:13.

This is why a host of organisations now echo Labour 's sense about such

:08:14.:08:18.

open-ended powers, from the Council For The Protection Of Rural England

:08:19.:08:25.

to Friends Of The Earth and the Woodland Trust. There will be a deep

:08:26.:08:32.

concern is the Government 's Jamaat are clearly on housing leads to such

:08:33.:08:37.

drastic specs -- steps to deny local communities a voice on development.

:08:38.:08:41.

I give way. I follow what he says, but does he not reflect that his

:08:42.:08:44.

argument would have had rather more weight had he not in part of a

:08:45.:08:49.

government which impose regional social strategies, which give no

:08:50.:08:55.

choice to local communities at all. Isn't he contradicting his own

:08:56.:09:02.

policy in government? He is a master of destruction, the honourable

:09:03.:09:08.

gentleman. I am making a point about clause 111 in the bill, he has

:09:09.:09:12.

enough experience to know what is at stake. If he reads that bill he, I

:09:13.:09:17.

know, will be very worried about the sweeping open-ended powers. If the

:09:18.:09:20.

Minister wants these powers, he really should justify them to this

:09:21.:09:25.

house and the other place during the course of this bill, or he should

:09:26.:09:28.

tighten up so that they do what he says wants to do. I look forward to

:09:29.:09:34.

the Minister's response on that point, but I am not holding my

:09:35.:09:38.

breath. In the housing world, he has become known as Mr million homes. By

:09:39.:09:44.

the end of this Parliament, he said... By the end of the

:09:45.:09:50.

parliament, he said, success would mean that we have seen it filled in

:09:51.:09:53.

total something like a million homes. In other words, an average of

:09:54.:10:00.

about 200,000 homes a year. We know he is prone to a bit of bullish

:10:01.:10:04.

bluster, but this is really going some. In his first year as housing

:10:05.:10:10.

minister he saw not 200,000 homes built but 115,000 -- 115,000 590.

:10:11.:10:18.

Last year, the best year in the last five for this government, only

:10:19.:10:27.

117,720 were built. A total, at their best, still lower than the

:10:28.:10:34.

lowest of the worst year in 13 years of a Labour government in the depths

:10:35.:10:40.

of the global banking crisis and recession. I had to say, even the

:10:41.:10:45.

Prime Minister has not gone as far as the honourable gentleman. To

:10:46.:10:53.

conclude, Mr Deputy Speaker, no government can sit back and see a

:10:54.:10:57.

whole generation priced out of a decent home and call itself a one

:10:58.:11:02.

nation government. No political party can have nothing to say in

:11:03.:11:07.

their manifesto to 11 million people living in private rented

:11:08.:11:10.

accommodation and call itself a party of aspiration. And no party

:11:11.:11:16.

can have a programme that will lead to a huge loss of genuinely

:11:17.:11:20.

affordable housing and call itself the party of working people. Mr

:11:21.:11:25.

Deputy Speaker, this country has seen five years of failure on

:11:26.:11:29.

housing and a Conservative ministers, people desperately need

:11:30.:11:32.

and deserve better. During the course of this Parliament, this

:11:33.:11:36.

party, the Labour Party, will prove itself to be the party of working

:11:37.:11:40.

people, to be the party of aspiration and to be the party of

:11:41.:11:42.

one nation. The question is as on the order

:11:43.:11:59.

paper. I would like to warmly thank Her Majesty is opposition for

:12:00.:12:03.

choosing the subject of today's debate. It is an important subject

:12:04.:12:09.

and I am always keen to compare and contrast our records on housing. It

:12:10.:12:14.

is five months since the last such occasion and much has changed. We

:12:15.:12:18.

have announced the largest government house-building programme

:12:19.:12:22.

for 40 years and we have a new shadow minister for opposing who was

:12:23.:12:26.

the minister for opposing briefly at the end of the last Labour

:12:27.:12:30.

government, rather like a back to the future experience. I am on my

:12:31.:12:38.

third shadow housing minister. If we think back to that analogy it is

:12:39.:12:42.

that third part of the trilogy, the one about cowboys that nobody really

:12:43.:12:53.

likes very much. It is a question of which Back To The Future film it is.

:12:54.:12:58.

I hope it is not the Cowboys won the title bid is not the Soviet one of

:12:59.:13:07.

1973. The 1973 film is a terrifying tale won Ivan the Terrible is

:13:08.:13:11.

accidentally transported into the future to become the superintendent

:13:12.:13:16.

of a department building in Moscow. Who knows? Stranger things are

:13:17.:13:20.

happening in the Labour Party. While shadow ministers may come and go one

:13:21.:13:24.

thing has remained the same. This curious for nominal of Labour

:13:25.:13:29.

claiming their record is better than ours. Supporting the aspiration of

:13:30.:13:37.

home-buyers without in 32 minutes suggest any alternative. He talks

:13:38.:13:44.

about a housing crisis but fails to reference who created it. He claims

:13:45.:13:49.

they will take their record over hours without any rational

:13:50.:13:53.

justification for his preference. As he ever given any thought to win

:13:54.:14:01.

Labour estimated in 2003 that only 5000-13,000 Polish migrants would

:14:02.:14:05.

come in and it was over 100,000? Why might that they think they were

:14:06.:14:11.

going to live? He is on record with his views on homeownership and

:14:12.:14:17.

house-building. We have challenges as our population grows. This is the

:14:18.:14:27.

situation we inherited in 2010. We inherited a housing bubble that

:14:28.:14:32.

burst with devastating consequences, an industry in debt, science

:14:33.:14:38.

mothballed, workers laid off, a loss of 420,000 affordable homes,

:14:39.:14:45.

rocketing waiting lists, collapsing sales, with the Labour Party only

:14:46.:14:49.

building one home for every 171 that was sold. There was a sustained fall

:14:50.:14:57.

in homeownership and he himself said I am not sure that such a bad thing.

:14:58.:15:06.

It was no coincidence that this disregard was matched. Much by chaos

:15:07.:15:11.

in the regulation of lending, a planning system in disarray, a

:15:12.:15:15.

post-war lull in house-building by councils and the lowest level of

:15:16.:15:21.

house-building since the 1920s. Are you as disappointed as I am bit in

:15:22.:15:26.

the course of his churlish whingeing which lasted 32 minutes he could not

:15:27.:15:32.

give this government credit for tackling these slum landlords in

:15:33.:15:36.

this housing and planning bill which is government did nothing about in

:15:37.:15:43.

13 years? I think maybe he has not been involved in the housing bill

:15:44.:15:47.

process through committee. It is probably partly why he has not

:15:48.:15:52.

picked up, despite what is in the motion for this debate, that we are

:15:53.:15:57.

going further to crack down on rogue landlords than any government

:15:58.:16:00.

before. I would like to finish this point. This government oversaw the

:16:01.:16:07.

last Labour government the lowest level of house-building since the

:16:08.:16:12.

1920s with 88,000 starts being overseen by the honourable members.

:16:13.:16:21.

That was their housing crisis. That was their record and that is a state

:16:22.:16:24.

of affairs that he claims the public should prefer. Does he feel that

:16:25.:16:33.

those people who voted Tory at the election will be surprised at this

:16:34.:16:39.

housing and planning bill? As it delivers two of the key manifesto

:16:40.:16:44.

pledges I suspect people will be pleased to see this as the

:16:45.:16:47.

government who are getting on and delivering for the people of this

:16:48.:16:55.

country. The public clearly gave their verdict on the performance of

:16:56.:16:58.

the last government at two general elections. At the last time of

:16:59.:17:03.

asking the electorate were asked and offered by the party opposite a

:17:04.:17:07.

reprise of Labour's centrally controlled nightmare. Land grabs,

:17:08.:17:14.

mansion tax, rent controls, red tape and restrictions on right to buy. Is

:17:15.:17:19.

he pleased that the number of people who have expressed their interest in

:17:20.:17:23.

our aspirational policy and queuing up to take advantage of the policy?

:17:24.:17:30.

She makes a good point. The honourable gentleman seems not to

:17:31.:17:34.

want to get that opportunity to buy their homes to housing association

:17:35.:17:37.

tenants when thousands have expressed their interest in doing

:17:38.:17:45.

that. The public considered that cocktail of aggressive operations

:17:46.:17:48.

being put forward on the measures by the party opposite and declined.

:17:49.:17:57.

People in Redbridge were tired of the Conservatives running the

:17:58.:18:01.

council and elected a Labour council in May 20 14th and one of our

:18:02.:18:06.

pledges was to introduce a landlord licensing scheme. When can we expect

:18:07.:18:11.

to hear from his department to give us the go-ahead? We put through

:18:12.:18:18.

selective licensing just before the general election and I am sure with

:18:19.:18:25.

that and the crackdown on rogue landlords his residence will be

:18:26.:18:27.

delighted to see we are going further than any Labour government

:18:28.:18:33.

ever did. Under our watch the number of first-time buyers doubled, the

:18:34.:18:36.

number of new homes doubled, public support for new house-building

:18:37.:18:41.

doubled. He will be raising to congratulate that I am sure. I want

:18:42.:18:48.

to congratulate the minister on his measures to tackle rogue landlords.

:18:49.:18:52.

That is a step forward. Does he think it would be a good idea to

:18:53.:18:56.

tackle rogue developers to we do not have an explosion of rogue

:18:57.:19:03.

landlords? I am sure he will want to have me more details on what he

:19:04.:19:08.

means by Rob developers. I want to make sure that good quality

:19:09.:19:11.

developers are building the houses we need. Could I suggest that he

:19:12.:19:18.

speaks to the economic director of the National Crime Agency who says

:19:19.:19:23.

that the London property market is being skewed by laundered money,

:19:24.:19:28.

artificially driving up prices through the use of the proceeds of

:19:29.:19:35.

crime? If he wants to do something he should pick up the phone. Nobody

:19:36.:19:42.

is going to be supporting... I would support anybody cracking down on

:19:43.:19:48.

crime in London. She seems to think affordable housing starts at ?6

:19:49.:19:51.

million in London. That may be so for Labour. In this longest of

:19:52.:19:57.

successes would he include that policy the Green Deal in his list of

:19:58.:20:03.

successes? I wonder if at some stage one of his colleagues is going to

:20:04.:20:08.

intervene to explain to us the wonders of how many courthouses got

:20:09.:20:15.

built under the Labour government. The London housing market, one of

:20:16.:20:18.

the worst things that could happen to it would be the position of rent

:20:19.:20:23.

controls on the private sector, which drives up costs, reduces

:20:24.:20:27.

supply and encourages the sort of bad landlord rather than the good

:20:28.:20:30.

ones that we need to see in the capital. He makes a very good point.

:20:31.:20:36.

One of the lessons we have learned from around the world, New York and

:20:37.:20:40.

elsewhere, rent controls simply drive down supply, drive a black

:20:41.:20:46.

market, send rent upwards, and it is not something we will be seeing

:20:47.:20:51.

under this government. I want to make progress. Since 2010 we have

:20:52.:20:59.

helped over 270,000 households with government schemes to buy a home,

:21:00.:21:05.

provided over 270,000 affordable homes, with nearly one third of

:21:06.:21:10.

those in London. We are the first government since the 1980s to finish

:21:11.:21:13.

a term of office with the highest stock of affordable homes -- a

:21:14.:21:19.

higher stock than when we started. I would remind him when he set out his

:21:20.:21:25.

preference for council house building that twice as many council

:21:26.:21:28.

homes were built in these five years and during 13 years of the Labour

:21:29.:21:36.

government. More new council housing was started in London last year than

:21:37.:21:39.

the Hall of the last Labour government. Shocking may seem. ?20

:21:40.:21:46.

billion was invested over the course of the last parliament achieving the

:21:47.:21:50.

same rate of affordable house-building of half the rate of

:21:51.:21:55.

grant under Labour. That is a clear metaphor for our record on housing.

:21:56.:21:58.

Building more for less and doing it faster. We were not afraid of

:21:59.:22:03.

difficult decision and of doing this things differently. The decision to

:22:04.:22:10.

end lifetime tenancies for new tenants to ensure we make the best

:22:11.:22:14.

use of social housing based on need and income. When the minister

:22:15.:22:19.

introduced this amendment to the housing bill he referred to 380

:22:20.:22:26.

households that occupies social housing with two or more spare

:22:27.:22:29.

bedrooms, citing it as a reason for wanting to manage the stock more

:22:30.:22:33.

efficiently and move people around in social housing. Is it the

:22:34.:22:39.

government's policy govern it is concerned about under occupation

:22:40.:22:42.

that people under occupying will not be allowed the right to buy? When I

:22:43.:22:49.

am talking about lifetime tenancies we are looking at that it is right

:22:50.:22:54.

that tenancies are reviewed after several years to identify whether

:22:55.:22:59.

the circumstances have changed. The voluntary extension of right to buy

:23:00.:23:06.

will be for housing associations. I will give way in a moment. This move

:23:07.:23:10.

has been opposed by the party opposite. They might want people who

:23:11.:23:17.

rent to remain renting for life. The minister has given way once. You

:23:18.:23:24.

cannot just hang round standing up. Point of order. The reason I tried

:23:25.:23:32.

to intervene again is because the minister discourteous lie completely

:23:33.:23:35.

ignored the point I made presumably because it is awkward. That is not a

:23:36.:23:41.

point of order. I hope you are not trying to reflect on the chair. You

:23:42.:23:46.

do not have to be stood up. I am sure the minister will give way on

:23:47.:23:53.

his terms not on yours or mine. I did actually outline our intention

:23:54.:23:56.

is to extend rights to bribe to also show housing tenants. -- rights to

:23:57.:24:03.

buy. As he had any representations from the housing sector are party

:24:04.:24:09.

opposite to be introduced lifetime tenure for those in social housing

:24:10.:24:14.

and if that happened what does he think the effect would be on the

:24:15.:24:19.

market? He makes a very good point. The silence has been stark. Our

:24:20.:24:25.

plans for housing are delivering. It is clear, I will be upfront, we must

:24:26.:24:31.

do more to meet the housing needs of our nation. If our class during the

:24:32.:24:39.

last Parliament was to rescue the housing market we must supercharge

:24:40.:24:46.

it. I wonder whether he accepts the estimate that as a result of the

:24:47.:24:49.

July budget and the November spending review this government will

:24:50.:24:55.

build 34,000 fewer homes by 2020 than previously forecast. I will

:24:56.:25:00.

come on to housing associations in a few moments. As I said to a select

:25:01.:25:07.

committee this morning housing associations have an exciting

:25:08.:25:10.

opportunity under going to be able to realise assets to build more

:25:11.:25:16.

homes than ever before. I will give way. Coming back to supercharging,

:25:17.:25:24.

some of us are pleased when the government made a commitment to

:25:25.:25:27.

build 1 million new homes in this Parliament. Is that still a

:25:28.:25:33.

government policy, a commitment, or is it an aspiration? In his opening

:25:34.:25:41.

remarks he quoted me spot on. It that's little is still our ambition

:25:42.:25:48.

to build 1 million homes. This is not solely an issue about the number

:25:49.:25:53.

of new homes. We are determined to reverse the slide in home ownership

:25:54.:25:59.

that his party oversaw. With so many people being kept off the housing

:26:00.:26:03.

ladder for so long we are determined to deliver on our promises quicker.

:26:04.:26:08.

On measures to tackle home ownership and the contrast with in action from

:26:09.:26:12.

the party opposite is it not one of the most radical measures we have

:26:13.:26:16.

introduced to support first-term buyers that we are levelling the

:26:17.:26:20.

playing field between them and people who wish to buy properties to

:26:21.:26:25.

rent out to those same frustrated first-time buyers? It is a good

:26:26.:26:29.

point that he has raised a number of times. I am pleased we are able to

:26:30.:26:32.

move forward and deliver on something. It is going to level the

:26:33.:26:35.

playing field. I will make some progress then takes

:26:36.:26:46.

more interventions. In the spending review we announced the biggest

:26:47.:26:49.

investment in housing for 40 years. We will continue to invest in what

:26:50.:26:52.

matters to British families and young people. We want to pay off

:26:53.:26:56.

Labour 's debt and build the homes our families need. These are both

:26:57.:27:00.

required to make this a turnaround decade. In the spending review the

:27:01.:27:04.

Chancellor delivered a further ?20 billion. Our work will include major

:27:05.:27:13.

investments in large-scale project, ?7.5 billion to extend help to buy,

:27:14.:27:19.

equity loans scheme until 2021, supporting the purchase of 145,000

:27:20.:27:25.

new-build homes. In London, we are doubling the value of equity loans

:27:26.:27:30.

to 40% providing the capital's spiralling homeowners with a better

:27:31.:27:34.

chance to buy, and in you help to buy ISA is helping buyers across the

:27:35.:27:38.

country safe for a deposit. The brand you help to buy shared

:27:39.:27:44.

ownership will deliver a further 135,000 homes by removing many of

:27:45.:27:46.

the restrictions that have held back shared ownership. An aspiring

:27:47.:27:51.

homeowner, for example, in Yorkshire, and get on the housing

:27:52.:27:56.

ladder with a deposit of just ?1400. I'm sure the right honourable

:27:57.:27:59.

gentleman will be encouraging his constituents to apply. Let me give

:28:00.:28:03.

the House some clear examples of why this matters. In the south-east, a

:28:04.:28:10.

deposit could be as low as ?2400, in London ?3400. Our plans for shared

:28:11.:28:15.

ownership will make 175,000 more people eligible for home ownership.

:28:16.:28:20.

Just last week, the Prime Minister visited one of these families in

:28:21.:28:24.

Burton and I visited one in Didcot. They were excited for the future and

:28:25.:28:28.

the possibilities homeownership opened to them. These 's abilities

:28:29.:28:33.

will be open to anyone of any occupation of long as they earn over

:28:34.:28:40.

?80,000, or ?90,000 in London. We will provide other opportunities for

:28:41.:28:44.

working people. There will be a ?1 billion housing delivery fund

:28:45.:28:48.

supporting smaller custom builders, ?8 billion to develop 450,000

:28:49.:28:52.

affordable homes, 100,000 homes with affordable rent and 200,000

:28:53.:28:57.

affordable homes will be starter homes, available to young,

:28:58.:29:00.

first-time buyers with a 20% discount. That is the largest

:29:01.:29:03.

affordable house-building programme for many decades. The starter homes

:29:04.:29:11.

will be transformational. While the honourable members opposite laugh

:29:12.:29:15.

and pour scorn on starter homes and go against the aspirations of

:29:16.:29:18.

first-time buyers, I would ask all members across the House to pause

:29:19.:29:23.

and think for a moment. A first-time buyer getting a 20% discount of a

:29:24.:29:28.

new home, linking that of a 5% deposit thanks to help to buy, saves

:29:29.:29:34.

thousands. A two-bedroom home in Durham, the honourable lady's

:29:35.:29:39.

constituency, can be bought for just under ?150,000. With 20% off,

:29:40.:29:46.

?120,000. If used with help to buy, a first-time buyer can get a house

:29:47.:29:51.

with a mortgage of ?90,000 and a deposit of only ?6,000. Happy to

:29:52.:29:56.

give way. The average price of property, according to the Metro

:29:57.:30:04.

today, is over ?1 million. To get -- that is in my constituency. You need

:30:05.:30:10.

any come of over ?101,000 in my constituency to get a mortgage. It

:30:11.:30:15.

is pathetic. That was almost a reasonable attempt. Let me give him

:30:16.:30:19.

fact for London. The average first-time buyer home is less than

:30:20.:30:21.

the cost of an average home generally. In London, an average

:30:22.:30:28.

first-time buyer home is ?364,000. We recognise that as a challenge.

:30:29.:30:35.

With a 20% discount, this would be ?291,000. If used with a help to buy

:30:36.:30:38.

scheme it means a first-time buyer can buy that home for ?174,000 and a

:30:39.:30:47.

deposit of just ?14,500. I would also point the honourable gentleman

:30:48.:30:50.

to my comments a few moments ago where shared ownership even in

:30:51.:30:55.

London means coming onto the shared -- home ownership ladder for just

:30:56.:31:01.

under ?3500. We make no apology for focusing on affordable

:31:02.:31:05.

homeownership. Can I congratulate him on what he is saying and one

:31:06.:31:09.

more statistic, which is the massive expansion that he is helping us to

:31:10.:31:14.

oversee in London of part buy part rent schemes has already seen 52,000

:31:15.:31:19.

families helped into homes that they partially own and will own even more

:31:20.:31:27.

on average household incomes of ?37,000, that is the Conservative

:31:28.:31:31.

policy. My honourable friend, the Right Honourable member for

:31:32.:31:35.

Uxbridge, highlights the reality of what is going on and what the

:31:36.:31:38.

ambition should be. Under his leadership London is seeing a

:31:39.:31:42.

shining example of what a city can leave -- achievement of the

:31:43.:31:46.

leadership of a powerful mayor, delivering many affordable homes

:31:47.:31:50.

since the mess inherited in 2010. We want to build on this are looking to

:31:51.:31:54.

Baltimore to the Mayor of London and see my honourable friend the member

:31:55.:31:58.

for Kingston take forward the work. We make no apology for focusing on

:31:59.:32:03.

affordable homeownership, despite the party opposite seeming to want

:32:04.:32:06.

to do everything they can to stop people having the chance to own

:32:07.:32:09.

their own home. That is what people want. Buying a home is an aspiration

:32:10.:32:14.

shared with the vast majority of the public. 86% of people say they would

:32:15.:32:20.

choose to buy their own property. Maybe ignoring them is partly why we

:32:21.:32:24.

got the results in the general election we did when Labour was

:32:25.:32:29.

ignored by the public. He is right to emphasise the

:32:30.:32:32.

importance of delivering on aspiration, is he not also write to

:32:33.:32:35.

contrast the delivery time I honourable friend the member for

:32:36.:32:42.

Uxbridge with the complete failure of the top-down policies of the

:32:43.:32:45.

former Mayor of London, who I understand now advises leader of the

:32:46.:32:50.

Labour Party? I think my honourable friend puts it at 60 three as I

:32:51.:32:55.

possibly could, it highlights the mess inherited nationally and in

:32:56.:32:58.

London. Hopefully next year we can build on the work to deliver for our

:32:59.:33:04.

country by insuring we deliver good governance in London with a

:33:05.:33:08.

conservative mayor again next year. Whilst he is talking about

:33:09.:33:12.

aspiration, what about the aspiration of people on low in comes

:33:13.:33:16.

in my constituency for whom the sorts of figures he's talking about

:33:17.:33:21.

in terms of what you can buy is completely out of reach, and who are

:33:22.:33:24.

being shunted out of Oxford because the housing allowance won't even

:33:25.:33:28.

cover any rent is in the private rented sector? What about the

:33:29.:33:33.

aspiration and chants of a decent life for those people? And there was

:33:34.:33:37.

I thinking he was going to rise to congratulate the Mayor of London for

:33:38.:33:40.

the excellent work he has been doing. I would say to him but he

:33:41.:33:43.

should look at... It is important you accept the hall ambit of what we

:33:44.:33:50.

have been doing to make sure we're making clear as it wide of the cross

:33:51.:33:54.

or ten of housing, all types of housing, and to make sure in areas

:33:55.:33:58.

like is that shared ownership is a real possibility, with those ?1400

:33:59.:34:04.

deposit. What we are clear about, and across the house who can be

:34:05.:34:08.

clear about, is that aspiration to own their own home and the reality

:34:09.:34:12.

of homeownership, for too many people, are drifting apart. The

:34:13.:34:16.

decline in home is not just an economic robin, it is a social

:34:17.:34:22.

failure. -- economic robin. We risk creating a generation of young

:34:23.:34:26.

people excelled from home ownership. He may think that is not such a bad

:34:27.:34:30.

thing, seeing homeownership fall, but we disagree. He may not care,

:34:31.:34:35.

but we do. We care about young people worse off than their parents,

:34:36.:34:39.

compelled to leave the communities they love and grew up in awe to

:34:40.:34:43.

decline good job opportunities because local housing is too

:34:44.:34:47.

expensive. We must build more homes, Mr Speaker. Across this house we

:34:48.:34:52.

have a duty to make that case and show good leadership with local

:34:53.:34:54.

authorities to make sure we don't just say we need to build more homes

:34:55.:34:58.

somewhere else, but we are building and making a case for building more

:34:59.:35:04.

homes in all communities. This would be a defining challenge of our

:35:05.:35:10.

generation. I had phone calls are people who wanted to buy their own

:35:11.:35:13.

homes who were delighted to have that opportunity. They have been

:35:14.:35:17.

their homes for some time. Picking up on the point about local plans

:35:18.:35:23.

and the top-down way from the party opposite, it is perfectly possible,

:35:24.:35:27.

the minister would agree, perhaps, to build good quality homes with a

:35:28.:35:31.

good local plan. My honourable friend makes a good point, good

:35:32.:35:36.

local leadership delivering a good local plan. There is aspiration for

:35:37.:35:42.

good quality homes, it is important to deliver for people locally and we

:35:43.:35:47.

have a duty both on local authorities and in this house. We

:35:48.:35:50.

have championed that in this house over the last few months. This will

:35:51.:35:55.

be a defining challenge for our generation, and the right honourable

:35:56.:35:59.

gentleman, spoke in his opening remarks for over 32 minutes, gave

:36:00.:36:04.

not one single iota of a start of a Labour policy for this problem.

:36:05.:36:08.

Instead he fell back on outdated politics. It really is, I'm afraid,

:36:09.:36:13.

the Soviet version of Back To The Future after all. The lazy

:36:14.:36:18.

assumption that there is a contradiction between supporting the

:36:19.:36:21.

dreams of home-buyers and insuring more affordable homes are built as

:36:22.:36:25.

well. Nowhere is this clearer than his opposition to our extension of

:36:26.:36:28.

rights to buy housing association tenants. In the last Parliament, we

:36:29.:36:33.

dramatically improve the right to buy for council tenants, 47,000

:36:34.:36:40.

tenants seize this opportunity with over 80% of those sales under the

:36:41.:36:44.

reinvigorated scheme, yet 1.3 million social tenants and housing

:36:45.:36:48.

association properties continue to get little or no assistance. That

:36:49.:36:53.

cannot be right. We promised the electorate we would end this

:36:54.:36:56.

unfairness. Not at the moment. Housing associations have recognised

:36:57.:37:01.

this inequality and have signed an offer to the Government which we

:37:02.:37:04.

have accepted, an historic agreement to end it. I thank the housing

:37:05.:37:08.

association and I applaud them for their forward-thinking and eagerness

:37:09.:37:12.

to help tenants own their own property, especially in light of the

:37:13.:37:16.

fact that it is clear it has bitterly disappointed the

:37:17.:37:19.

opposition. Clearly the housing associations have not followed the

:37:20.:37:22.

Labour Party script of falling obediently into the line. Instead,

:37:23.:37:26.

what housing associations are doing is giving tenants is what they want.

:37:27.:37:31.

That should not be a surprise because housing associations'

:37:32.:37:35.

mission is to deliver for their tenants, and they are passionate

:37:36.:37:38.

about doing that, giving them an option to buy their home and a

:37:39.:37:42.

ladder to opportunity. And every property sold will lead to an extra

:37:43.:37:46.

home being built. Happy to give way. I thank him for giving way. Is he

:37:47.:37:51.

aware that in the select amid I asked three leaders of housing

:37:52.:37:54.

associations when they thought Government policy would lead to them

:37:55.:37:58.

building more affordable homes to buy, and the majority agreed that it

:37:59.:38:09.

would. As the honourable gentleman says, I and another proponent of

:38:10.:38:14.

what the select committee says. This will centred housing supply. Every

:38:15.:38:18.

property sold brings in money which means extra homes get built. Housing

:38:19.:38:23.

supply goes up. It is time to end the basis care stories that right to

:38:24.:38:27.

buy reduces the number of homes, particularly in London. -- the base

:38:28.:38:34.

scare stories. After reinvigorated the scheme for council tenants in

:38:35.:38:39.

London, 536 additional homes were sold in the first year. 1139 were

:38:40.:38:46.

built. Yes, honourable members heard that correctly. 241 on right to buy

:38:47.:38:53.

homes in London already. -- two for Juan. It will be repeated on a much

:38:54.:39:01.

grander scale. Happy to give way. He will forgive my scepticism, I hope,

:39:02.:39:09.

given the fact that in the stop port part of my constituency, over the

:39:10.:39:13.

last three years there have been 184 sales under right to buyer of

:39:14.:39:19.

council homes and there has not been one single right to buy replacement.

:39:20.:39:25.

Clearly has council will want to listen to him and get on with

:39:26.:39:28.

building more homes, and with over two billion and headroom, or local

:39:29.:39:34.

authority should be. Right across the scheme, housing associations

:39:35.:39:38.

will be building a home for every home sold. Under the reinvigorated

:39:39.:39:47.

scheme across this country we are seeing one for one, and in London

:39:48.:39:51.

two homes built for everyone sold. We are building even more, and that

:39:52.:39:55.

success will be repeated on a grander scale. Whether right to buy,

:39:56.:39:59.

starter homes or help to buy, when buyers can buy, builders will build.

:40:00.:40:04.

We can support the aspirations and we will support the aspirations of

:40:05.:40:08.

those hard-working people. Mr Deputy Speaker, these plans are at the

:40:09.:40:12.

heart of our ambition to build a million new homes. We are clear that

:40:13.:40:16.

we must go further and faster in all areas of housing by. The Housing and

:40:17.:40:21.

Planning Bill as part of this. It will give house-builders and local

:40:22.:40:25.

decision-makers the tools and confidence to deliver more homes. I

:40:26.:40:29.

know that honourable members across this house will want building on

:40:30.:40:32.

Brownfield land to be that first choice at all times. Under this

:40:33.:40:36.

government, Brownfield land will be prioritised. New homes will be built

:40:37.:40:42.

near existing residents so the green belt and local countryside is

:40:43.:40:46.

project -- protected. Regenerating eyesores and derelict land to create

:40:47.:40:50.

modern homes for the next generation is the opportunity lying ahead. A

:40:51.:40:54.

new statutory register Brownfield land will provide up to date and

:40:55.:40:57.

publicly available information on land suitable, and 40 Brownfield

:40:58.:41:05.

housing zones are created across the country, including 20 in London. I

:41:06.:41:09.

thank the merit London for working with us to deliver those homes in

:41:10.:41:14.

London. -- I think the Mayor of London. We want to see planning

:41:15.:41:19.

permission in place for 90% of these sites by 2020. We will change the

:41:20.:41:24.

planning process to allow urban development corporations to get on

:41:25.:41:29.

with developing homes at the earliest opportunity. Smaller firms

:41:30.:41:31.

in particular will benefit from quicker and simpler ways of

:41:32.:41:34.

establishing where it is what they can build, especially with the new

:41:35.:41:37.

form of permission in principle for site is on the brownfield register.

:41:38.:41:48.

During the last Parliament, we reformed and streamlined the failing

:41:49.:41:54.

top-down planning system. We dismantled regional spatial strategy

:41:55.:41:58.

is and my Secretary of State, as planning minister, was able to

:41:59.:42:01.

oversee and reduce thousands of pages of planning just 250, a system

:42:02.:42:07.

people can understand and work with. So today people, local people, are

:42:08.:42:10.

in control. He mentioned making it easier to

:42:11.:42:20.

establish urban development corporations. Will he reflect on

:42:21.:42:24.

establishing rural development corporations with powers to make

:42:25.:42:29.

things happen quickly? I am always open to look at any ideas local

:42:30.:42:32.

areas have to drive forward this kind of growth and we are talking to

:42:33.:42:37.

areas who want to be part of delivering for their communities. He

:42:38.:42:41.

has championed this work and I will be happy to work with him. What we

:42:42.:42:46.

are seeing is a trusted local people moving away from the top-down days

:42:47.:42:51.

of Labourpastors working. Seeing people develop their plans for

:42:52.:42:56.

house-building and the system is faster and more efficient. Since

:42:57.:43:02.

2010 planning permission for 50% higher for new homes and the number

:43:03.:43:08.

of plans has doubled. Neighbourhood planning has captured the

:43:09.:43:11.

imagination of communities across the country with 125 referendum is

:43:12.:43:15.

being held, each one approved by democratic mandate. Not every local

:43:16.:43:21.

authority has got to the same place and that is why if they are not in

:43:22.:43:26.

place by 2017 the government will work to ensure plans come forward so

:43:27.:43:30.

that all local areas have the plans they might want for the woman's they

:43:31.:43:35.

made. We have come long way from the great housing crash of the last

:43:36.:43:41.

decade when housing building was in danger of stopping altogether. We

:43:42.:43:44.

took the tough decisions to get Britain building again. We are

:43:45.:43:50.

cleaning up the mess we were left and are moving from recovery to

:43:51.:43:55.

revival. We are determined to deliver a better housing market that

:43:56.:44:02.

secures our economic recovery, Bruce productivity and rebalances the

:44:03.:44:06.

economy. Our plans go beyond numbers and schemes and are about people,

:44:07.:44:11.

their hopes and dreams, supporting their aspirations and giving them a

:44:12.:44:17.

place to raise their families. One nation won whoever you are, wherever

:44:18.:44:23.

you live, you can walk through the doors of opportunity and into a home

:44:24.:44:36.

of their own. -- your own. The motion before us is a scatter-gun

:44:37.:44:40.

approach to what is a very important topic. It is aimed at the last five

:44:41.:44:44.

years of the Coalition Government and the current direction it has

:44:45.:44:53.

taken but it is standard dig at the SNP Scottish government of theft

:44:54.:44:55.

that is going to transform Labour's fortunes north of the border. -- as

:44:56.:45:07.

if. This ties in with decades of housing policy which covers

:45:08.:45:12.

government so I want to touch on that. There is no doubt the roots of

:45:13.:45:18.

the current housing crisis them back to the original housing act of 1980,

:45:19.:45:24.

an act that Labour had contemplated bringing in before losing power.

:45:25.:45:30.

This act led to the decimation of housing stock across the UK with the

:45:31.:45:34.

biggest problem being that these houses were not replaced because the

:45:35.:45:40.

monies brought in from the sale of stock were either used offset debt

:45:41.:45:46.

or reclaimed by the Treasury so it was impossible for councils to

:45:47.:45:53.

replace the stock. If we fast forward in Scotland the SNP has

:45:54.:45:56.

recognised this issue and that is why we have scrapped right to buy so

:45:57.:46:01.

as of this year at the right to buy of council houses has been

:46:02.:46:06.

eliminated in Scotland and we are opposed to the right to buy

:46:07.:46:12.

extension to housing associations. By removing right to buy and

:46:13.:46:16.

opposing it in housing associations it prefers Stoke, allows the new

:46:17.:46:20.

build of social housing to meet local housing needs. Labour had 13

:46:21.:46:28.

years to do this and did not do it and did not do it in power in

:46:29.:46:33.

Scotland for a year is. Labour could have invested in a council house

:46:34.:46:38.

building programme but chose to leave affordable housing to the

:46:39.:46:41.

markets and social landlords. It is a sorry state of affairs that the

:46:42.:46:48.

Coalition Government build more council houses in five years than

:46:49.:46:55.

the Labour government did in 13. In Scotland BSN P has delivered over

:46:56.:47:01.

6000 council houses compared to that Labour delivered while in power --

:47:02.:47:11.

the SNP. Greater house-building makes more sense. Councils can

:47:12.:47:18.

borrow at the law rate and target regeneration. Things I was involved

:47:19.:47:30.

in with the spear show council. Things put in by the Coalition

:47:31.:47:34.

Government are right to buy, what council is going to invest in

:47:35.:47:37.

council houses built when their stock is at risk of being sold off?

:47:38.:47:42.

The same goes for extended right to buy for housing associations. They

:47:43.:47:46.

cannot borrow securely when they do not know what their future

:47:47.:47:51.

representation will be because their houses can be sold off and that

:47:52.:47:55.

distorts the model that housing associations were built on. Touching

:47:56.:48:01.

on the one-to-one replacement, despite what we heard from the

:48:02.:48:07.

housing minister, it is a sham. It is based on a three year cycle,

:48:08.:48:16.

three years which allows for houses getting out the ground so when they

:48:17.:48:20.

said they have achieved that it is comparing the first year of right to

:48:21.:48:26.

buy was replaced, replacements over a three year period but there has

:48:27.:48:29.

been a massive increase in right to buy since then on to stay on track

:48:30.:48:39.

against increased right to buy they have to increase the number of

:48:40.:48:46.

houses built. Only 730 starts and acquisitions this year. For the

:48:47.:48:50.

first six months the government has only achieved 15% of their target.

:48:51.:48:54.

The one-to-one replacement will not happen and when you combine that

:48:55.:49:01.

with the sale of high-value council properties this government is going

:49:02.:49:04.

to take a bigger situation in the long term rather than do something

:49:05.:49:07.

to sort it despite what we have heard. There is no definition of

:49:08.:49:14.

what one-to-one replacement is. The target is a national one so does

:49:15.:49:22.

compel councils or housing associations to replace houses

:49:23.:49:35.

locally -- does not. In Scotland the local needs and supply assessment is

:49:36.:49:39.

a prerequisite of government funding so the SNP is making sure that it

:49:40.:49:47.

takes into account local needs assessments and that is the proper

:49:48.:49:50.

strategic overview and that is the only way you can manage housing

:49:51.:49:56.

stock. Another major issue I have with the right to buy policy is that

:49:57.:50:00.

councils are forced to subsidise homeownership through the sales

:50:01.:50:04.

programme as well as fund the rebuilt without any government money

:50:05.:50:12.

being added. Monetary experts agree this is time to invest in

:50:13.:50:16.

infrastructure. If this government was to use the ?10 billion -?12

:50:17.:50:23.

billion subsidy that is being used for the right to buy for housing

:50:24.:50:29.

associations it could create additional housing and that would

:50:30.:50:33.

help tackle the housing problem and create more jobs and lead to a more

:50:34.:50:38.

sustainable model. If the government was willing to put money up front

:50:39.:50:43.

that would also lead to better consequentials for Scotland and the

:50:44.:50:50.

SNP have used that wisely. The right to buy major effectively privatised

:50:51.:50:56.

housing associations. I draw a parallel to an earlier reading of

:50:57.:51:01.

the Scotland bill where it was proposed to devolve the Crown

:51:02.:51:05.

estates. The member for Somerset made a defence of Crown Estates

:51:06.:51:09.

because it was completely against the principle of not imposing a

:51:10.:51:12.

change of ownership but there is nobody on the benches opposite

:51:13.:51:17.

willing to come to the defence of housing associations. It is the same

:51:18.:51:26.

change of ownership. Under right to buy large houses have all but

:51:27.:51:31.

disappeared from council stocks. This has led to private renting

:51:32.:51:34.

increasing to compensate. This drives up housing benefit costs

:51:35.:51:39.

which is counter-productive to the taxpayer in the long run. Many sold

:51:40.:51:48.

properties end up in the rented sector where somebody has exercised

:51:49.:51:53.

the right to buy and dyes and passes it on to the family and the family

:51:54.:51:58.

has no need for the flat and it ends up in buy to let. A study by Glasgow

:51:59.:52:07.

University it is estimated that in Renfrewshire this cost the taxpayer

:52:08.:52:14.

?3 million a year and 40% of flats in England are sold under right to

:52:15.:52:20.

buy and have ended up in the buy to let market. That will only increase

:52:21.:52:23.

going forward under the extended right to buy for housing

:52:24.:52:33.

associations. We heard in the Autumn Statement there would be a levy on

:52:34.:52:38.

people who buy additional homes which are supposed to provide some

:52:39.:52:42.

income to the Treasury and have a balancing effect on the market but

:52:43.:52:46.

there is an all doubt that will not actually do anything. It will give

:52:47.:52:50.

the council a little bit more money on one hand but the returns buy to

:52:51.:52:55.

let landlords will offset that live on the taxpayer will still pay more

:52:56.:53:02.

money in the long run. It is almost guaranteed the only way the housing

:53:03.:53:05.

benefit bill is going to be reduced is further punitive measures by this

:53:06.:53:16.

government. I think I have made it clear I am against extended right to

:53:17.:53:21.

buy for housing associations. It is going to lead to social cleansing.

:53:22.:53:26.

That might not concerned people on these benches. It is going to lead

:53:27.:53:41.

to a clearing out. I will answer that anyway. It is not an

:53:42.:53:48.

intervention. I can guarantee they are getting a discount, getting the

:53:49.:53:52.

money from the taxpayer as the discount and will sell the property

:53:53.:53:56.

and property developers will move in and demolish and rebuild and there

:53:57.:54:01.

will be an ongoing moving out of people and social houses will not be

:54:02.:54:05.

be built in that area to people on lower incomes will not be able to

:54:06.:54:15.

rent. I should be pleased I am getting a little bit of chuntering.

:54:16.:54:23.

That is maybe a good thing. If we switch to affordable homes it is

:54:24.:54:27.

affordable homes that have to be affordable and that is something the

:54:28.:54:30.

SNP has made sure is the case as part of our planning going forward.

:54:31.:54:36.

That is not the case here and a cursory glance at my local estate

:54:37.:54:41.

agent in Kennington honourable I have a flat, the costs are mind

:54:42.:54:46.

blowing for one-bedroom flats and properties and I can understand why

:54:47.:54:52.

London has a housing crisis. In Scotland the SNP has delivered

:54:53.:54:58.

30,000 affordable homes since 2011 with ?1.7 billion of investment and

:54:59.:55:02.

if re-elected it is committed to 50,000 affordable homes of which 70%

:55:03.:55:07.

will be available for social rent. Despite what the motion says this

:55:08.:55:13.

commitment has been welcomed by shelter Scotland, the chief

:55:14.:55:17.

executive welcomes the SNP commitment going forward. We have

:55:18.:55:20.

had no such commitment from Labour as yet in Scotland.

:55:21.:55:31.

Although against extended right to buy we are not against homeownership

:55:32.:55:37.

and I accept the original right to buy was welcomed by many families

:55:38.:55:44.

and many people have benefited from it but the scheme has had its time

:55:45.:55:50.

and it seemed to move on. Some of the rhetoric in here comes back to

:55:51.:55:53.

either being for or against homeownership and I do not think

:55:54.:55:58.

that is the right message. I have concerns the UK Government proposals

:55:59.:56:01.

at the moment for help to buy and wait to buy are going to encourage

:56:02.:56:07.

more people to borrow. Interest rates are at an all-time lows of

:56:08.:56:11.

Beedle might be on the cusp of affordability but when interest

:56:12.:56:14.

rates go up it is going to be a risk to their affordability. The

:56:15.:56:20.

one-to-one replacement, although the government talks about reducing

:56:21.:56:23.

borrowing the one-to-one replacement is funded by additional borrowing by

:56:24.:56:27.

councils and housing associations so it is still a net overall borrowing

:56:28.:56:34.

affect, and housing associations are added to the public debt. There is

:56:35.:56:37.

no benefit from doing what the government is doing.

:56:38.:56:43.

The long-term economic recovery plan appears to me to give discount to

:56:44.:56:49.

homeowners, it will increase personal debt, forced borrowing

:56:50.:56:52.

elsewhere for replacement housing so, all in all, it is not a plan at

:56:53.:56:58.

all. To meet real people's requirements,

:56:59.:57:03.

we need more houses built, we need them based on local needs and demand

:57:04.:57:08.

requirements. They need to be truly affordable homes, they should also

:57:09.:57:12.

be energy-efficient. This will deliver health benefits and also

:57:13.:57:15.

reduce the long-term housing benefit bill. With the house-building

:57:16.:57:19.

programme on it would create more jobs, in prayer the welfare bill by

:57:20.:57:23.

having more people working and improve the Treasury income. That is

:57:24.:57:27.

a strategic one that I suggest the Government should work too, the

:57:28.:57:31.

Scottish Government is doing its best to implement that and it

:57:32.:57:33.

certainly will do if we are re-elected next year.

:57:34.:57:38.

We are going to start with a five-minute limit and then see how

:57:39.:57:41.

we get on. If we can keep interventions to a minimum, we can

:57:42.:57:47.

keep it at five minutes. Sorry, point of order.

:57:48.:57:52.

Given that housing is completely devolved, as I understand it, to

:57:53.:57:57.

Scotland, it doesn't seem reasonable that the Scottish National party

:57:58.:58:00.

should take up about 15 minutes when there are many backbench colleagues

:58:01.:58:05.

who wanted to speak and now you have imposed a time limit on what is an

:58:06.:58:10.

extremely important issue. Excuse me, or. Order. That isn't a

:58:11.:58:17.

point order. But the S is the third party, therefore their

:58:18.:58:22.

spokesperson has every right to make his speech. Also I think we should

:58:23.:58:27.

keep this kind of thing to a minimum so that we do not eat more into the

:58:28.:58:33.

time about engines. Richard taken. The right honourable gentleman the

:58:34.:58:36.

member for Wentworth started the debate by ferry to five years of

:58:37.:58:39.

failure. I don't know where he is, he seems to have donate. He spent a

:58:40.:58:45.

little time in the chamber, he did not turn up to the committee stage

:58:46.:58:49.

at all, which struck me as odd foray shadows in and stuff. He should have

:58:50.:58:54.

referred to five years of recovery from the dreadful situation we

:58:55.:58:58.

inherited. I enjoyed his speech, I thought... Not at all. Go one,

:58:59.:59:04.

madam. I'm very grateful. Unfortunately my bright honourable

:59:05.:59:08.

friend has had to go and meet the Minister because of what is

:59:09.:59:11.

happening to the decimation of the steel industry in his constituency.

:59:12.:59:15.

I understand that, that is a very good reason for not being here. I

:59:16.:59:20.

enjoyed his speech, particularly the reference to under the money

:59:21.:59:25.

inherited from Labour. I had to say, there was no money. I don't think he

:59:26.:59:30.

got a memo, the memo written by the member for Birmingham Hodge Hill

:59:31.:59:34.

that played a significant part in the general election. The Prime

:59:35.:59:37.

Minister carried it with him, the memo said there was no money. We

:59:38.:59:42.

have been facing not five but 50 years of failure. In truth, from all

:59:43.:59:47.

governments, who have worked on the flawed assumption that only the

:59:48.:59:50.

Government can solve this problem. For 50 years, Government has been

:59:51.:59:55.

part of the problem getting in the way of allowing the supply of

:59:56.:59:58.

housing to rise to meet demand. We had quite a lot of finger wagging

:59:59.:00:03.

from the honourable gentleman, but nothing in the way of solutions. I

:00:04.:00:08.

listen to opposition members for many weeks in the Housing and

:00:09.:00:10.

Planning Bill it to you and heard a lot of whingeing but not really any

:00:11.:00:16.

solutions. -- in the housing and planning committee. Why does supply

:00:17.:00:23.

not rise to meet demand? We do not talk about the shoes crisis, the

:00:24.:00:29.

genes crisis, the DVD crisis, the Czech writers, everybody is wearing

:00:30.:00:32.

a pair of shoes, including you and, if I may say, they are very nice.

:00:33.:00:37.

Nobody says we need a national shoes service to sob this problem. My

:00:38.:00:41.

honourable friend should move along, they are very nice. We have a broken

:00:42.:00:46.

model, in truth, and this Government seeks to fix it. What I find so

:00:47.:00:52.

depressing is the paucity of ideas from the Labour benches, the sheer

:00:53.:00:56.

paucity of radicalism. Almost every amendment proposed by them cheering

:00:57.:01:00.

the Housing and Planning Bill committee stage would have had the

:01:01.:01:04.

effect of slowing things down, sand in the gears, a spanner in the

:01:05.:01:08.

works. They don't seem to recognise that they are seeking to make the

:01:09.:01:11.

problem of supply even worse. Last week Kevin McCloud addressed to our

:01:12.:01:17.

number ten self build summit. I was very pleased it could. He said that

:01:18.:01:22.

the consumer has been on the receiving end of the pretty poor

:01:23.:01:26.

deal. We build some of the poorest, most expensive and smallest houses

:01:27.:01:29.

in Europe. That is not something to celebrate. That according to Ipsos

:01:30.:01:34.

MORI, 53% of the adult population would like to build a house at some

:01:35.:01:38.

point, 30% in the next five years and more than 1 million people would

:01:39.:01:43.

like to buy a site and start in the next 12 months. This can be done at

:01:44.:01:48.

stale -- scale. In the Netherlands they have revenue can do this

:01:49.:01:54.

service plots for over 3000 dwellings. One council is doing it

:01:55.:01:58.

in Oxfordshire with over 1900 service to plots. This is the way to

:01:59.:02:04.

help supply rise to meet demand, put the customer at the centre. The

:02:05.:02:09.

Housing and Planning Bill, with its chapter on self building custom

:02:10.:02:12.

housing building, will make that happen. The gent Mark Roe for

:02:13.:02:17.

Wentworth did not mention self build and custom house building. As for

:02:18.:02:21.

affordable housing, and there are legitimate reasons why local

:02:22.:02:23.

authorities might want to have and maintain affordable housing, local

:02:24.:02:29.

councils could and should, in my view, use of their ?22 billion of

:02:30.:02:32.

reserves to establish and promote and grow neutral housing properties

:02:33.:02:38.

for affordable rent. It is completely normal in Berlin and

:02:39.:02:41.

elsewhere on the continent. These are not even relevant in terms of

:02:42.:02:44.

right to buy because they are people entering into contact with

:02:45.:02:49.

themselves to form part of a co-operative. I thought there was

:02:50.:02:53.

something called the Co-operative Party. Be heard nothing about it.

:02:54.:02:58.

The local authority leader who showed the most interest in this

:02:59.:03:02.

when asked about the issue of in perpetuity social rents in big

:03:03.:03:07.

cities was the Conservative leader of Westminster Council, who said

:03:08.:03:11.

very seriously with a gleam in her eye, yes, we are looking back. From

:03:12.:03:14.

the Labour benches, I am afraid heard nothing. We need vision and

:03:15.:03:21.

imagination, this bill will make it easier to achieve. Instead of

:03:22.:03:25.

building the most poorly performing, most expensive and smallest homes in

:03:26.:03:28.

Europe we should do things differently. We should use our

:03:29.:03:32.

imagination and knowledge to make the best places that we can with the

:03:33.:03:35.

best performing homes that we know how to build in the most beautiful

:03:36.:03:41.

surroundings that we know how to create when people will be able to

:03:42.:03:48.

get an education, find the skills they need for life, perhaps start

:03:49.:03:52.

their own business, put down roots, build a house or have someone build

:03:53.:03:56.

a house to their own design, raise a family, be part of a community.

:03:57.:04:00.

These are all normal human aspirations, we had to make a normal

:04:01.:04:05.

to achieve them so as, just in the rest of Europe where housing supply

:04:06.:04:08.

rises to meet demand, it happens here as well. That is the vision we

:04:09.:04:13.

should pursue, and this Government with this Housing and Planning Bill

:04:14.:04:22.

will make it happen. Julie Elliott. The Government record and housing

:04:23.:04:24.

over the last five years is sadly one of failure. Its failure across

:04:25.:04:31.

all parts of the housing sector. It is a failure driven by short-term

:04:32.:04:35.

is, incompetence and a lack of understanding of how millions of

:04:36.:04:39.

people live their lives. People in my constituency this very different

:04:40.:04:44.

lives than the people the honourable gentleman before me from South

:04:45.:04:47.

Norfolk was describing. Most people in my constituency are in very low

:04:48.:04:53.

wages, often on very short contracts. Getting a home of their

:04:54.:04:58.

own is a dream too file. Being able to self ills, absolutely out of the

:04:59.:05:08.

question. On house-building since 2010, this Government has presided

:05:09.:05:11.

over the low level of homes built in peace time since the 1920s. This

:05:12.:05:15.

fact does not become dulled by repetition. Is made, muddled

:05:16.:05:20.

thinking has given way to contradictory policies. The

:05:21.:05:23.

Government gives with one hand and takes away with another. The

:05:24.:05:29.

Chancellor's Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed in the

:05:30.:05:33.

November economic and fiscal outlook that Government policy since the

:05:34.:05:37.

election will lead to 234,000 fewer housing association homes being

:05:38.:05:43.

built over the next five years. I share the Government 's desire to

:05:44.:05:46.

create a property owning democracy for those that want to own their own

:05:47.:05:51.

home, I can only assume that the Secretary of State shares my

:05:52.:05:54.

disappointment that home ownership under this Government has fallen by

:05:55.:05:59.

over 200,000 to the lowest level in 30 years, below the EU average for

:06:00.:06:06.

the first time on record. To choose a time period at random from 97 to

:06:07.:06:12.

2010, the number of homeowners rose by over 1 million. The rise of

:06:13.:06:18.

insecure working practices such as zero-hours contracts and

:06:19.:06:22.

underemployment has meant that many people cannot say for a deposit or

:06:23.:06:27.

get a mortgage at all because they do not have a permanent contract.

:06:28.:06:32.

The state of social housing in many parts of the country is close to

:06:33.:06:36.

breaking point, with waiting lists of many years. If the Government is

:06:37.:06:38.

unsure why this might where the fewest number of homes for

:06:39.:07:08.

social rents were built in at least two macro decades, the number of

:07:09.:07:10.

affordable homes provided in the last year fell by over a quarter

:07:11.:07:13.

compared to 2010. This Government simply does not get social housing.

:07:14.:07:15.

A Conservative member of the committee referred to social housing

:07:16.:07:17.

is housing of last resort. Let me say, I was born in a council house

:07:18.:07:21.

and I grew up in that house in that community. It was my own. Council

:07:22.:07:24.

housing provides a safe, warm place for millions of people to call home.

:07:25.:07:29.

It is not housing of last resort. The Government proposals in the

:07:30.:07:32.

Housing and Planning Bill currently going through this house, scrapping

:07:33.:07:38.

tenancies for life, RA disgrace. This Government should be ashamed of

:07:39.:07:43.

proposing such a change. This Government has made it harder to

:07:44.:07:47.

build social homes by choking the planning system. It is consistently

:07:48.:07:54.

watered down -- it has consistently watered down the affordable home

:07:55.:07:57.

requirements. Wealthy honourable member his day job as Mayor of

:07:58.:08:02.

London, and I notice he is no longer in this place, has banned Labour

:08:03.:08:06.

councils from insisting on the building of genuine social homes

:08:07.:08:10.

through one in six agreement in his London plan, against the guidance of

:08:11.:08:13.

the planning inspector but with the approval of the former Communities

:08:14.:08:17.

Secretary the Right Honourable member for Brentwood longer. With

:08:18.:08:21.

homeownership and unattainable ambition for many and social housing

:08:22.:08:25.

in short supply, it should come as no surprise that the private rented

:08:26.:08:28.

sector has enjoyed tremendous growth. Whilst there are many good

:08:29.:08:33.

private landlords providing decent homes for their tenants, there are

:08:34.:08:42.

many that this means daily instability, short-term tenancies,

:08:43.:08:46.

typically of six months, poor standards and rent increase at a

:08:47.:08:50.

pace outstripping wages. Because we are so near finishing I shall say by

:08:51.:08:55.

every metric in whatever part of the housing sector the situation has

:08:56.:08:59.

deteriorated in the last five years, I hope the Government can start to

:09:00.:09:03.

address the differing and diverse needs of families across this

:09:04.:09:07.

country with a comprehensive strategy that does more than simply

:09:08.:09:11.

manage decline. Stephen Hammond. Thank you, Madam

:09:12.:09:17.

Deputy Speaker. It is a pleasure to follow the honourable lady. My

:09:18.:09:22.

conclusion from looking at every metric is different to hers. The

:09:23.:09:24.

Right Honourable member for Wentworth opened in his usual way,

:09:25.:09:28.

but behind the Buster the only conclusion you can draw from looking

:09:29.:09:32.

at statistics is that the Labour Party left a housing crisis in this

:09:33.:09:36.

country -- behind the bluster. Under them, house-building was the lowest

:09:37.:09:44.

since the 1920s, social housing availability decreased and those on

:09:45.:09:53.

the waiting list increased. There can be a number of solutions, but we

:09:54.:10:00.

have heard a paucity of ideas. We have delivered 750,000 new homes,

:10:01.:10:06.

more affordable homes and council house building is now at its highest

:10:07.:10:13.

level for 23 years. I was pleased to see him year, the Mayor of London

:10:14.:10:18.

has a record to be proud of, on track to deliver 100,000 more

:10:19.:10:21.

affordable homes over two macro terms. I was very pleased also,

:10:22.:10:27.

being a London member, to hear that in both the Autumn Statement and the

:10:28.:10:31.

Budget, the Chancellor ensured there was housing news across the country

:10:32.:10:37.

and opportunity across the country. I was delighted as a London member

:10:38.:10:40.

to see an extension of the very successful help to buy scheme, which

:10:41.:10:47.

saw 120,000 households in the last parliament get on the ladder. It was

:10:48.:10:51.

extended to London and it will be really important for the measures

:10:52.:10:56.

that the Government is putting in place in London to work. It is clear

:10:57.:11:00.

that this Government does not lack ambition and is not complacent. In

:11:01.:11:05.

London, the commitment, and I heard the honourable member from the front

:11:06.:11:08.

bench say why doesn't the Government sell-off some of its own land? The

:11:09.:11:13.

London land commission will do exactly that. That'll be hugely

:11:14.:11:17.

powerful for delivering those extra affordable homes in the term of

:11:18.:11:23.

office where the member for Richmond Park takes over as Mayor of London.

:11:24.:11:28.

All I would say, and I know that my honourable friend who is in his

:11:29.:11:31.

place the Minister will know that the London land commission will have

:11:32.:11:35.

a review in a year's time, I hope when he looks at their review he

:11:36.:11:39.

might contemplate bringing forward the powers of a duty to cooperate or

:11:40.:11:43.

potentially a first right of refusal to the mare so if there are -- to

:11:44.:11:52.

the mayor so if there are any local authority is dragging their feet and

:11:53.:11:54.

holding a desperation to provide housing for Londoners, they can be

:11:55.:11:58.

told very clearly that it is their duty to cooperate with the land

:11:59.:11:59.

commission I get on with the job. The budget had a number of measures

:12:00.:12:15.

of the number of houses. In particular, the for brownfield sites

:12:16.:12:20.

is going to allow developers to bring forward, I think sites much

:12:21.:12:24.

more quickly T will allow them to understand what is achievable. In

:12:25.:12:27.

that regard, there are any number of large projects that may benefit from

:12:28.:12:31.

that, but equally any number of small projects. Having the

:12:32.:12:35.

confidence to know what you can do, then having the confidence to invest

:12:36.:12:40.

in the technical detail, the detail that would also provide the

:12:41.:12:44.

community support, the community infrastructure, and possibly even

:12:45.:12:49.

the opportunity for self-build properties as my honourable member

:12:50.:12:53.

for south Norfolk reminds us today, this is going to provide the

:12:54.:12:57.

opportunity for quality developments from developers on brownfield sites

:12:58.:13:01.

and yet today what we have heard from the opposition benches, people

:13:02.:13:05.

who are waiting to move into those homes have been told, vote Labour,

:13:06.:13:10.

it won't happen. And it's very clear there is a real difference in ideas

:13:11.:13:15.

and in aspiration. I just say to the Minister, as I know he is in the

:13:16.:13:19.

mood and the appetite to live even more than that million houses, that

:13:20.:13:22.

there is a couple of things he could do. In particular, would he look at

:13:23.:13:27.

the idea for small-scale developments of bringing forward a

:13:28.:13:31.

plan that will allow developers to fast-track, maybe pay a small extra

:13:32.:13:36.

fee to accelerate, but fast-track small developments, bring those

:13:37.:13:39.

small developments through the process more quickly that has the -

:13:40.:13:43.

it has a real opportunity to bring on some of those smaller sites. We

:13:44.:13:46.

all want to see the big sites development but it's actually as

:13:47.:13:52.

much the small sites that will help. This is a Government that is

:13:53.:13:57.

absolutely right to be taking forward housing. It is the most

:13:58.:14:01.

important issue for our country. It was largely ignored under 13 years

:14:02.:14:06.

of failure opposite but under this Government we have an ambition to

:14:07.:14:09.

build homes that this country wants to live in.

:14:10.:14:18.

I have spent too many years in the trenches of the stratistical warfare

:14:19.:14:22.

around housing supply and I don't want to do that in these minutes, I

:14:23.:14:26.

want to talk a little about values. We heard about one value, an

:14:27.:14:29.

important value from the Government party and that is the value of

:14:30.:14:33.

aspiration of home ownership and that's an important aspiration, it's

:14:34.:14:37.

a vital aspiration, most people want to own their own homes if we can and

:14:38.:14:41.

we should help them do so. The fact the Government's proposals for

:14:42.:14:45.

starter homes in my constituency require a household to have an

:14:46.:14:48.

income of ?101,000 doesn't fill me with any confidence that need is

:14:49.:14:52.

going to be met in central London any time soon. But nonetheless it's

:14:53.:14:57.

an important aspiration. Mobility is an important value too. Because we

:14:58.:15:00.

want to make the best use of the housing stock that we have and we

:15:01.:15:04.

want people to be able to move for work and for other purposes around

:15:05.:15:08.

this country. But there is another value that I want to spend my few

:15:09.:15:12.

minutes talking about this afternoon. That is the value of

:15:13.:15:19.

security. A home is not just an economic trons action. It's not just

:15:20.:15:23.

what you spend your rent or mortgage on securing a bed for the night. --

:15:24.:15:28.

transaction. A home is something that you bring your family up in.

:15:29.:15:35.

It's a community, it's something that means so much more to you. That

:15:36.:15:40.

doesn't disappear because your income is low. A home means as much

:15:41.:15:44.

to someone on a low income as it means to a millionaire and to the

:15:45.:15:49.

person who is able to spend six million buying a home in the London

:15:50.:15:55.

luxury market. And yet - I won't give way, too are too many people

:15:56.:15:58.

wanting to speak. What we have seen from this Government, in particular,

:15:59.:16:01.

although it didn't all start in 2010, of course, is an erosion of

:16:02.:16:07.

the principle of security and it is an erosion that meets its worst

:16:08.:16:11.

nadir in the proposal to scrap the security of tenure for social

:16:12.:16:17.

housing. We see this proposal to scrap social tenancy and the

:16:18.:16:20.

intrusion that will mean into the lives of the poorest and only the

:16:21.:16:25.

poorest every few years as they are being required to justify their

:16:26.:16:28.

home. But there are so many other ways too. There is the fact that

:16:29.:16:32.

there has been a doubling of families with children who are

:16:33.:16:37.

bringing those children up in a private rented tenancy where they

:16:38.:16:41.

can only rely upon a 12 months assure shorthold and a Government

:16:42.:16:44.

that refuses to do anything to address the desperate need for

:16:45.:16:48.

longer security for people in the private rented sector. We have seen

:16:49.:16:53.

an increase again in homelessness, coming down for many years from too

:16:54.:16:59.

high a peak under the last Labour Government, but again Soaring. We

:17:00.:17:04.

have seen a fantastic 827% increase in the number of families being held

:17:05.:17:07.

illegally in bed and breakfast accommodation. We see families

:17:08.:17:14.

living sometimes for years in nightly booked temporary

:17:15.:17:17.

accommodation after they've been homeless. Insecurity is the new

:17:18.:17:24.

normal but only for the poorest. So far from addressing that crisis, we

:17:25.:17:28.

have seen a Government that now plans to extend it and entrench it

:17:29.:17:32.

even more widely. The stories that my constituents and I think the

:17:33.:17:36.

constituents of everybody on these benches, quite possibly from the

:17:37.:17:40.

benches opposite that go unheard, are stories of people torn away from

:17:41.:17:44.

their children's schools, torn away from their parents, from the people

:17:45.:17:48.

they provide caring responsibilities for, torn away from their

:17:49.:17:53.

volunteering, tosh away from part-time and even full-time jobs,

:17:54.:17:57.

torn away from their communities. Their children above all suffer. The

:17:58.:18:02.

enforced mobility that is forced upon families at the moment is

:18:03.:18:06.

bringing about worse physical health, higher suicide risks, worst

:18:07.:18:10.

educational achievement and we are building and entrenching that into

:18:11.:18:14.

the lives of the poorest. I don't have time, sadly, to tell some of

:18:15.:18:18.

those stories, Wye love to be able to do so. We know, not just from

:18:19.:18:24.

anecdotes but from research done in Australia and America, just how

:18:25.:18:29.

damaging this is. Communities as well as individuals suffer as the

:18:30.:18:32.

people who are the building blocks of communities, people who are

:18:33.:18:35.

registered to vote, people who are civic participants no longer can do

:18:36.:18:39.

so as they're forced again and again to move house, move house every six

:18:40.:18:44.

months, every year and now a social tenants to move house every three or

:18:45.:18:48.

four years. I am just going to finish with a quote from Professor

:18:49.:18:54.

Steve Hillage, a man who has over 40 years as been an academic and

:18:55.:18:59.

deliverer of housing, he says this particularly in respect of the end

:19:00.:19:04.

of social security tenancies, social rented house something our most

:19:05.:19:08.

precious asset, its existence broke the inevitability that people on low

:19:09.:19:11.

incomes and vulnerable people would endure home lness and dreadful

:19:12.:19:15.

housing conditions, it removed the blight of bad housing from

:19:16.:19:18.

generations of children. In my view, it was the strongest mechanism of

:19:19.:19:22.

all to achieve genuine social mobility and give poor children the

:19:23.:19:26.

chance and the opportunities enjoyed by better off people. I am grateful

:19:27.:19:29.

to the opposition for calling a debate on affordable housing, it

:19:30.:19:32.

gives me the opportunity to point out the different record of Labour

:19:33.:19:36.

and my own party, both in national and local Government in supplying

:19:37.:19:39.

affordable homes in Worcester. Affordable housing certainly is one

:19:40.:19:42.

of the most pressing and important issues for me as an MP. It's the

:19:43.:19:48.

single most commonly raised concern at my surgeries, although we haven't

:19:49.:19:51.

seen the price inflation we have seen in the south-east it is a wage

:19:52.:19:54.

worry for students and apprentices setting out to rent and young

:19:55.:19:58.

professionals looking to buy a first home. A city of around 100,000

:19:59.:20:03.

people there is pressure to build affordable homes on brownfield

:20:04.:20:07.

sites, to protect the stunning Worcestershire countryside, such an

:20:08.:20:11.

asset to our county and to defend the flood pains on which we rely to

:20:12.:20:16.

keep the river out of homes and businesses. I was pleased to hear

:20:17.:20:21.

Worcester is one of the best councils at using the planning

:20:22.:20:25.

system to protect flood plains. This is essential. For as long as anyone

:20:26.:20:29.

can remember Worcester has been bombarded with Labour leaflets

:20:30.:20:31.

telling people that Labour is the party of affordable housing. I can

:20:32.:20:35.

remember fighting local election campaigns as long ago as 2001 where

:20:36.:20:39.

every Labour leaflet was adorned with messages about affordable

:20:40.:20:42.

housing. In 2003 the Liberal Democrats went into coalition with

:20:43.:20:46.

Labour with the explicit aim of getting more affordable houses

:20:47.:20:49.

delivered. If Labour had any track record of success in this space it

:20:50.:20:52.

might have been understandable but knowing the important of affordable

:20:53.:20:56.

housing I made it my mission to explore how it was delivered in the

:20:57.:21:00.

past. The City Council figures tell a stark story of Labour neglect.

:21:01.:21:09.

From 1997-2,000 in which Labour had a Labour MP, Labour of Government in

:21:10.:21:13.

Westminster the council built fewer than 20 affordable homes per year.

:21:14.:21:18.

Very few of these homes and none after 1997-8 were for affordable

:21:19.:21:22.

ownership and when Labour had control of Worcester was of 22, then

:21:23.:21:27.

11, then 19 I Fordable homes delivered, in a city of 100,000

:21:28.:21:31.

people. Not suppliesing lie Labour were turfed out of control of

:21:32.:21:34.

Worcester in 2,000 and Conservative administration took control. What

:21:35.:21:37.

happened to affordable housing delivery when those nasty Tories

:21:38.:21:41.

took over, it rose 47% in the first year, more than doubled in the

:21:42.:21:45.

second year and then ran all the way from 2002 to 2012 at an average of

:21:46.:21:50.

112 homes per year, five times as many as Labour had delivered. Things

:21:51.:21:55.

slowed down after we lost power in 2010 and yesterday they did. Labour

:21:56.:21:58.

left us with the lowest race of house building since the 1920s. It

:21:59.:22:02.

took years for the housing market to recover from the great recession

:22:03.:22:05.

that began in 2008 but in Worcester we kept on building affordable

:22:06.:22:10.

homes. In 2012-13 the council delivered a remarkable 117 units of

:22:11.:22:15.

affordable housing, 79% of all new homes delivered in the city that

:22:16.:22:19.

year under a Conservative administration. In 1978, will he

:22:20.:22:25.

accept it comes as no surprise to thee things are better under the

:22:26.:22:29.

Conservatives? I am cliented with the intervention. He may be less

:22:30.:22:35.

delighted to hear that the year he joined was the year I was born. What

:22:36.:22:39.

happened when Labour and the Liberal Democrats took control? Affordable

:22:40.:22:43.

housing delivery slumped. Falling from 117 to 76, a decline of more

:22:44.:22:47.

than 30 years in a year. Worst still, the fall in delivery of

:22:48.:22:50.

housing meant a slowdown in receipts from the new homes bonus, a welcome

:22:51.:22:54.

financial incentive, introduced by the coalition Government to support

:22:55.:22:59.

delivery of affordable housing. Not open did Labour's chaotic year in

:23:00.:23:03.

control mean a shortage it meant damage to the city's capital

:23:04.:23:07.

receipts. Voters of Worcester seeing the record of Labour and the Liberal

:23:08.:23:11.

Democrats who are absence from this debate, elected more Conservative

:23:12.:23:14.

councillors in 2014 and these mean old Tories took back control of the

:23:15.:23:18.

council again. The result, an immediate recovery in the number of

:23:19.:23:21.

new affordable homes. The delivery of affordable homes in Worcester in

:23:22.:23:26.

the last year is the highest on record since 1997 and out of 460 new

:23:27.:23:32.

homes delivered in the city, 260 were rated as affordable. In 2015

:23:33.:23:36.

new homes bonus income ?2015 new homes bonus income from the city

:23:37.:23:39.

rose to five million. The lesson here is really stark. Labour always

:23:40.:23:44.

promise affordable homes but only the Conservatives actually deliver

:23:45.:23:49.

them. I know very well that there is still a great deal more demand, it's

:23:50.:23:52.

suggested this year's delivery is only the base line for what is

:23:53.:23:56.

needed. We often see debates on building affordable homes as if the

:23:57.:23:59.

only choice is to deliver them and concrete over green fields for give

:24:00.:24:02.

up providing them although together. This is not true. In fact, wrzth of

:24:03.:24:10.

homes delivered in Wayne's one year of control, this figure whatting

:24:11.:24:13.

fallen even as delivery has increased to around 7-and-a-half %

:24:14.:24:16.

in the current year. Looking ahead around 90% of the homes planned for

:24:17.:24:21.

in Worcester's supply can be delivered in brownfield sites and I

:24:22.:24:24.

hope that figure continues to increase. There is much that the

:24:25.:24:28.

Government can do further to support the delivery of affordable homes in

:24:29.:24:31.

brownfield sites and I am pleased to hear about the new brownfield fund.

:24:32.:24:35.

I hope the Government will look into more mechanisms to support renting

:24:36.:24:38.

above the shop and city centre living which I believe can help both

:24:39.:24:42.

our high streets and the desperate need for affordable homes. I welcome

:24:43.:24:45.

the Government's policies on help-to-buy which I have seen for

:24:46.:24:47.

myself on the streets of Worcester, people who have been able to buy

:24:48.:24:50.

their own home for the first time who wouldn't otherwise have been

:24:51.:24:54.

able to. Particularly, the help-to-buy ISA. But I particularly

:24:55.:24:59.

welcome the Government efforts to crack down on rouge landlords going

:25:00.:25:02.

further than Labour ever did in 13 years in office to deal with this

:25:03.:25:07.

serious issue. Today's motion is typical of the relentless negativity

:25:08.:25:09.

we are seeing from today's Labour Party. It says nothing about the

:25:10.:25:13.

aspiration of working families to live in homes they can own nor steps

:25:14.:25:18.

taken, bigger than those under 13 years of Labour to regulate rouge

:25:19.:25:22.

landlords. I am proud in Worcester under a Conservative Government and

:25:23.:25:25.

council we are delivering more affordable homes than ever.

:25:26.:25:30.

Before I call the honourable member, I am going to lower the limit to

:25:31.:25:35.

four minutes. Thank you. I am grateful for the opportunity to

:25:36.:25:39.

speak in this debate on housing. It is the single biggest area of

:25:40.:25:41.

concern to my constituents. Whatever measure we take this Government has

:25:42.:25:44.

failed to deliver the homes we need in the areas where they are needed

:25:45.:25:49.

and at the pace which is required to address the housing crisis

:25:50.:25:52.

unprecedented since the Second World War. If their own measure of success

:25:53.:25:58.

is home ownership the Government has presided other a decline in the

:25:59.:26:00.

number of home owners. If the measure of success is the housing

:26:01.:26:04.

benefit bill, the current Chancellor has seen an increase of ?4. ?4.3

:26:05.:26:08.

million in this bill over the last five years, including a doubling of

:26:09.:26:12.

the number of inwork households in receipt of housing benefit. If a

:26:13.:26:15.

measure of success is the level of homelessness as it should be, we

:26:16.:26:19.

have seen an increase of more than 50% in the number of people sleeping

:26:20.:26:23.

rough since 2010 and an increase in homelessness as a whole of more than

:26:24.:26:27.

a third. If the measure is the delivery of affordable homes, we see

:26:28.:26:31.

perhaps the Government's most catastrophic failure, a decline of

:26:32.:26:37.

almost 75% in the delivery of new homes genuinely affordable social

:26:38.:26:40.

rents since 2010 and the introduction of a new affordable

:26:41.:26:43.

rent that makes a mockery of the term.

:26:44.:26:48.

In response to this failure, the government appears to be

:26:49.:26:52.

constructing a new set of policies around a completely arbitrary

:26:53.:26:56.

dividing line. Let's call it the aspiration threshold. Above this

:26:57.:27:00.

line, which quantifies at a house price of ?450,000 in London, or an

:27:01.:27:05.

income of ?90,000, with savings close to ?100,000, the government

:27:06.:27:08.

recognises the aspiration all of us have too a stable home for the Lonca

:27:09.:27:13.

term, to put down roots in our community, to know that our children

:27:14.:27:16.

will be able to attend the same school for as long as they need.

:27:17.:27:20.

Below this line, and the government does not recognise the legitimacy of

:27:21.:27:22.

your aspirations. It seemingly believes that if you are a council

:27:23.:27:26.

tenant, the most you deserve is five years of stability at a time. That

:27:27.:27:32.

if you are in the private rented sector, it is entirely acceptable to

:27:33.:27:35.

live with the threat of a no-fault section 28 eviction, that moving

:27:36.:27:39.

your children out of the school where they are settled and away from

:27:40.:27:42.

their friends in the search for an affordable home is an acceptable way

:27:43.:27:45.

to live, and that because you are paying such a high level of rent and

:27:46.:27:49.

cannot therefore afford to save Rome of your wrong, the aspiration of

:27:50.:27:51.

homeownership should become harder and harder to realise. I do not

:27:52.:27:57.

understand why the government is so focused on this arbitrary line. Most

:27:58.:28:00.

people in my constituency want the same thing. They want a place of

:28:01.:28:04.

their own that is affordable for them, secure, safe, warm and suited

:28:05.:28:08.

to their needs. Most people do not want their aspirations to be

:28:09.:28:12.

achieved at the expense of others. Housing association tenants who

:28:13.:28:14.

would like to buy a home of their own do not want this to be at the

:28:15.:28:18.

expense of an overcrowded family with two children in a one-bedroom

:28:19.:28:22.

home, his aspiration to move to a council home big enough for their

:28:23.:28:24.

needs will not be met at the government forces the council to

:28:25.:28:27.

sell off its large family homes because they are the home of highest

:28:28.:28:33.

value. -- homes. We need to build more homes across all tenures, not

:28:34.:28:36.

one type of home and the expense of another. The Housing and planning

:28:37.:28:40.

Minister came to the CIG select committee this morning and could not

:28:41.:28:45.

give any assurances that all that the numbers underpinning his

:28:46.:28:48.

proposed radical reform of housing policy add up. This house will be

:28:49.:28:52.

asked to vote next month on a set of ideological driven, and costed,

:28:53.:28:55.

unproven proposals housing and planning Bill, which is a pitifully

:28:56.:28:59.

poor response to the biggest housing crisis this country has faced since

:29:00.:29:05.

the Second World War. The government has a shameful record, and is

:29:06.:29:08.

bringing forward and inadequate response. I hope the government will

:29:09.:29:18.

listen,... Mr Speaker! I apologise. Mr Speaker, I hope that the

:29:19.:29:22.

government will listen and bring forward a more convincing plan to

:29:23.:29:28.

address the crisis we face. Thank you. After directing the

:29:29.:29:35.

members to my register of interests, I would say what a pleasure it is to

:29:36.:29:39.

speaking today's debate. I actually agree a lot with what the Minister

:29:40.:29:42.

for Westminster North was taught me about when she said that housing is

:29:43.:29:47.

largely about security, and I think we must accept in this country that

:29:48.:29:51.

the British housing journey has changed. The private rented sector

:29:52.:29:54.

is now larger than the social housing sector, and we have 11

:29:55.:29:58.

million people living in privately rented homes. To give members an

:29:59.:30:06.

idea of the growth in the sector, it was 69% between 1993 and 2013. There

:30:07.:30:10.

are over 1 million families with children living in the private

:30:11.:30:15.

rented sector, and it is these families with children I hope the

:30:16.:30:18.

Minister will turn his attention to today. In the mid-19 80s, the age of

:30:19.:30:26.

first-time buyers was about 25. It is now over 30, and in some parts of

:30:27.:30:35.

London, over 40. In the 1988 Housing Act, is a short-term tenancy was

:30:36.:30:38.

introduced for people renting on a short-term basis while saving the

:30:39.:30:42.

deposit to buy a home. It was specifically introduced for

:30:43.:30:45.

students, professionals, and short-term renters, and in an age

:30:46.:30:50.

when people are now renting for longer periods and with families, it

:30:51.:30:54.

is my alternative that the short-haul tenancy can no longer be

:30:55.:30:58.

regarded as fit for purpose for those people with families in the

:30:59.:31:02.

private rented sector. Being in the private rented sector means you will

:31:03.:31:05.

move more often, as we have seen from the figures, and people come

:31:06.:31:10.

and see my advice surgery and say they have struggled all year to

:31:11.:31:14.

maybe save ?100 a month towards a deposit for buying a house, only to

:31:15.:31:17.

see that wiped out by the cost of moving, paying agency fees, playing

:31:18.:31:21.

a new deposit on a private rented house, when they move. This is borne

:31:22.:31:26.

out by Shelter statistics, who say that 60% of those in the private

:31:27.:31:29.

rented sector, at the end of the month, have no money with which to

:31:30.:31:34.

pay the rent. Santander SA that 49% of those in the private rented

:31:35.:31:40.

sector have given up saving to buy their own home altogether. This is

:31:41.:31:45.

why a welcome the government's Help to Buy ISA, which I think is hugely

:31:46.:31:49.

helpful, and helps those in the private rented sector save up a

:31:50.:31:52.

deposit, but I would also be grateful that the Minister could

:31:53.:31:55.

update the house on his progress with the family friendly tenancy? I

:31:56.:31:58.

have several written questions to his department, and I would be

:31:59.:32:01.

interested to know how many family friendly tenants he has taken up,

:32:02.:32:07.

what reassurance has been given to lenders who, at the time when I

:32:08.:32:10.

worked in the Downing Street policy unit on this exact policy, were very

:32:11.:32:15.

reticent to grant longer tenancies, because of a nervousness about

:32:16.:32:22.

seeking possession if they went in as a mortgagee in possession, and

:32:23.:32:26.

finally, to say, as I expect, the number of family friendly tenancy is

:32:27.:32:30.

taking up is very low. Is it time for the government to think of

:32:31.:32:33.

legislating in this area, bearing in mind that so many houses in the

:32:34.:32:36.

private rented sector now have their rent paid by housing benefits? It is

:32:37.:32:41.

surely not unreasonable for the government, where it is paying the

:32:42.:32:45.

rent, to ask landlords to offer more security to the tenants. Finally, I

:32:46.:32:49.

wanted to cover something very different. As we approach Christmas,

:32:50.:32:53.

we will all be thinking, I think, of homelessness, and I just wanted to

:32:54.:32:58.

mention Joan Aitken and Michelle Brindle in my constituency, who saw

:32:59.:33:05.

the big issue seller, Carlos Maradona, who works outside a store

:33:06.:33:11.

in Darwin. They set up a crowdfunding page so everyone in the

:33:12.:33:14.

town could get behind him at Christmas and help him find a home.

:33:15.:33:19.

I will tweet the link out after this debate, but I thought the house may

:33:20.:33:23.

be interested to know, we have already raised ?1400.

:33:24.:33:30.

I want to focus... Stop the clock, sorry. Apologies. I should just have

:33:31.:33:35.

said, a three-minute limit will now have to apply to backbench speeches,

:33:36.:33:38.

or we will have a lot of people not getting in. Three minutes, starting

:33:39.:33:41.

now. I want to focus briefly on the

:33:42.:33:47.

supply and demand in Bristol, where the situation for buyers and

:33:48.:33:51.

particularly renters is challenging. Some sources of information I have

:33:52.:33:54.

shown that property prices in Bristol have risen by anything from

:33:55.:33:58.

seven and 9.9% in the last 12 months. One site shows that of 26

:33:59.:34:05.

sites monitored, only London, Cambridge and Oxford recorded a

:34:06.:34:07.

greater percentage increase in Bristol. Ning Boxer property

:34:08.:34:11.

investors from London and overseas has further influence on the Bristol

:34:12.:34:17.

housing sales market. -- an influx. When considering told me he was

:34:18.:34:21.

turned down for viewing a property because the estate agent headache

:34:22.:34:24.

you are interested cash buyers. The property also felt -- the pressure

:34:25.:34:28.

also felt the would-be buyers will be completed with the completion of

:34:29.:34:34.

the London- Bristol commuter line, effectively putting Bristol on the

:34:35.:34:36.

same commuter belt is Oxford. Looking ahead, the estimate is that

:34:37.:34:42.

house prices will rise between four and 6%, but it could be up to 10% in

:34:43.:34:47.

high demand areas like Bristol. So, possibly a good picture for

:34:48.:34:50.

investors, landlords and buyers to let, but for young people

:34:51.:34:53.

particularly, and people looking to get on the housing ladder, it is not

:34:54.:34:58.

a good picture. Rents have also been rising through 2015 and are expected

:34:59.:35:04.

to rise in 2016. A local estate agent in my constituency told a

:35:05.:35:07.

local newspaper this month, if I look at our branch, there are 15-20

:35:08.:35:14.

enquiries a day for rental properties, and the suppliers maybe

:35:15.:35:18.

4-5 a week. He said the numbers were chilling. I'm pretty sure the stamp

:35:19.:35:22.

rise duty on second homes will have an effect, forcing people to think

:35:23.:35:25.

twice, and it will take a pretty robust person to buy a property to

:35:26.:35:29.

rent out. It is a bad thing for the government to do, because there was

:35:30.:35:32.

a big shortage of properties to rent in the Bristol area, and it

:35:33.:35:36.

exacerbates the problem. Other factors making the situation bleak

:35:37.:35:40.

are still our prices at an average of ?210,000, but salaries at

:35:41.:35:45.

?22,000. I dispute the assertion of the member from Peterborough that

:35:46.:35:49.

that is affordable. There are 10,000 people in Bristol waiting the social

:35:50.:35:53.

housing, thousands of properties standing still. There are some

:35:54.:35:56.

councils in the south-west that are doing some good work. A local

:35:57.:36:00.

council in Plymouth, which I have looked to, has plans for homes,

:36:01.:36:06.

social rented homes, Andy Holmes, chartered social housing, and a plan

:36:07.:36:09.

for rented housing. A Labour run council in the south-west of

:36:10.:36:15.

England, a small blot of red on the blue that is the south-west of

:36:16.:36:17.

England. Bristol and the local authorities need to learn this, but

:36:18.:36:22.

the government needs to support local authorities that are trying to

:36:23.:36:24.

achieve something, and the government itself needs not just

:36:25.:36:29.

ambition, but a better plan. James cartilage.

:36:30.:36:34.

I am a controlling director in a mortgage broker, and property portal

:36:35.:36:41.

dedicated to shared-ownership, and also a chairman of the all-party

:36:42.:36:45.

group on Housing and planning. When we speak about housing at the

:36:46.:36:48.

moment, the result is the a focus on new build and on supply, but I think

:36:49.:36:52.

still one of the most radical changes the government broke

:36:53.:36:54.

through, as I mentioned in my intervention, is the change we are

:36:55.:37:00.

making to buy to let. When we had the last opposition day debate on

:37:01.:37:07.

housing last June, I spoken by to let and said I was looking for three

:37:08.:37:10.

changes from the government, want to do with stamp duty, want to limit

:37:11.:37:14.

tax relief, and one on mortgages. To have been delivered. On stamp duty,

:37:15.:37:18.

I said it was completely unfair that a first-time buyer should pay the

:37:19.:37:21.

same rate of stamp duty someone buying the 25th portfolio by to let

:37:22.:37:26.

property, or a second home as a holiday home. The Chancellor has had

:37:27.:37:31.

the courage to make that change, which no Labour Chancellor has ever

:37:32.:37:35.

made. On tax relief, I said I thought it was wrong that first-time

:37:36.:37:41.

buyers who no longer have homeowners, should not have tax

:37:42.:37:44.

relief, where is buy to let Londoners do. Again, we are

:37:45.:37:46.

addressing that. But it is controversial but in the one minute

:37:47.:37:50.

and 44 seconds available, I wanted to remind people, having a backlash

:37:51.:37:57.

from newspapers against is buy to let James, why it is Mrs A. The fact

:37:58.:38:02.

is, the Bank of England, financial policy committee minutes so that the

:38:03.:38:06.

rate of credit loss and buy to let mortgages in the UK has been around

:38:07.:38:09.

twice that for residential mortgages, despite that they are

:38:10.:38:14.

almost entirely interest only. 75% of buy to let lending remains

:38:15.:38:18.

interest only. So in the last year, there will be ?28.5 billion lending

:38:19.:38:23.

with no repayment of the debt. For me, any area of the economy that

:38:24.:38:28.

requires nonrepayable into debt and tax breaks to survive is not

:38:29.:38:34.

sustainable. For me, the buy to let sector has not been sustainable.

:38:35.:38:36.

That does not mean we have something against those who wish to buy

:38:37.:38:40.

property to let, and I accept people are using it as their pension. On

:38:41.:38:45.

that point of, what it is my pension, while the government

:38:46.:38:48.

hitting me, I have to say, if one change comes out of what we're doing

:38:49.:38:51.

and by Colette, it is that we have to talk as a country about pension

:38:52.:38:54.

reform, because it is so fundamentally important. That will

:38:55.:38:58.

be a very, very important game that we get from it. As Lee Johnson said

:38:59.:39:02.

in the Sunday Times, we cannot prosper as a nation of buy to let

:39:03.:39:05.

landlords. We must also produce goods and services and export to pay

:39:06.:39:11.

out where in the world. That need investment, not just foreign

:39:12.:39:13.

investment, but our own, high savings ratio, and as a stable

:39:14.:39:17.

economy. I believe a strong part of that is a sustainable housing market

:39:18.:39:20.

in which first-time buyers have a reasonable chance of buying

:39:21.:39:23.

properties that, at the moment, are being taken from them by those who

:39:24.:39:26.

will then rent them out at the same first-time buyers. It is a fair

:39:27.:39:30.

move, being brought in by this radical Conservative government.

:39:31.:39:35.

In the brief time I have, I wish to highlight the problem and leads to

:39:36.:39:38.

illustrate this is indeed a nationwide problem and not simply

:39:39.:39:42.

one in London and the south-east. In Leeds, buying a home is increasingly

:39:43.:39:47.

unaffordable, and that includes starter homes. According to the

:39:48.:39:53.

Nationally Housing Federations in Europe and Humber, the house price

:39:54.:40:00.

in Leeds -- current house price in Leeds is 78 times higher than the

:40:01.:40:03.

medium earnings, depending on the figures you use. This therefore

:40:04.:40:08.

makes a mortgage unattainable for vast swathes of the population. In

:40:09.:40:11.

relation to starter homes, projections from the ONS and Commons

:40:12.:40:16.

library have suggested that by Twenty20, they may cost around

:40:17.:40:21.

?162,000 in Leeds, significantly below the cap, if that turned out to

:40:22.:40:24.

be the case. The average income needed for such a property would be

:40:25.:40:29.

?45,000, and the reality is, gross median income in Leeds is currently

:40:30.:40:33.

around ?22,000. So unless median incomes double in the next five

:40:34.:40:38.

years, starter homes will remain unaffordable. Indeed, Richard Lewis,

:40:39.:40:42.

Leeds City Council's executive member for regeneration, has said

:40:43.:40:46.

that the City Council's ambitions bring new generation of housing are

:40:47.:40:52.

at risk, because of central government's focus on starter homes

:40:53.:40:54.

above all other types of housing, and their attempts to mix housing

:40:55.:41:03.

mix. The right to buy sell-off of council homes is seeing local

:41:04.:41:05.

authority housing stock diminished with very little replacements. Over

:41:06.:41:13.

the last three years, 1159 Leeds and local authorities properties were

:41:14.:41:17.

sold, with only 59 replacements. That is a ratio of 20 21, and

:41:18.:41:22.

renting is increasingly unaffordable for a wide radio groups. The Leeds

:41:23.:41:28.

tenants Federation states that even council and housing association

:41:29.:41:33.

properties, some people are spending between 20 and 40% on rent. Many in

:41:34.:41:36.

Leeds are also struggling with private rents. Indeed, the council

:41:37.:41:41.

has previously written to the Council And Local Governments

:41:42.:41:45.

Committee to say, in the private sector, rents are now taking up an

:41:46.:41:47.

increasing proportion of income, and increasing proportion of income, and

:41:48.:41:50.

there is the issue of affordability across all sectors of the private

:41:51.:41:54.

rental market. There is much to do. The Conservatives has in the last

:41:55.:41:57.

Parliament blaming Labour, but that's since they won't wash any

:41:58.:42:00.

more. They have their own record now, and on housing, both in Leeds

:42:01.:42:04.

and across the country, it is five years of failure on every front,

:42:05.:42:09.

with an affordable homeownership, rising rents, deep investment cuts,

:42:10.:42:11.

building since the 1920s. There is a building since the 1920s. There is a

:42:12.:42:15.

lot of work to be done, and the blame game has two and, and the work

:42:16.:42:18.

as to start, and then be finished. Mr Speaker, it is as true today as

:42:19.:42:26.

it was 30 years ago, when asked, over 80% of people aspired to buy

:42:27.:42:31.

their home. On the other side of the equation, housebuilders make their

:42:32.:42:34.

living by providing as many homes as possible. There is no lack of will

:42:35.:42:39.

to build or a lack of desire to buy. The problems are due to the supply

:42:40.:42:44.

side issues that exist in the marketplace. Supply constrained by a

:42:45.:42:48.

planning process that is "not fit for purpose." Due to a shortage of

:42:49.:42:53.

viable land, much of it locked away in public sector land banks. And

:42:54.:42:58.

also due to the major demand side issue that house prices are out of

:42:59.:43:04.

reach for far too many people. Mr Speaker, fundamentally, the supply

:43:05.:43:07.

side issue is the one we need to resolve. Simplicity is the ultimate

:43:08.:43:12.

sophistication, build more homes and most of the problems of

:43:13.:43:17.

affordability will fall away. And we are building more homes. A 56% rise

:43:18.:43:24.

in housing starts in 2010. Now, 136,000 a year and planning consent

:43:25.:43:29.

at a post-recession high of 240,000 per year. This will inevitably lead

:43:30.:43:35.

to more homes being built. I welcome the provisions of the Housing and

:43:36.:43:39.

Planning Bill and its objective to increase house building and

:43:40.:43:44.

homeownership, the brownfield register, the simplicity of starter

:43:45.:43:48.

homes with a 20% discount, right to buy, the honourable Member for

:43:49.:43:52.

Kilmarnock may be interested to know when we took evidence from Dr Mary

:43:53.:43:57.

Taylor, the Chief Executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing

:43:58.:44:01.

Associations, asked if there had been a one-to-one policy for right

:44:02.:44:05.

to buy, would she then have got behind that policy. She said she

:44:06.:44:08.

might well have had a different view. Mr Speaker, one-third of all

:44:09.:44:16.

people in relative poverty are there due to housing costs alone.

:44:17.:44:20.

Additional homes created by right to buy and funded by making greater use

:44:21.:44:25.

of taxpayer-owned assets held by local authorities will deliver

:44:26.:44:28.

affordable homes to buy for shared ownership and to rent. I share the

:44:29.:44:34.

comments from my honourable friend from Rossendale and Darwin, we need

:44:35.:44:39.

longer, family-friendly tenancies and client monies protection for

:44:40.:44:43.

letting agents. Mr Speaker, in conclusion, I touched earlier on the

:44:44.:44:47.

huge swathes of land held in the public sector. The Government has

:44:48.:44:52.

pledged to bring forward enough public sector to build 150,000 homes

:44:53.:44:56.

over the next five years. I am concerned this land will be released

:44:57.:45:03.

and we may need incentives to make sure surplus on underutilised land

:45:04.:45:07.

in our public sector is made available for development to our

:45:08.:45:10.

housing associations and the private sector. I offer strong support for

:45:11.:45:13.

this Government's record on housing and believe that the new initiatives

:45:14.:45:18.

providing the housing and Housing and Planning Bill will deliver a

:45:19.:45:23.

market that works. Successive governments have failed to build

:45:24.:45:28.

anywhere near enough houses. And the Government's current Housing Bill is

:45:29.:45:32.

at least trying to deal with some of that fallout. However, like so much

:45:33.:45:36.

of the current Government's policies, we are expecting those

:45:37.:45:40.

with the least resource to pay for our mistakes. The Spare Room Subsidy

:45:41.:45:46.

was the first assault on the very people to right this very wrong. I

:45:47.:45:50.

worked with a young woman, who needed to go into hospital to deal

:45:51.:45:54.

with her severe physical and mental health problems. Her child was

:45:55.:46:04.

removed to foster care. Her daughter remained in kos ter -- foster care

:46:05.:46:11.

to give them time to recover. She fast built up arrears and debts and

:46:12.:46:18.

was evicted. This woman lost her home, her health, her daughter and

:46:19.:46:23.

all she needed was a chance. Was it her fault that houses were not

:46:24.:46:26.

rebuilt when they were sold off? I don't think so. Yet she paid the

:46:27.:46:30.

price. The bedroom tax was an instrument meant to encourage people

:46:31.:46:32.

to move out of their properties which could be used for a bigger

:46:33.:46:35.

family, except it doesn't work like that if there is nowhere for them to

:46:36.:46:40.

go. It makes money out of those who cannot bear it. The blunted-ended

:46:41.:46:44.

policy fails to recognise the realities of people's lives. Some of

:46:45.:46:48.

bill will do the same. I think the bill will do the same. I think the

:46:49.:46:54.

intention of the Government to end lifetime and successive tenancies is

:46:55.:47:00.

meant to free up properties. That is all very well and good. Life doesn't

:47:01.:47:05.

work like that. When a choice comes for an adult child to give up their

:47:06.:47:11.

own tenancy and move in and care for an elderly mother or father, people

:47:12.:47:15.

have tough choices to make. When a victim of domestic violence is

:47:16.:47:20.

rehoused with her children, will we say sorry, you have to move schools

:47:21.:47:23.

in five years' time? Will the Government be giving funding to all

:47:24.:47:26.

of the new housing officers that will be needed to make sure this

:47:27.:47:30.

system works fairly? I wonder if any of the Ministers opposite have set

:47:31.:47:34.

in the local housing queue recently? I have. It takes hours. I don't want

:47:35.:47:38.

to moan, I want the Government to do something about this and I have some

:47:39.:47:44.

positive suggestions. If you are going to encourage people to move

:47:45.:47:49.

in-and-out more regularly, the Government needs to invest heavily

:47:50.:47:53.

in temporary accommodation. There is no temporary accommodation with a

:47:54.:47:57.

taxpayer funding bed-and-breakfast accommodation, with used condoms

:47:58.:48:02.

stuff into the walls, dirty bids for families to live in. The Government

:48:03.:48:05.

must invest in this. The Government must also look at models like in

:48:06.:48:09.

Birmingham where we have a social lettings agency with an honest

:48:10.:48:13.

broker, two-year tenancies and help with deposits for tenants coming out

:48:14.:48:17.

of social houses. These are suggestions that the Government

:48:18.:48:19.

should look at before they rush into something that will be showing up in

:48:20.:48:23.

my surgeries in glorious technicolor. It is a great pleasure

:48:24.:48:29.

to follow the honourable lady for Birmingham Yardley. Last Friday, I

:48:30.:48:40.

visited a development in my constituency, and this is a mixture

:48:41.:48:44.

of family homes for rent and for sale under shared ownership. I

:48:45.:48:49.

mention this because I had the great pleasure of serving with many

:48:50.:48:52.

honourable and right honourable members on the Planning And Housing

:48:53.:48:59.

Bill Committee. I found that a lot of the conversation was very

:49:00.:49:03.

London-centric, but the point I would like to make is that in many

:49:04.:49:07.

parts of the country, in Lancashire, the starter homes and affordable

:49:08.:49:11.

homes are affordable. There were homes there, family homes, under the

:49:12.:49:16.

shared ownership scheme where on the average income of my constituency, a

:49:17.:49:20.

family could get a deposit of between ?2,000 and ?5,000 or have an

:49:21.:49:27.

equity stake in that house. I would remind all members that the world

:49:28.:49:34.

doesn't end at the Watford Gap. Homeownership as we all seem to

:49:35.:49:39.

agree is what most Britons aspire to, but there has been a problem of

:49:40.:49:43.

getting more houses built. We have a growing population, we have more and

:49:44.:49:46.

more people living on their own, we need to be flexible about what we

:49:47.:49:52.

are building. I was particularly pleased with the measures about the

:49:53.:49:57.

automatic planning permission for brownfield sites. I have got

:49:58.:50:00.

experience of developing brownfield sites and in the past, remediation

:50:01.:50:06.

works were very costly and they were difficult, but the fact is we are

:50:07.:50:10.

getting better at this and prices are coming down. And these

:50:11.:50:13.

provisions will start on the way to building more homes because as my

:50:14.:50:17.

honourable friend said, we just need to increase supply, it is not the

:50:18.:50:22.

whole answer, but we have to build more homes. And I think the

:50:23.:50:26.

important thing about the outlying nature of this permission is it

:50:27.:50:29.

gives reassurance to the developer that he can invest but still leaving

:50:30.:50:34.

the right amount of risk on the business rather than on the

:50:35.:50:36.

taxpayer. And if we were to change it from an outline permission to

:50:37.:50:44.

make it more detailed, and winding it up, this would slow down the

:50:45.:50:47.

process and there would be too much onus on the taxpayer rather than on

:50:48.:50:51.

the developer. I also greatly welcome the Government's pledge to

:50:52.:50:55.

bring forward more public sector land to build more homes. Again, in

:50:56.:51:00.

the Bill, it is forward-looking. We are tackling rogue landlords and I

:51:01.:51:05.

particularly welcome the investment in garden cities. This Government is

:51:06.:51:09.

determined to deliver more homes. The Housing and Planning Bill will

:51:10.:51:16.

go a great way to doing that. Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is evident that

:51:17.:51:20.

there are members such as the Member for Rossendale and Darwin who are

:51:21.:51:25.

strong supporters of English votes for English laws and who question

:51:26.:51:28.

why we are speaking on a matter that should be devolved to the Scottish

:51:29.:51:32.

Parliament. I would point out to members that Scotland is mentioned

:51:33.:51:35.

in the motion we are debating today. And the fact is that housing is one

:51:36.:51:39.

of these areas where the headline statement of devolution is seriously

:51:40.:51:43.

undermined by a haphazard split of responsibilities between this place

:51:44.:51:47.

and the devolved administrations and as a result many of the decisions

:51:48.:51:57.

taken... The UK Government has stated it wants to transform

:51:58.:52:01.

generation rent into generation buy. It is no bad thing to buy your home.

:52:02.:52:05.

But it must be financially sustainable, it must be right for

:52:06.:52:08.

your circumstances, it must not be at the expense of future housing

:52:09.:52:13.

stocks. The UK Government must focus on alternatives, too. We have heard

:52:14.:52:18.

concern on both sides about homelessness, which is a real issue.

:52:19.:52:22.

I would point out that members we should concern ourselves about this

:52:23.:52:25.

all year and not just at Christmas. This UK Parliament has lost its

:52:26.:52:29.

focus on the quality and quantity of housing and I agree with my

:52:30.:52:33.

honourable friend that this can be dated bah tock the 1980 Housing Act

:52:34.:52:38.

when the Thatcher Government introduced right to buy. This policy

:52:39.:52:50.

has been popular with beneficiaries. And this Conservative Government is

:52:51.:52:54.

going forward than Mrs Thatcher. Owner occupation is seen as the

:52:55.:52:58.

normal thing for all households regardless of income, exactly the

:52:59.:53:03.

approach that led to the American sub-prime scandal, this policy has

:53:04.:53:08.

been described as people on the cusp being able to buy are being nudged

:53:09.:53:10.

over the edge and the Government's thinking is the social rented sector

:53:11.:53:18.

is a temporary stopgap where tenants shouldn't regard their residence as

:53:19.:53:22.

a permanent home. These policies are a smash and grab raid by the

:53:23.:53:26.

Chancellor on the assets of the social rented sector. Forcing

:53:27.:53:32.

councils to sell their best assets, strengthens social segregation that

:53:33.:53:35.

scars too many parts of the country and the forced sale of housing

:53:36.:53:42.

association properties amounts to abandonment. The contrast between

:53:43.:53:50.

this shambles and the action being taken by the Scottish Government

:53:51.:53:55.

couldn't be starker. Instead of viewing housing as a weapon in a

:53:56.:53:57.

political game, the Scottish Government acts on the basis that

:53:58.:54:01.

decent accessible and affordable housing is central to the delivery

:54:02.:54:06.

of many other policy objectives. If we in Scotland had built houses

:54:07.:54:10.

since 2007, we would have 42,000 less homes than we do. In fact, we

:54:11.:54:14.

have committed to something the UK Government no longer does to build

:54:15.:54:20.

those social and affordable housing. Thank you. And I draw members'

:54:21.:54:24.

attention to the register of interests. I would like to start by

:54:25.:54:28.

replying to some of the points the Shadow Housing Minister made at the

:54:29.:54:32.

beginning about the respective track records of this Government and the

:54:33.:54:36.

last one. I would like to particularly draw attention to the

:54:37.:54:39.

number of housing starts across the country as a whole in the last year,

:54:40.:54:43.

which was 165,000, compared to his last year as Housing Minister, when

:54:44.:54:50.

it was 124,000. A 33% increase by the current Government which is an

:54:51.:54:54.

extremely impressive record. The Member for Sunderland Central, who I

:54:55.:54:59.

can see in her place, also drew attention to affordable housing. And

:55:00.:55:03.

I am similarly pleased to report to the House that according to House of

:55:04.:55:08.

Commons Library figures, last year there were 67,000 affordable houses

:55:09.:55:13.

delivered, compared to 58,000 in the last year at the last Labour

:55:14.:55:17.

Government. I think there is a record to be proud of. Let me turn

:55:18.:55:22.

briefly to the Housing and Planning Bill. I was privileged to serve on

:55:23.:55:26.

the Bill Committee for 17 sessions with the honourable lady from the

:55:27.:55:30.

city of Durham. But not the member from Wentworth who did not grace us

:55:31.:55:35.

with his presence. I was also disappointed to hear the lack of new

:55:36.:55:39.

ideas in his speech earlier. I thought from a Shadow Housing

:55:40.:55:42.

Minister we might have heard more. There is a great deal in the Housing

:55:43.:55:48.

and Planning Bill to welcome not least the idea that every single

:55:49.:55:52.

local authority must have a local plan by 2017, the local development

:55:53.:55:57.

orders to give outline planning consent on brownfield sites that my

:55:58.:56:01.

honourable friend from rible south mentioned a few moments ago and, of

:56:02.:56:06.

course, in London, the London land commission bringing forward public

:56:07.:56:10.

sector land, the GLA have done that successfully, 98% of their land is

:56:11.:56:14.

being brought forward and if I could suggest an idea to the Minister from

:56:15.:56:18.

Nuneaton, I believe the London Land Commission should be given more

:56:19.:56:22.

powers to take hold of the surplus public sector land identified and

:56:23.:56:27.

bring it forward to make sure departments like the NHS or Network

:56:28.:56:35.

Rail or Transport for London do not delay. If I could suggest one or two

:56:36.:56:39.

other ideas. Some parts of the planning process can be cumbersome,

:56:40.:56:47.

with reports on bats and newts and if there are any ways that could be

:56:48.:56:49.

lightened up, it would be welcome. In similarly, I know many developers

:56:50.:56:58.

would be happy to pay higher planning fees if, in exchange for

:56:59.:57:02.

that, they had guaranteed faster decision-making, perhaps with the

:57:03.:57:06.

extra fees being refunded if the service level was not met. I hope

:57:07.:57:09.

the minister will take those constructive ideas in the spirit

:57:10.:57:14.

they were intended, but in summary, having sat on the Bill committee for

:57:15.:57:17.

17 sessions, I am absolutely confident it will increase the

:57:18.:57:21.

supply of new homes and promote homeownership, and I strongly

:57:22.:57:29.

welcome it. It was Mr Pooter from Diary Of A

:57:30.:57:36.

Nobody in 1892 who was the average London nobody, but he could not live

:57:37.:57:41.

the way he did then today. The spectator said his homeward bound be

:57:42.:57:45.

?1 million, his salary would be ?40,000. As a clerk, in Ealing, a

:57:46.:57:50.

typical suburban place of today, these figures are astronomically

:57:51.:57:53.

high. They are placing what is supposed to be an average home out

:57:54.:58:01.

of reach of the average Joe and Josephine suburbia was intended for.

:58:02.:58:10.

A terraced house in W five this year is ?781,000, from the Land Registry

:58:11.:58:15.

figures. And so, the subject we are looking at today, the government's

:58:16.:58:19.

housing record, has been an abject failure on homelessness,

:58:20.:58:21.

homeownership, house building, rent, and crucially, supply. Shelter, an

:58:22.:58:29.

objective charity, says that by channelling existing public

:58:30.:58:32.

resources to build homes that can only be afforded by those on high

:58:33.:58:37.

incomes, there is 100 needy thousand affordable low rent homes that are

:58:38.:58:40.

not going to be built or sold as a result of these changes in the

:58:41.:58:45.

Housing and Planning Bill. We're seen the goalposts move several

:58:46.:58:50.

times. Affordable, for rent, now, can mean up to 80% of market rent,

:58:51.:58:54.

which is just not realistic. These subsidised starter homes have been

:58:55.:58:58.

trumpeted, but then a nonstarter for people in my constituency. In

:58:59.:59:04.

Ealing, average current earnings are about 34 point ?5,000 at the moment.

:59:05.:59:08.

If you wanted a shot that just a one bedroom starter home, let's say in

:59:09.:59:15.

W13, and I have all the different postcards here, you are doing 37,000

:59:16.:59:24.

532. 90,000, 531 elsewhere. And this one point -- this meant reduction at

:59:25.:59:31.

first sight looks good, but it has unintended consequences. I went to

:59:32.:59:34.

the reopening of the YMCA four yea we have in my constituency recently.

:59:35.:59:38.

They have sunk all of their assets into this, and it was based on a

:59:39.:59:45.

business plan of rising rents, and they think they're going to be

:59:46.:59:49.

completely sunk with this. Supported housing should be exempt from this.

:59:50.:59:53.

That is a massive oversight. Mandatory pay to stay. There are so

:59:54.:59:58.

much I could say. 40,000 means to incomes of 20,000, not a princely

:59:59.:00:02.

sum in London. It is an attack on aspirations, something that this

:00:03.:00:06.

side obviously keeps talking about. Our capital city is being hollowed

:00:07.:00:10.

out as we pay more and more for housing, and we are becoming more

:00:11.:00:13.

and more insecure at the same time. The Spectator Normal

:00:14.:00:23.

my fear is that it is not just Mr Pooter and the likes of him being

:00:24.:00:31.

forced out, leaving the place to bankers and oligarchs.

:00:32.:00:37.

I welcome the opposition's choice of motion for this debate, although

:00:38.:00:42.

express some disappointment at the lack of humility in the manner in

:00:43.:00:46.

which the Shadow minister move that motion, given as an underwhelming

:00:47.:00:51.

record in government. But as he correctly says, this is a topical

:00:52.:00:59.

issue, and I am sure, towards the top of most of our postbag. It is

:01:00.:01:03.

addressing the challenges of housing, of rent, of the

:01:04.:01:10.

affordability of homes, which is one of the major challenges facing us.

:01:11.:01:14.

But to be honest, it deserves more than some of the rehashed diatribes

:01:15.:01:23.

that we had opening the debate. What we are seeing from this government

:01:24.:01:30.

is the largest land building programme in decades, which will

:01:31.:01:33.

help to address the fundamental problem behind both availability of

:01:34.:01:36.

housing and affordability of housing. As my honourable friend for

:01:37.:01:46.

South Norfolk correctly said, the elephant in the room is the issue of

:01:47.:01:52.

supply. Why is there this market failure that we don't see in other

:01:53.:01:58.

areas of the economy? And part of it is a regulatory failure. Government

:01:59.:02:05.

can't control all of the levers that affect supply, but it is right that

:02:06.:02:10.

we do what we can to eradicate some of the barriers to that market

:02:11.:02:15.

entry. At the core of addressing this must be two things. The first

:02:16.:02:21.

is action to bring brownfield land back into productive use for

:02:22.:02:26.

housing. That is why I am so pleased that the government is introducing

:02:27.:02:31.

this assumption of planning consent for brownfield land, but also, that

:02:32.:02:36.

devolution deals, in particular, around the country, and I know that

:02:37.:02:41.

devolution deal has been reached for my own region, the West Midlands and

:02:42.:02:46.

combined authority, with the powers and investment to bring brownfield

:02:47.:02:50.

land, but the ticket the lake contaminated brownfield land, back

:02:51.:02:54.

into use, so that it can be part of the land supply for our housing

:02:55.:03:00.

market. That is obviously good for the environment rather than using

:03:01.:03:04.

green space. It is good for housing, but also good for the economy. The

:03:05.:03:09.

second area that needs to be addressed to increase supply is

:03:10.:03:12.

preventing the planning system becoming a bottleneck to housing

:03:13.:03:20.

being made available. Here, I think the action the government has taken

:03:21.:03:23.

to move away from regional spatial strategy towards local plans, but

:03:24.:03:29.

also introducing planning in principle, is absolutely vital, and

:03:30.:03:32.

will hopefully mean that we have the supply to match this record

:03:33.:03:40.

house-building programme. Members who picked up the Nacho on

:03:41.:03:44.

the tube will have seen that Hammersmith featured in this week's

:03:45.:03:48.

property section, and the average property is over ?1 million. They

:03:49.:03:52.

did manage to find a basement flat for ?425,000, which would be just

:03:53.:03:56.

within the starter home bracket. You would need an income of just 100

:03:57.:04:03.

?100,000 to snaffle that. But the new development, given permission by

:04:04.:04:06.

the previous council and their social housing, is more typical. A

:04:07.:04:11.

two-bedroom house for 1.2 million, or a three-bedroom flat in Sovereign

:04:12.:04:19.

Court for ?2.2 million. This is why an occupation has dropped from over

:04:20.:04:28.

40% just over 30%. The zebra by foreign investors from the UAE,

:04:29.:04:31.

Malaysia, whatever, and then either left empty rented out, which is why

:04:32.:04:35.

the private rented sector has gone up, but they are all unaffordable.

:04:36.:04:41.

I'm afraid I include in that the 85% of council right to buys which are

:04:42.:04:48.

now rented out. 85%. At market rates, and mainly to local

:04:49.:04:50.

authorities, who are now paying three or four times what it would

:04:51.:04:54.

cost in council compensation. We know what the housing list of things

:04:55.:04:57.

about this, because recently, he said, if you want to live and work

:04:58.:05:01.

in and around London, it is like making a judgment call about what

:05:02.:05:03.

you can afford, in other words, on your bike. There is one type of

:05:04.:05:09.

housing that is affordable. 30% of accommodation still my constituency

:05:10.:05:12.

is social housing. Most past governments, irrespective of party,

:05:13.:05:15.

would have regarded that as an asset. Not this government. What are

:05:16.:05:28.

they doing? They are selling a housing association homes so they in

:05:29.:05:31.

turn can turn into buy to let at market rates, and selling of 50% of

:05:32.:05:34.

the remaining 12,000 council stock in order to subsidise that sale. We

:05:35.:05:36.

thought when my voters voted to get rid of the Conservative council that

:05:37.:05:39.

was selling up empty council properties, warehousing and emptying

:05:40.:05:43.

council flats, and having zero homes in new developers, they thought we

:05:44.:05:46.

would have got rid of that, but now we have a government with a Housing

:05:47.:05:49.

and Planning Bill which is bringing it all back. There will be no social

:05:50.:05:53.

homes built in the future, nothing that is affordable to my

:05:54.:05:56.

constituents. But I am pleased to see me honourable friend for

:05:57.:05:59.

Westminster North sitting next to me, because her speech hit the nail

:06:00.:06:05.

on the head as far as the most disgusting thing this government is

:06:06.:06:08.

doing, removing security from people who live in council homes, telling

:06:09.:06:15.

people living council that they have temporary housing as a way of

:06:16.:06:18.

charity, rather than as a permanent home to build up -- bring up their

:06:19.:06:22.

family. The government has reversed its position and pay to stay housing

:06:23.:06:26.

associations. That is welcome. Do that for everybody. Let families on

:06:27.:06:30.

modest incomes continue to live in securing gums in London in and

:06:31.:06:33.

around the country, and end this appalling thing of ending security

:06:34.:06:38.

and tenure for council tenants. We are simply not building enough to

:06:39.:06:41.

keep up with both the demand and the challenges which many of our

:06:42.:06:45.

constituents face in order to buy a home of their own. Government

:06:46.:06:49.

initiatives radical and welcome, but I would advocate going further, with

:06:50.:06:52.

some of the following policies being considered. Firstly, with respect to

:06:53.:06:59.

building and green spaces, in the constituency I represent, almost 80%

:07:00.:07:04.

of Bexhill and Battle is designated as an area of outstanding national

:07:05.:07:09.

beauty. There is a sausage of land afforded for local implement, but

:07:10.:07:12.

where it is, it is situated in brownfield sites. With the tens of

:07:13.:07:15.

thousands of houses that my council intend to build a designated a

:07:16.:07:19.

brownfield implement sites, then when will our current and next

:07:20.:07:23.

generation of workers and homeowners work? -- where will they were? In

:07:24.:07:27.

one parish, the village had petitioned the District Council to

:07:28.:07:30.

allow a small housing complex to be built on a green field just outside

:07:31.:07:33.

the building boundary. By campaigning to build on this green

:07:34.:07:37.

site, hedging and now has a new school, new village hall, and new,

:07:38.:07:42.

affordable housing, all courtesy of that bold move. I would like the

:07:43.:07:45.

government to make it easier to allow parishes and town councils to

:07:46.:07:49.

make these decisions. Where a District Council has a plan,

:07:50.:07:54.

parishes and towns are required conform to that plan, or their own

:07:55.:07:57.

local plan will not be approved by the District Council. I would like

:07:58.:08:02.

to free parishes and towns from the shackles of district planners. If

:08:03.:08:05.

they want to designate the site, let them do so, and let them override

:08:06.:08:08.

district plans for their parish or town if they are within planning

:08:09.:08:13.

laws. Secondly, to deliver more infrastructure. While the argument

:08:14.:08:16.

is being run that we need more housing, real concern exists the

:08:17.:08:19.

communities will not have the schools, doctors, and other

:08:20.:08:23.

essential public services until the housing has been completed. If

:08:24.:08:26.

authorities could deliver infrastructure at the same time as

:08:27.:08:30.

building commences, the public might embrace more housing and even ask

:08:31.:08:36.

for more housing if, say, a new secondary school was built with a

:08:37.:08:39.

few hundred houses. I would like to see local authorities given the

:08:40.:08:42.

power to borrow money against receipts for new homes bonuses,

:08:43.:08:46.

which of course, will only work if new homes bonuses are extended as

:08:47.:08:50.

long as the plans are. Thirdly, turning consent into new homes. The

:08:51.:08:53.

amount of land where planning consent has been granted but work

:08:54.:08:56.

has not commenced continues to cause concern. The lack of building not

:08:57.:09:02.

only adds to the problem of the shortage of housing numbers, it also

:09:03.:09:08.

denies local authorities to connect receipts from local housing and

:09:09.:09:11.

infrastructure Levy. I would support a policy whereby developers are

:09:12.:09:16.

required to pay a first instalment within 12 months of planning consent

:09:17.:09:20.

being granted, but not upon completion. This policy would not

:09:21.:09:23.

only incentivise house-building and increased, it would also local

:09:24.:09:28.

authorities to deliver vital infrastructure in parallel with

:09:29.:09:31.

house-building. The need to tackle our house-building shortage is a

:09:32.:09:34.

huge priority. It is a national tragedy more is not being done, and

:09:35.:09:39.

I support the government with what is being done.

:09:40.:09:42.

Two minutes. Cambridge in the grip of a housing

:09:43.:09:46.

crisis, and I have 110 seconds. I will start by quoting an e-mail from

:09:47.:09:50.

a constituent recently, which encapsulate the problem. She writes:

:09:51.:09:54.

I live, work and pay my council tax in Cambridge. Housing in Cambridge

:09:55.:09:57.

is almost as expensive as London these days. I was very excited to

:09:58.:10:03.

hear about the Help to Buy ISA, but Cambridge at the same threshold as

:10:04.:10:08.

London, 450,000. Looking for places to live right now, it is this

:10:09.:10:12.

happening that only four macro properties to meet our criteria of

:10:13.:10:16.

four bedrooms, and the government's criteria of a maximum ?250,000,

:10:17.:10:20.

within a five mile radius of Cambridge. How are we supposed to

:10:21.:10:24.

buy, afford, and raise a family in Cambridge? Four properties. Four.

:10:25.:10:29.

Maybe there is an answer to the question. I personally doubt it,

:10:30.:10:31.

because I don't think this government has a clue about the real

:10:32.:10:35.

problems facing young people in Britain today. Young people like my

:10:36.:10:38.

constituent can't afford to buy, and they have to rent. Do we hear

:10:39.:10:42.

anything from this government about helping renters? I don't think so.

:10:43.:10:45.

They are really listening, they would know that when houses prices

:10:46.:10:50.

become unaffordable in areas like mine, the nature of the private

:10:51.:10:54.

rented market changes. Young families who would want what are

:10:55.:10:56.

staying longer in the rented sector, but the legislation has not kept up,

:10:57.:11:01.

nor has the government. Let this get my points about the attack on social

:11:02.:11:05.

housing, and conclude by saying a bit about the impact on business. --

:11:06.:11:10.

let me skip my points. My right honourable friend recently visited

:11:11.:11:13.

my constituency, and I think even he, experienced on these issues as

:11:14.:11:17.

years, was shocked by the consistency of the message from

:11:18.:11:20.

employers. In every sector, a thriving life sciences and tech

:11:21.:11:25.

sector, through universities, major public sector employees like the

:11:26.:11:29.

NHS, the message is absolutely clear. We cannot recruit and retain

:11:30.:11:33.

staff while housing remains so unaffordable. This is not just about

:11:34.:11:38.

housing. It is about social justice and intergenerational justice, and

:11:39.:11:41.

at the start of my speech, I quoted a question from my constituent. I

:11:42.:11:44.

would urge the Minister to answer it. How are we supposed to buy, Ford

:11:45.:11:47.

and Thank you, Mr Speaker. We have had a

:11:48.:11:59.

very wide-ranging debate and we have had contributions from all sides of

:12:00.:12:04.

the House, including from the members from Wimbledon, South

:12:05.:12:11.

Ribble, Croydon South, Ealing Central and Acton and Cambridge and

:12:12.:12:20.

we had a passionate speech from the Member for Birmingham Yardley and

:12:21.:12:23.

the Member for Sunderland Central spoke about the shortage of social

:12:24.:12:27.

housing and, most interestingly, the Member for South Norfolk spoke of

:12:28.:12:29.

his well-known interest in his well-known interest in

:12:30.:12:32.

self-builds and his less known interest in the Deputy Speaker's

:12:33.:12:36.

shoes! It is clear that the housing crisis is one of the greatest

:12:37.:12:39.

challenges to face our country in recent times. Members across this

:12:40.:12:42.

chamber know the impact the housing has on their constituents' lives.

:12:43.:12:46.

The Member for Worcester spoke of his own casework which mirrors mine

:12:47.:12:51.

with my advice surgeries, my inbox, telephone line filled with people

:12:52.:12:54.

suffering as a result of the housing crisis. Rent costs are rising, there

:12:55.:13:00.

are poor standards in the private rented sector, ever-increasingly

:13:01.:13:03.

homelessness, statutory homeless and rough sleeping, and the Government

:13:04.:13:06.

committed to see the end of social housing sector as we know it. Fewer

:13:07.:13:11.

homes built than at any time since the 1920s and a generation of young

:13:12.:13:14.

people priced out of the property market. For five years, the

:13:15.:13:17.

Government had the chance to tackle this housing crisis head on, I

:13:18.:13:21.

believe they failed. It has never been more important to tackle the

:13:22.:13:24.

housing crisis because housing affects everything. It affects our

:13:25.:13:31.

whole lives. It affects health, education, productivity. Without a

:13:32.:13:36.

secure roof over our heads we face uncertainty, instability and doubt,

:13:37.:13:39.

stable homes make stable communities. And without safe,

:13:40.:13:43.

face pressure across our whole face pressure across our whole

:13:44.:13:46.

society and public services. It affects our schools and our

:13:47.:13:51.

children's education. With unsettled classes affected by churn and

:13:52.:13:54.

individual children falling behind as they move school again and again.

:13:55.:13:58.

It affects public health with our doctors who struggle to coordinate

:13:59.:14:01.

health awareness campaigns as a result of instability in the housing

:14:02.:14:05.

sector with residents moving between practices. It affects our

:14:06.:14:10.

communities. Where many are unable to set down roots and commit to a

:14:11.:14:14.

local area, to join local organisations, sports teams, this

:14:15.:14:18.

was a point made by the Member for Westminster North. The Government

:14:19.:14:22.

claimed they will build more affordable homes, but the affordable

:14:23.:14:26.

rent is not affordable to many people. In London, it would swallow

:14:27.:14:31.

up 84% of the earnings of a family on an average income. It requires a

:14:32.:14:36.

salary of ?74,000, but it doesn't just affect London. We heard from

:14:37.:14:40.

members from Bristol South and Leeds East that show us that this is a

:14:41.:14:44.

national crisis, not just a London crisis. And for many of those who

:14:45.:14:48.

cannot afford to buy, they have to live in the private rented sector.

:14:49.:14:53.

The Government's failed to increase security and improve standards and

:14:54.:14:57.

we have overseen private rents reach an all-time high. Once the private

:14:58.:15:02.

rented sector was mainly for students and young professionals,

:15:03.:15:05.

but it's now families and the vulnerable that live in the private

:15:06.:15:09.

rented sector. This was spoken about by the Member for Rossendale and

:15:10.:15:13.

Darwin. Nine million people rent privately. Almost half of those who

:15:14.:15:17.

rent are over 35 and they want the same security and stability they

:15:18.:15:19.

would have if they owned their own home. But they face insecure,

:15:20.:15:25.

assured short-hold tenancies and a Government refusing to encourage

:15:26.:15:33.

long-term tenancies. While they pay more, the Government is failing to

:15:34.:15:36.

act on improving standards in the sector. While the majority of

:15:37.:15:40.

properties in the private rented sector are well maintained, there

:15:41.:15:43.

are sadly too many landlords who do not let properties that are fit for

:15:44.:15:48.

human habitation. The Government's own statistics say 16% of private

:15:49.:15:53.

rented sector dwellings are failing the minimum safety standard and when

:15:54.:15:57.

my colleague for Westminster North introduced a Private Members' Bill

:15:58.:16:03.

to ensure that homes were fit for human habitation, it was talked down

:16:04.:16:06.

by members opposite and argued it would put a huge burden on

:16:07.:16:12.

landlords. We are short for time so I cannot give way. The Member for

:16:13.:16:20.

dull witch and West Norwood touched on the Housing Benefit Bill. The

:16:21.:16:26.

Government's Housing and Planning Bill included an all-out attack on

:16:27.:16:29.

social housing. On the last day of the Committee they added a last

:16:30.:16:33.

minute amendment to end secure tenancies for social tenants without

:16:34.:16:37.

any consultation or impact assessment. I would like the

:16:38.:16:41.

Minister to respond to two questions. One is: If homeownership

:16:42.:16:46.

is the only way forward, where are people who cannot get a mortgage

:16:47.:16:51.

meant to live? Also, can the Minister confirm that starter homes

:16:52.:16:53.

are meant to be for first time buyers and won't be available to

:16:54.:16:57.

cash buyers? The Housing and Planning Bill will lead to a loss of

:16:58.:17:03.

affordable homes. The Bill is a missed opportunity to tackle the

:17:04.:17:07.

housing crisis head on. It is a missed opportunity to provide

:17:08.:17:09.

greater security, stability and safety to tenants in the private

:17:10.:17:15.

rented sector and a missed opportunity to offer a handout to

:17:16.:17:20.

those who want to get on the property ladder. We have seen an

:17:21.:17:25.

Autumn Statement that has failed to provide a for a programme of

:17:26.:17:31.

affordable house building. The Conservatives have had the chance to

:17:32.:17:34.

tackle the housing crisis. They have failed. They have their own track

:17:35.:17:38.

record. It is one of five years of failure. They should and will be

:17:39.:17:46.

judged on it. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to thank all members of

:17:47.:17:49.

the House for taking part in a lively debate. Mr Speaker, before

:17:50.:17:53.

addressing the contributions of honourable members, I'm sure the

:17:54.:17:56.

whole House will appreciate a reminder of what has been achieved

:17:57.:18:02.

since 2010. Back then, the housing market was broken. We inherited a

:18:03.:18:06.

planning system that was dysfunctional and levels of house

:18:07.:18:10.

building were tumbling. The economy and public finances were on the

:18:11.:18:14.

brinks of collapse. Enormous progress has been made since. Almost

:18:15.:18:18.

900,000 new homes have been delivered in England since 2010. In

:18:19.:18:22.

the last Parliament, the number of first-time buyers doubled. The

:18:23.:18:25.

number of new homes we built doubled. Public support for new

:18:26.:18:30.

house building doubled and since 2010, we have helped over 270,000

:18:31.:18:37.

households buy a home. We have provided over 270,000 affordable

:18:38.:18:41.

homes for rent with nearly one-third of those in London. And we are the

:18:42.:18:46.

first Government since the 1980s to finish their term with a higher

:18:47.:18:50.

stock of affordable homes. A reformed planning system gives far

:18:51.:18:54.

greater weight to the views and needs of local communities. But in

:18:55.:18:58.

this Parliament, we want to go much further. The Government's investment

:18:59.:19:04.

is being doubled to ?20 billion over the next five years. It will support

:19:05.:19:09.

the largest housing programme by any Government since the 1970s. Our

:19:10.:19:13.

ambition to deliver one million more homes and double the number of

:19:14.:19:18.

first-time buyers. Mr Speaker, I will now turn to the points raised

:19:19.:19:25.

by honourable members in the debate. My honourable friend for South

:19:26.:19:30.

Norfolk, Wimbledon, Worcester, Rossendale and Darwin, South

:19:31.:19:35.

Suffolk, Thirsk and Malton, Dudley South and Bexhill Battle, all made

:19:36.:19:40.

fabulous and important contributions. To mention a few of

:19:41.:19:45.

the things that my honourable friends mentioned, my honourable

:19:46.:19:49.

friend for South Norfolk explained the importance of self-build and

:19:50.:19:53.

praised the measures in the Housing and Planning Bill to promote

:19:54.:19:58.

self-build. My honourable friend for Wimbledon pointed out that council

:19:59.:20:03.

house building is now at its highest level for 23 years. Knocking down

:20:04.:20:09.

the myth promoted by the party opposite. My honourable friend for

:20:10.:20:13.

Worcester, and it was good to hear my honourable friend for Worcester

:20:14.:20:17.

point out that it is the Conservatives in local government

:20:18.:20:21.

and not Labour who are providing affordable houses in Worcester. I

:20:22.:20:26.

was also pleased to hear the welcome he gave for our crackdown on rogue

:20:27.:20:33.

landlords. My honourable friend for Rossendale and Darwin stated the

:20:34.:20:38.

importance of first-time buyers and the help to buy Isa that the

:20:39.:20:43.

Government is bringing forward. My honourable friend mentioned the

:20:44.:20:47.

measures the Chancellor is making to make things fairer for first-time

:20:48.:20:50.

buyers. My honourable friend made a great point about the importance of

:20:51.:20:54.

additional housing that will be provided by the right to buy

:20:55.:21:01.

receipts. My honourable friends for South Ribble and Dudley South made

:21:02.:21:05.

encouraging comments about planning in principle on brownfield sites. My

:21:06.:21:09.

honourable friend for Croydon South mentioned the London Land Commission

:21:10.:21:13.

and the potential for public sector land to be brought forward as a

:21:14.:21:18.

result of that. My honourable friend for Bexhill Battle was a strong

:21:19.:21:23.

advocate for neighbourhood planning. That brings me to the points made by

:21:24.:21:28.

the honourable members opposite. I wanted to start where my honourable

:21:29.:21:33.

friend, the Housing and Planning Minister left off. He mentioned back

:21:34.:21:36.

to the future to describe the approach of the party opposite. He

:21:37.:21:41.

was right. Having observed this debate, the party opposite certainly

:21:42.:21:45.

have a past which they are still harking back to. But they have very

:21:46.:21:50.

little, it seems, of a future to look forward to if today's debate is

:21:51.:21:55.

anything to go by. The honourable gentleman on the

:21:56.:22:01.

front bench, and the honourable lady, spent 40 minutes in total in

:22:02.:22:07.

relation to their opening speeches and their wind-up speeches. And they

:22:08.:22:14.

did not put forward one idea as to how the issues that we currently

:22:15.:22:18.

face, the biggest issue facing the country, one of the biggest issues

:22:19.:22:22.

facing the country, and they did not put one idea forward. It was all

:22:23.:22:29.

about soundbites, all about empty rhetoric, and ideology, rather than

:22:30.:22:32.

pragmatism to help people get into their own home. For some reason,

:22:33.:22:38.

members opposite seem very happy to own homes themselves. But when it

:22:39.:22:42.

comes to other people having the chance to own their own home, they

:22:43.:22:48.

don't seem to want it. On this side of the House, we want people to have

:22:49.:22:52.

the chance and the opportunity to own their own home. 86% of people

:22:53.:22:59.

want and desire that opportunity. In relation to the rest of the speeches

:23:00.:23:04.

that the back bench members made from the benches opposite. There

:23:05.:23:09.

were eight speeches that were extremely consistent with their

:23:10.:23:11.

front bench because within those eight speeches there was not one

:23:12.:23:17.

idea or anything put forward to try and deal with the issues that the

:23:18.:23:22.

country faces. There was one notable exception. The lady for, the

:23:23.:23:29.

honourable lady for Yardley, made several constructive comments and

:23:30.:23:36.

gave several ideas that we will obviously look at in the context of

:23:37.:23:40.

this debate. Mr Speaker, Britain has come a long way over the last five

:23:41.:23:45.

years. A journey that has taken us from the brink of bankruptcy to the

:23:46.:23:49.

fastest-growing advanced economy in the world. Confidence has returned

:23:50.:23:53.

and living standards are rising. More people are buying homes and

:23:54.:23:57.

house building is on the rise. But we must go further and this

:23:58.:24:00.

Government is under no illusion about the scale of the progress that

:24:01.:24:04.

is required. In the last five years, we have pulled house building up

:24:05.:24:07.

from the record lows of the previous decade and in the next five years we

:24:08.:24:12.

intend to push it up further to levels not sustained since the

:24:13.:24:15.

1980s. The challenges we face today have been many decades in the

:24:16.:24:20.

making. And so, our focus moves us from rescue to reform. We must

:24:21.:24:24.

address the deep structural weaknesses in the way that this

:24:25.:24:28.

country plans and builds for the future, a better housing market will

:24:29.:24:32.

be vital for raising the productivity of our country and

:24:33.:24:36.

rebalancing the economy. Above all, it will ensure Britain is a country

:24:37.:24:41.

of opportunity, where everyone who works hard can realise their dream

:24:42.:24:46.

of homeownership. The housing association tenant, the young family

:24:47.:24:49.

who want to settle down, the retired couple who want to build their own

:24:50.:24:53.

house. They all voted for a better housing market. And that's what this

:24:54.:24:58.

Government is absolutely determined to deliver.

:24:59.:25:03.

THE SPEAKER: The question is as on the Order Paper. As many of that

:25:04.:25:09.

opinion say aye? Aye. Of the contrary no. No! Division, clear the

:25:10.:25:13.

lobby.

:25:14.:25:17.

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