Browse content similar to 24/04/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Order, order. Questions to the Secretary of State for Communities | :00:16. | :00:25. | |
and Local Government. Thank you, Mr Speaker. One person | :00:26. | :00:30. | |
sleeping on the streets is one too many. That is why we commit to | :00:31. | :00:36. | |
spending over ?550 million to tackle homelessness and Ross living in | :00:37. | :00:39. | |
England. This includes supporting projects through our homelessness | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
prevention programme and tackling homelessness and Ross living. -- | :00:44. | :00:51. | |
rough sleeping. Since joining this House and do those I have seen with | :00:52. | :00:55. | |
my own eyes the incredible increase in the rate of people sleeping | :00:56. | :01:01. | |
roughly on our streets. I have seen it in my constituency, in the | :01:02. | :01:04. | |
country and on the doorsteps of Westminster itself were me, only | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
four votes. Kenny Cameron what changed in 2010? -- can he tell me | :01:09. | :01:17. | |
what changed? He will know that statutory homeless accesses his are | :01:18. | :01:23. | |
much lower than their peak in 2003. But there is much more to be done | :01:24. | :01:31. | |
when it comes to rough sleeping. I have seen it here in Westminster as | :01:32. | :01:35. | |
well. The honourable gentleman might know that I said a lot about this at | :01:36. | :01:44. | |
the 50th anniversary conference of Prices last week. I said it is | :01:45. | :01:48. | |
something we must work on much more and it is something we will be | :01:49. | :01:55. | |
doing. Many people are concerned that the general election might | :01:56. | :01:57. | |
result in the delay of implementing the homelessness reduction Bill. | :01:58. | :02:02. | |
Perhaps the Secretary of State can say what progress has been made so | :02:03. | :02:05. | |
far. Given that this is a bill that has cross-party support, can this | :02:06. | :02:10. | |
work not continue during the election period? I would like to | :02:11. | :02:18. | |
assure the honourable gentleman... Firstly, I want to congratulate my | :02:19. | :02:20. | |
honourable friend, the member for Harrow East, for the work he did to | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
bring the bill forward and get it through Parliament. There are still | :02:26. | :02:31. | |
a couple of stages in the Parliamentary process, which we are | :02:32. | :02:33. | |
confident about, but we have already started work with local authorities | :02:34. | :02:36. | |
to make sure that Bill comes into force straightaway. In my home | :02:37. | :02:43. | |
borough of Westminster, including Westminster station, where we see | :02:44. | :02:49. | |
Roth 's the -- rough sleepers, the figure has soared. West Mr Council | :02:50. | :02:56. | |
has cut and slashed the rough sleeping budget. -- Westminster | :02:57. | :03:03. | |
council. Does he believe this will hinder the efforts with rough | :03:04. | :03:10. | |
sleeping? For example, we have delivered 100 million pounds for | :03:11. | :03:15. | |
independent housing units and a grant for rough sleepers. This | :03:16. | :03:21. | |
Government is determined to do more. A few weeks ago, I went to Finland | :03:22. | :03:24. | |
to see what they have done for themselves. The housing bust | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
project. I want to make sure we do more at home. | :03:29. | :03:33. | |
Since 2016, I have led a range of different homelessness foundations | :03:34. | :03:40. | |
which have all received Government funding. Does my honourable friend | :03:41. | :03:43. | |
agree that integration of services are critical in solving this problem | :03:44. | :03:49. | |
and we need backing to solve this problem? | :03:50. | :03:53. | |
I very much agree with my honourable friend. Let me commend the work he | :03:54. | :03:57. | |
is done locally, which is very well-known, to try and bring | :03:58. | :04:03. | |
services together. With Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and Somerset, they | :04:04. | :04:09. | |
will benefit to the tune of ?259,000 from the rough sleeping fund to | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
promote integration. The scale of rough sleeping homelessness in | :04:15. | :04:20. | |
Britain today shames us all. In a country as decent as -- and well off | :04:21. | :04:27. | |
as ours, it is not inevitable. The figure has more than doubled since | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
2010, directly as a result of the decision is conservative ministers | :04:32. | :04:37. | |
have made since then. There are a few simple rules in politics but | :04:38. | :04:41. | |
this is one. With a Labour Government, homelessness falls. | :04:42. | :04:47. | |
Under the Tories, it goes up. And on June eight, people will ask | :04:48. | :04:51. | |
themselves, do we really want more of the same? I say to the Secretary | :04:52. | :04:57. | |
of State, with a new national mission, he need not go to Finland. | :04:58. | :05:02. | |
Before the election, will he commit his party to match our labour | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
commitment and back our Labour plans to end rough sleeping by the end of | :05:08. | :05:13. | |
the next Parliament? Mr Speaker, I know the honourable gentleman and | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
details deeply on this issue, as we do. He should not be playing party | :05:18. | :05:24. | |
politics with it. This, Mr Speaker, is a very serious issue that unites | :05:25. | :05:27. | |
everyone in this House. We all want to see an end to rough sleeping but | :05:28. | :05:31. | |
the honourable gentleman knows as well as I do that the causes of | :05:32. | :05:35. | |
rough sleeping are complex. They are not just economic. There are mental | :05:36. | :05:38. | |
health problems, which in problems and he knows that. We do have | :05:39. | :05:43. | |
lessons to learn but I am sure that if he works with us and we work | :05:44. | :05:47. | |
together, we can all unite in helping rough sleeping for good. | :05:48. | :05:55. | |
This is precisely about politics. This is precisely about the | :05:56. | :05:58. | |
political decisions made in the last seven years. It makes the causes of | :05:59. | :06:02. | |
homelessness or much worse. Rapidly rising homelessness is just the tip | :06:03. | :06:08. | |
of the iceberg on seven years of failure on housing. Rough sleeping | :06:09. | :06:13. | |
doubled. Home ownership down. House-building bowling. Private | :06:14. | :06:16. | |
renters ignored. Housing benefit bills ballooning. Now the lowest | :06:17. | :06:22. | |
number of affordable homes to rent and buy for 24 years. No wonder the | :06:23. | :06:26. | |
Labour Party is ahead in the polls on housing. After seven years of | :06:27. | :06:35. | |
failure, the Tories have no plan to fix the housing crisis. Isn't that | :06:36. | :06:38. | |
why, Mr Speaker, people now desperately need a new deal on | :06:39. | :06:48. | |
housing led by a new Labour Government? I do think if anyone was | :06:49. | :06:51. | |
going to raise the opinion polls today, it would not come from this | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
side of the House. The honourable gentleman continues to surprise us | :06:57. | :07:01. | |
all. I say again to him, let's work together on rough sleeping. It is | :07:02. | :07:04. | |
very easy for the Labour Party to make a commitment to end rough | :07:05. | :07:07. | |
sleeping without having any plans or initiatives, anything and to show | :07:08. | :07:10. | |
what they would actually do about it. We have new ideas, especially | :07:11. | :07:17. | |
when it comes to, for example, the Housing First concept, which we are | :07:18. | :07:24. | |
trialling in Liverpool. He has the opportunity to work with us, if he | :07:25. | :07:29. | |
really means it. We have double the level of small | :07:30. | :07:38. | |
business release to hundreds amid a person -- 100% and made permanent. | :07:39. | :07:45. | |
Councils can provide additional support to businesses facing | :07:46. | :07:51. | |
increased bills. Your's economy is being damaged by | :07:52. | :08:00. | |
the re-evaluations. There has been a rise from 12,000 to 12,500... This | :08:01. | :08:09. | |
is an advertisement businesses previously exempt and now desperate | :08:10. | :08:13. | |
in the city. Some face 600% increases in rateable value. No-one | :08:14. | :08:19. | |
knows how the new relief funds will even be distributed. Total chaos. | :08:20. | :08:24. | |
Can the Secretary of State say why the business rate burden is falling | :08:25. | :08:28. | |
harder on smaller businesses and if he will urgently review the | :08:29. | :08:35. | |
exception level? Mr Speaker, overall, businesses in the North has | :08:36. | :08:37. | |
seen an average fall through the revaluation process. Talking about | :08:38. | :08:46. | |
yorked, since 2010, there has been a 74% fall in unemployment. A 74% fall | :08:47. | :08:52. | |
in unemployment. That is because you have a Conservative yorked lead | :08:53. | :08:55. | |
counsel working with the conservative Government. -- | :08:56. | :08:59. | |
York-led. Is the Minister aware that many | :09:00. | :09:11. | |
Labour-controlled councils are still per serving anti-car policies? Will | :09:12. | :09:15. | |
he remind them of recommendation number nine of the retail review | :09:16. | :09:18. | |
from Mary Portas, which stated that the end available parking, | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
controlled parking, should be made available to high street shoppers? | :09:23. | :09:29. | |
Mr Speaker, as always, my right honourable friend has made a very | :09:30. | :09:32. | |
good point about anti-car policies coming from label councils. Where | :09:33. | :09:38. | |
councils have worked with businesses and taking a pro-car policy, | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
especially with parking, it has helped business and labour can learn | :09:44. | :09:48. | |
a lesson from that. Given a very great concern expressed | :09:49. | :09:51. | |
by small businesses up and down the country about their ability to pay | :09:52. | :09:58. | |
business rate rises, I will give the secondary state -- Secretary of | :09:59. | :10:02. | |
State another chance. What reassurances can he give small | :10:03. | :10:12. | |
busily -- business owners trying to compete against the likes of large | :10:13. | :10:17. | |
retailers like Sports Direct? Two things, I can point to the package | :10:18. | :10:19. | |
my right honourable friend the Chancellor announced that the | :10:20. | :10:27. | |
budget. ?435 million of additional help with rates, including the | :10:28. | :10:29. | |
discretionary fund, for which there will be no delay because of the | :10:30. | :10:33. | |
general election going ahead exactly as planned. The Government has | :10:34. | :10:35. | |
already confirmed the final allocations for local authorities. | :10:36. | :10:40. | |
Local authorities are free to start using the scheme to help local | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
businesses. Secondly, I can point to what my veteran vendor Chancellor | :10:45. | :10:48. | |
said in the budget. I quote, in the medium term, we have to find a | :10:49. | :10:52. | |
better way to tax the digital part of the economy that does not use | :10:53. | :10:55. | |
bricks and mortar. We have to look at the frequency of the revaluation | :10:56. | :11:04. | |
process. Many small businesses in Bury will see a fall in business | :11:05. | :11:09. | |
rates because of the re-evaluation. Because of phasing, it will be some | :11:10. | :11:12. | |
years before they see little benefit. Can I asked my honourable | :11:13. | :11:16. | |
friend to look again at what can be done to speed up the introduction, | :11:17. | :11:22. | |
so they can feel the full benefit. What I can tell my friend is that we | :11:23. | :11:26. | |
have also put in place the transitional relief scheme, worth | :11:27. | :11:35. | |
over ?3 billion which will help businesses across the country, | :11:36. | :11:37. | |
including in his constituency and will speed up the introduction. | :11:38. | :11:42. | |
I Secretary of State engaged me and Belfast City Council is to how we | :11:43. | :11:49. | |
can help business to the deal, he kindly agreed, but sadly events have | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
overtaken our arrangements. Can I ask the secular state with the | :11:55. | :11:58. | |
commitment he has shown to spend these deals to the devolved regions | :11:59. | :12:01. | |
and at that age a continuing theme and something you would like to see | :12:02. | :12:09. | |
continued? 'S Mr Speaker I would be happy to meet the honourable | :12:10. | :12:13. | |
gentleman, I be happy to meet before Parliament breaks. In September 2016 | :12:14. | :12:23. | |
we announced the extension of the local housing allowance exemption | :12:24. | :12:26. | |
for supported housing until April 20 19. We recently consulted on a | :12:27. | :12:30. | |
reform funding model for supported housing, we're not doing this to | :12:31. | :12:33. | |
save money. We want to get the right and improve quality going forward. I | :12:34. | :12:41. | |
thought him for his reply. Telford has an excellent supported housing | :12:42. | :12:44. | |
schemes, many of which I have planned to visit it including one in | :12:45. | :12:50. | |
cake league and one and only. Supported housing costs can often be | :12:51. | :12:55. | |
higher than local housing allowance rates. How would the Government's | :12:56. | :13:02. | |
reforms address this concern? My honourable friend makes a very good | :13:03. | :13:05. | |
point. Last September we announced that we would devolved funding to | :13:06. | :13:10. | |
local authorities so that providers could reflect the higher average | :13:11. | :13:13. | |
costs of supported accommodation. This would give local authorities | :13:14. | :13:17. | |
and has role in commissioning, supported housing in the area. The | :13:18. | :13:24. | |
Secretary of State is aware of the enquiry into funding proposals for | :13:25. | :13:28. | |
supported housing, will he give an assurance that it will reflect very | :13:29. | :13:32. | |
carefully on the overall -- overwhelming evidence we received | :13:33. | :13:36. | |
that says the rates are not an appropriate basis on which to devise | :13:37. | :13:39. | |
a funding scheme for supported housing? That Speaker, I can tell | :13:40. | :13:47. | |
him the Government usually values the role of supported housing, what | :13:48. | :13:51. | |
it plays in the lives of other people, I take very sleazy upon the | :13:52. | :13:57. | |
select committee had to say, I know it might honourable friend gave | :13:58. | :14:00. | |
evidence to it, Simon look at it carefully, I do want to make sure | :14:01. | :14:04. | |
that whatever the final model is, in sense of eyes is and makes sure that | :14:05. | :14:07. | |
providers continue providing this very important type of housing. I | :14:08. | :14:16. | |
famous welcome the commitment to support housing and extra money is | :14:17. | :14:18. | |
devolved to local authorities, but the local housing allowance cap | :14:19. | :14:24. | |
significantly favours London over the regions, for example 99% of | :14:25. | :14:28. | |
tenancies in my region will require top up finding, only 3% in London. | :14:29. | :14:35. | |
Willie Secretary of State agreed to look at this again and make sure we | :14:36. | :14:39. | |
have a system of supported housing that works for everyone? Mr Speaker, | :14:40. | :14:45. | |
I know that my honourable friend takes a strong interest in this | :14:46. | :14:49. | |
area, and does I know he has done so as a member of the department select | :14:50. | :14:52. | |
committee, I have listened to him carefully, others have made similar | :14:53. | :14:57. | |
points to to those he just made during the consultation process, but | :14:58. | :15:01. | |
I can assure him is that we will look at all the responses carefully. | :15:02. | :15:04. | |
I'll make sure the file system works for everyone. The select committee | :15:05. | :15:10. | |
enquiry has received evidence that the Government's approach to | :15:11. | :15:13. | |
supported housing is funny many providers to put new schemes on held | :15:14. | :15:19. | |
and some to blood after -- providing supported housing. When you he | :15:20. | :15:22. | |
accept the damage his policy is doing to the provision of housing | :15:23. | :15:25. | |
for the most vulnerable residents and when will he commit to the | :15:26. | :15:30. | |
funding and certainty to provide the supported homes that we need? Noes | :15:31. | :15:35. | |
it is important that we take a careful look at this policy, | :15:36. | :15:41. | |
precisely because we are one to see a sustainable model that Lisa | :15:42. | :15:44. | |
providers providing enough of these types of homes. That is what this | :15:45. | :15:47. | |
policy is designed to do and when we come out with a final policy, that | :15:48. | :15:53. | |
is what it will achieve. On the 18th of April 20... Debased 50-year | :15:54. | :16:01. | |
tenancies for rent developers, leading housing associations made a | :16:02. | :16:04. | |
similar pledge, we hope this will encourage a shift in the market | :16:05. | :16:06. | |
toward more landlords offering longer tenancies. Thousands of | :16:07. | :16:14. | |
renters across the country will welcome back news. But does the | :16:15. | :16:17. | |
minister agreed that landlords are only half the issue. Getting | :16:18. | :16:23. | |
mortgage lenders 50% of which at the moment do not lend for more than a | :16:24. | :16:28. | |
year AST, to change that policy will be the key to unlocking this and | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
longer tenancies for the future? Years he is quite right to raise the | :16:34. | :16:37. | |
age of security for people in the private sector and if I can identify | :16:38. | :16:40. | |
the issue in relation to lending. Said the Government introduced its | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
agreement with break clauses there is no longer any impediment | :16:47. | :16:49. | |
committee longer tenancies for landlord customers and the majority | :16:50. | :16:53. | |
now permit tenancies for up to two - three years. The minister had | :16:54. | :16:58. | |
recently visited Cambridge, he would see the manifestation of the housing | :16:59. | :17:01. | |
crisis and the number of people sleeping on the streets which so | :17:02. | :17:06. | |
depresses residents. When I visited with the charities recently, later | :17:07. | :17:08. | |
me that landlords are increasingly unwilling to let two people on | :17:09. | :17:13. | |
housing benefit because of insecure employment. With me that cracking | :17:14. | :17:17. | |
down on insecure employment would help us tackle the housing prices? I | :17:18. | :17:23. | |
had the opportunity to visit Cambridge recently, I share his | :17:24. | :17:26. | |
diagnosis of what the problem is. We need to build more homes in this | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
country to give people more choice, and I think is right about our | :17:31. | :17:34. | |
employment market, but I say it is the policies of this governments | :17:35. | :17:37. | |
that have different level records of employment and the national minimum | :17:38. | :17:41. | |
wage is increasing people's any power. Landlords and tenants often | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
mistakenly believed that the Tennessee had to be six was a year | :17:46. | :17:49. | |
renewable when there is no legal impediment to people having longer | :17:50. | :17:53. | |
tenancies. In some cases they do. One of the reasons that doesn't | :17:54. | :17:56. | |
happen as landlords find it difficult to take the position in | :17:57. | :17:59. | |
the wider to buy the House themselves are the tenant fails to | :18:00. | :18:05. | |
pay their rent. With the consider making easier for lasting ties... | :18:06. | :18:11. | |
Encourage longer tenancies? We need to make sure that when a tenant pays | :18:12. | :18:16. | |
anti-socially is behind in rent arrears that nylon can regain | :18:17. | :18:22. | |
possession, but we face pressure in giving increasing number of families | :18:23. | :18:25. | |
in the private rented sector the security they need and reforming our | :18:26. | :18:28. | |
housing market, increasing supply, bringing an new Bill to rent schemes | :18:29. | :18:40. | |
is a key reform. Labour councils like drainage and my own borough are | :18:41. | :18:47. | |
doing fantastic jobs of cracking down on rogue landlords. If he acts | :18:48. | :18:51. | |
the cares about Private tenants, why is this minister blocking borough | :18:52. | :18:56. | |
wide private sector licensing schemes? Is his party still the slum | :18:57. | :19:08. | |
landlords lend? The suggestion that members on the side of the House | :19:09. | :19:11. | |
don't care about these issues is as ridiculous as it is insulting. The | :19:12. | :19:16. | |
work of Labour councils that the shadow minister reversed had been | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
funded this Government. He is factually wrong to suggest that the | :19:22. | :19:25. | |
Government is blocking borough wide selection licenses, I can also point | :19:26. | :19:28. | |
out to him that many reforms were introduced, banning letting agent | :19:29. | :19:35. | |
fees, reform that when the shadow milling was running this department | :19:36. | :19:46. | |
did not put in place. We're committed to protecting abused in | :19:47. | :19:48. | |
the supply of supported housing and his 2011 and we have 1120 3000 user | :19:49. | :19:53. | |
body homes in England. My honourable friend will know we recently | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
consulted RF on funding model, we are keen to press on with its reform | :19:58. | :20:02. | |
as soon as possible. I would like to probe further. An image as a | :20:03. | :20:05. | |
short-term accommodation, such as women's refuges. Does he agree that | :20:06. | :20:09. | |
a totally separate funding stream is essential to an ambition that no | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
victims should be turned away from accessing critical support services | :20:14. | :20:21. | |
by 2020? My honourable friend highlights a very important point. | :20:22. | :20:24. | |
We had been working with this sector to develop options to ensure divider | :20:25. | :20:29. | |
is a short-term accommodation continue to receive the appropriate | :20:30. | :20:32. | |
funding. This may be to a different funding method that than what you | :20:33. | :20:35. | |
have today, but I believe it is vital that this housing receives the | :20:36. | :20:42. | |
protection it deserves and it well. The Secretary of State knows that he | :20:43. | :20:47. | |
has let down elderly people in this country, it is not just supported | :20:48. | :20:51. | |
housing or finding, it is the fact that any constituency like mine we | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
have a magic wand where suddenly student accommodation rises like | :20:57. | :21:02. | |
daisies in the spring. When it comes to accommodation for elderly people, | :21:03. | :21:07. | |
who desperately need it, with an ageing population, he has been | :21:08. | :21:15. | |
nowhere and what he has achieved. Mr Speaker, at the honourable gentleman | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
just missed what I said. Since 2011, 20 3000 units of specialised and | :21:21. | :21:24. | |
general housing have been delivered for vulnerable people. We provided | :21:25. | :21:29. | |
another ?400 million for specialist homes throughout the country. That | :21:30. | :21:34. | |
is the kind of action that takes -- makes results and he should welcome | :21:35. | :21:41. | |
it. In evidence to the joint committee, the National Housing | :21:42. | :21:45. | |
Federation says that LH A was not a competent starting point for a | :21:46. | :21:49. | |
funding model. Izzy wedded to that as a starting point IT considering | :21:50. | :21:55. | |
another option? I can tell me on the lady that when it comes to supported | :21:56. | :21:59. | |
housing, we have just had a consultation which is now closed, we | :22:00. | :22:02. | |
have the number of representations on that, and we want to consider | :22:03. | :22:05. | |
them carefully, but whatever final model is, it will be one designed to | :22:06. | :22:10. | |
make it sustainable for the long-term and provide supported | :22:11. | :22:13. | |
housing that we need. Look forward to hearing the report's response on | :22:14. | :22:17. | |
that and it would be useful to get dates. On the issue of the different | :22:18. | :22:23. | |
types of supported accommodation, does the Secretary of State | :22:24. | :22:27. | |
recognised that placing an arbitrary time at done the leather pants on is | :22:28. | :22:30. | |
in short-term accommodation could have a detrimental effect on their | :22:31. | :22:34. | |
live chances thereafter if they are forced to leave that supported | :22:35. | :22:39. | |
accommodation too soon? Will he allow flexibility in the system for | :22:40. | :22:44. | |
organisations lack like there was my constituency who keep your buffer as | :22:45. | :22:48. | |
long as they need to be there? Mr Speaker, as part of the review and | :22:49. | :22:53. | |
the response of the causal taking, we are considering exactly that | :22:54. | :22:56. | |
point the honourable lady ladies, which is the terms of access to | :22:57. | :23:08. | |
short-term accommodation. In 2015 and 2016, another sex at an 85,000 | :23:09. | :23:13. | |
socially renting households where is currently in arrears had been in a | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
last 12 months, that represents 25% of households in the rented sector. | :23:18. | :23:23. | |
That he is a huge amount, that is nearly a quarter of people in social | :23:24. | :23:26. | |
housing rent arrears. In my constituency in one ward alone, we | :23:27. | :23:30. | |
have nearly half of our social housing tenants. 46% in rent | :23:31. | :23:36. | |
arrears. One thing, of Sark have rise to ?70 because of the benefit | :23:37. | :23:42. | |
cap. Isn't this a damning indictment of seven years of Tory assault on | :23:43. | :23:47. | |
Britain balls struggling families? The first year in which the data was | :23:48. | :23:53. | |
collected, 2011, it was 23.5%, figures are very similar to what | :23:54. | :23:56. | |
they were when we inherited from the Labour Government. This side of the | :23:57. | :23:59. | |
husband believed very clearly that it is completely wrong fork out of | :24:00. | :24:02. | |
what households to receive a level of support far in excess than their | :24:03. | :24:08. | |
working neighbour 's own vinegar to work. Discretionary housing papers | :24:09. | :24:10. | |
are in order, and it would also set out that the level is falling. In | :24:11. | :24:17. | |
2013-2014, Edmonds... The moving in the right direction and she is wrong | :24:18. | :24:24. | |
to oppose the welfare reforms we need to implement. Those tenets any | :24:25. | :24:27. | |
social housing sector don't keep up with their rents are in danger of | :24:28. | :24:31. | |
becoming homeless. Will he paid tribute to councils like Kettering | :24:32. | :24:36. | |
Borough Council who make an absolute priority to help people in those | :24:37. | :24:40. | |
situations from becoming homeless in the first place and in the first | :24:41. | :24:46. | |
five months of this year Kettering Borough Council helped 78 households | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
stay in their present accommodation. I would be very happy to pay tribute | :24:51. | :24:53. | |
to the work that Kettering Borough Council have done, and I also | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
reassure my honourable friend that from the Government was my point of | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
view the protocol for social landlords stresses the value of | :25:03. | :25:04. | |
preventative measures in rent arrears and advises landlords to | :25:05. | :25:08. | |
deploy alternative approaches to eviction where ever possible. Can I | :25:09. | :25:15. | |
ask whether he has had discussions with his colleagues in the DWP have | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
a universal credit and the impact of this is having on many of my | :25:20. | :25:22. | |
constituents who are not being paid for weeks or months on end, | :25:23. | :25:25. | |
therefore going into arrears? This is in addition to victim of bedroom | :25:26. | :25:32. | |
tax. Had he had discussions will he have because it is disgraceful. We | :25:33. | :25:39. | |
have had discussions with DWP colleagues, I make to very be poison | :25:40. | :25:44. | |
the audible member. Universal credit advances are available for new | :25:45. | :25:49. | |
claims. That should be taken up. DWP research shows that after four | :25:50. | :25:52. | |
months, the proportion of universal credit claimants who are in arrears | :25:53. | :25:55. | |
at the start of their claim have followed by a third, so there is an | :25:56. | :25:58. | |
initial problem and the advance claims are there to cope with that, | :25:59. | :26:02. | |
but over time the situation is improving. In Northern Ireland one | :26:03. | :26:08. | |
in three people are just a paycheque away from homelessness, a lesser | :26:09. | :26:11. | |
number than the UK mainland. What sets have been taken to help those | :26:12. | :26:16. | |
on the cusp of homelessness duty the benefit system and hold onto their | :26:17. | :26:21. | |
tennis is? The Government has greatly increased in the discussion | :26:22. | :26:24. | |
housing payments that are available to local authorities to assist those | :26:25. | :26:27. | |
who are affected by weather for reform changes to ensure that has | :26:28. | :26:31. | |
happened, and a visit on the policy is to try and shift the approach to | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
an emphasis on prevention so be prevent people coming statutory | :26:37. | :26:39. | |
homeless in the first place rather than just abiding help at the point | :26:40. | :26:42. | |
of prices. Thank you. This Government is | :26:43. | :26:51. | |
committed to reforming unfair parking practices. We have taken | :26:52. | :26:57. | |
steps to tackle rogue and unfair parking practices with the banning | :26:58. | :27:05. | |
of wheel clamping and towing. We published a response to the | :27:06. | :27:08. | |
discussion paper on private parking in 2016 and I am discovering the | :27:09. | :27:14. | |
points raised. I thank him for as response. In my constituency, the | :27:15. | :27:17. | |
discrepancy between parking on public and private land is causing | :27:18. | :27:22. | |
huge problems for drivers in my constituency and hefty fines, | :27:23. | :27:24. | |
particularly in the area behind Laura Ashley in a town centre. | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
Stopping for two minutes will see you receive a ?60 penalty fine. | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
Could the minister bring forward the recommendations of the consultation | :27:33. | :27:37. | |
to end this unfair practice? My honourable friend is a strong | :27:38. | :27:42. | |
campaigner for her constituents. She raises an important Poyet. -- point. | :27:43. | :27:51. | |
We need clarity on where people can and cannot park. We will look | :27:52. | :27:55. | |
carefully at what she says as we prepare a response to the | :27:56. | :28:02. | |
consultation. Thank you Mr Speaker. 2000 pubs have been listed so far on | :28:03. | :28:07. | |
the assets of community value. That provides communities with a time to | :28:08. | :28:12. | |
bid when it comes onto the market. We are supporting that process | :28:13. | :28:16. | |
further with ?3.6 million through the pub programme. I thank him for | :28:17. | :28:23. | |
the reply. The Northumberland Arms is a much loved local pub in my | :28:24. | :28:27. | |
constituency, which members of the local community hoped to reopen | :28:28. | :28:30. | |
using the community right to bid scheme. Will my right honourable | :28:31. | :28:34. | |
friend lent every possible support and consider joining us for a | :28:35. | :28:38. | |
celebratory pint when it reopens? We could make the same double | :28:39. | :28:40. | |
celebration should the good people of Marple Bridge see fit to return | :28:41. | :28:48. | |
me to this House. It is unthinkable that the people in your constituency | :28:49. | :28:54. | |
will not return my honourable friend. | :28:55. | :28:58. | |
I would be delighted to join him, with a whole ministerial team, to | :28:59. | :29:02. | |
celebrate the community pub that he mentioned, so long as he is buying | :29:03. | :29:15. | |
the pants. -- pints. The Minister has not mentioned what my office has | :29:16. | :29:18. | |
been told by his department, which is the planning Bill is set to fall | :29:19. | :29:25. | |
and therefore the change to pubs protection would not happen. Could | :29:26. | :29:28. | |
we have an assurance that this is not the case? After that wonderful | :29:29. | :29:32. | |
decision support of across the House, we need to make sure this | :29:33. | :29:38. | |
goes through. Mr Speaker, we're hoping to complete that legislation | :29:39. | :29:41. | |
before the dissolution of parliament. That change that he | :29:42. | :29:45. | |
mentions has been broadly welcomed by very many people, including | :29:46. | :29:48. | |
himself, of course, who campaigned on it. Mr Speaker, since April 2010, | :29:49. | :29:58. | |
we have delivered on average over 50,000 affordable homes per year. | :29:59. | :30:02. | |
Many of which were affordable homes to rent. During the previous | :30:03. | :30:08. | |
Government, the average was much less. | :30:09. | :30:13. | |
I expect a number of Members of Parliament and ministers to visit my | :30:14. | :30:21. | |
constituency and NXT weeks. Can I invite him to Flint? You will see a | :30:22. | :30:27. | |
Labour Party Council building houses for rent. Why can't he match that in | :30:28. | :30:32. | |
England? We want more homes of every kind. In | :30:33. | :30:51. | |
Croydon, it was a conservative council started building council | :30:52. | :30:53. | |
houses again after a Labour council failed to do full. -- do so. Will my | :30:54. | :31:01. | |
honourable friend join with me in welcoming the almost 2000 new houses | :31:02. | :31:06. | |
being built in trolley's forged will neighbourhood, including a complete | :31:07. | :31:10. | |
mix of units including council and social rented, as well as low-cost | :31:11. | :31:15. | |
housing? I normally welcome what my noble friend has to say in building | :31:16. | :31:21. | |
homes we so dismally needing this country. Contrary to what we hear | :31:22. | :31:26. | |
from the shadow front bench, there is a widespread consensus that we | :31:27. | :31:28. | |
desperately need to build more homes of every kind to tackle the housing | :31:29. | :31:31. | |
crisis that has been building in this country for the last 30-40 | :31:32. | :31:37. | |
years. The right to buy scheme has allowed a devastating erosion of | :31:38. | :31:40. | |
social housing stock, with 40% of ex-council houses now in the hands | :31:41. | :31:48. | |
of private landlords. With public money going straight into the | :31:49. | :31:51. | |
pockets of these landlords, could be Secretary of State tell the House | :31:52. | :31:55. | |
how much the right to buy scheme has cost the public purse? The right to | :31:56. | :32:01. | |
buy has helped nearly 2 million hard-working people own their own | :32:02. | :32:05. | |
home in this country. Since we reinvigorated the right to buy in | :32:06. | :32:11. | |
2012, we have made a condition of the scheme that each homes sold, | :32:12. | :32:14. | |
we're with a new, affordable home. That to my mind is the right policy, | :32:15. | :32:19. | |
that we help people that have the aspiration to buy their home but | :32:20. | :32:22. | |
also make sure rented homes are replaced. That is what people will | :32:23. | :32:28. | |
get from a Conservative Government. Lytton's housing waiting list is | :32:29. | :32:31. | |
three times higher than in the 1970s when I was vice-chairman of the | :32:32. | :32:34. | |
housing council. The housing stock has been cut in half in that time | :32:35. | :32:39. | |
from compulsory sales. Isn't it true that only a Labour Government, led | :32:40. | :32:43. | |
by my right honourable friend from isn't in North, could ensure that | :32:44. | :32:50. | |
people have a decent place to live? People can go back at the record of | :32:51. | :32:53. | |
the last Labour Government from 1997 until 2010. How many council homes | :32:54. | :32:59. | |
were built then? What level of house building that we inherit from the | :33:00. | :33:04. | |
Labour Government in 2010? The truth is that he's building in this | :33:05. | :33:06. | |
country has been increasing under this Government and are certainly | :33:07. | :33:10. | |
still things to do. We're the party committed to building more homes for | :33:11. | :33:14. | |
people to buy and rent privately, and more affordable homes for people | :33:15. | :33:18. | |
to rent. If we want a solution to the housing crisis, it is this party | :33:19. | :33:26. | |
that is offering it. Mr Speaker, my department regularly | :33:27. | :33:29. | |
meets with housing associations to discuss how we can help keep the | :33:30. | :33:33. | |
affordable and increase the supply of new homes. Our housing white | :33:34. | :33:35. | |
paper has been welcomed by the sector and we look forward to many | :33:36. | :33:42. | |
more productive discussions on this. Will he agree with me that the | :33:43. | :33:45. | |
future rent policy should not only guarantee affordability but for | :33:46. | :33:50. | |
long-term certainty for the housing associations so that they do deliver | :33:51. | :33:54. | |
those new homes that we need? I do agree with my honourable friend. It | :33:55. | :34:00. | |
is an excellent point. Housing Association is currently account for | :34:01. | :34:02. | |
about one third of total housing supply. We want a situation where | :34:03. | :34:07. | |
they can borrow even more against that future income to build even | :34:08. | :34:09. | |
more homes. This is something in the housing white paper and we intend to | :34:10. | :34:23. | |
build on it. Mr Williams? Not here. Number 12, please, Mr Speaker. | :34:24. | :34:33. | |
Thank you, Mr Speaker. Adult social care funding is distributed | :34:34. | :34:39. | |
according to the area is required with a well established formula. The | :34:40. | :34:45. | |
budgets take into account the ability of a council to raise money | :34:46. | :34:50. | |
through the social care preset. Thank you for that response but I am | :34:51. | :34:56. | |
sorry, you're wrong. The formula is broken. South Tyneside Council are | :34:57. | :34:59. | |
the third hardest-hit in the country. There is a higher than | :35:00. | :35:04. | |
average demand for social care with hospital services under threat from | :35:05. | :35:09. | |
this Government's plans. Isn't it simply true that this Government | :35:10. | :35:12. | |
created the social care crisis, cannot solve it and our constituents | :35:13. | :35:17. | |
are suffering? I can say to the honourable lady | :35:18. | :35:20. | |
that her assessment is completely wrong. ?9.25 billion of extra | :35:21. | :35:26. | |
funding councils will have access to over the next three years. In terms | :35:27. | :35:36. | |
of money directly from the Government, areas like the Lady's | :35:37. | :35:43. | |
will receive more money from the Government than other areas. | :35:44. | :35:47. | |
Inhalation to council tax, I do not think the honourable lady has space | :35:48. | :35:52. | |
to talk about that because council tax double during the time of the | :35:53. | :35:56. | |
Labour Party and Government. Since 2010, it has gone down 9%. | :35:57. | :36:03. | |
The answer in relation to the former is absolutely right. Will he also | :36:04. | :36:06. | |
accept that another variable, perhaps of greater practical | :36:07. | :36:11. | |
concern, is the variation and willingness of the Health Service to | :36:12. | :36:13. | |
work jointly with local authorities to maximise the integration of the | :36:14. | :36:18. | |
funds? Local authorities are well used to joint working and democratic | :36:19. | :36:22. | |
accountability. There is not this in history am afraid in regards to CCGs | :36:23. | :36:27. | |
and other health institutions. What will he do about that? I have great | :36:28. | :36:31. | |
respect for my honourable friend, who has considerable knowledge in | :36:32. | :36:35. | |
this area. He is absolutely right. We need to make sure that health and | :36:36. | :36:41. | |
so the works far more collegiate lay -- closely and work harder to make | :36:42. | :36:46. | |
sure services are integrated. In a today that an -- we a to do that at | :36:47. | :36:55. | |
a national level and we want to see for local people. | :36:56. | :36:59. | |
The social care preset means that funding available for social care is | :37:00. | :37:03. | |
increasingly dependent on a local authority's tax base. In 2017 2018, | :37:04. | :37:12. | |
there will be 9 million of additional funding in Sheffield, | :37:13. | :37:14. | |
compared with over 31 million for Surrey. Does the Minister think that | :37:15. | :37:21. | |
is fair? I would say to the honourable gentleman that he should | :37:22. | :37:25. | |
look at the allocations for the ?4.5 billion social care funding that is | :37:26. | :37:29. | |
coming to local authorities directly from Government. That absolutely | :37:30. | :37:34. | |
takes into account the fact that certain places can raise far more in | :37:35. | :37:41. | |
council to. And from the social care preset. I wish you would recognise | :37:42. | :37:50. | |
that. Many care homes up and down the | :37:51. | :37:53. | |
country are relying from care workers from the EU. Estimates show | :37:54. | :38:00. | |
100,000 workers. What reassurances can be given that when Britain leads | :38:01. | :38:02. | |
the EU, care homes will be adequately staffed and there will be | :38:03. | :38:09. | |
appropriately trained care workers? I can reassure the honourable lady, | :38:10. | :38:14. | |
who makes a very important point, that my honourable friend in the | :38:15. | :38:21. | |
Department for health has met with those care providers. So has my | :38:22. | :38:27. | |
writable friend met with care providers, as I have myself, because | :38:28. | :38:30. | |
this is an extremely important situation. We have to make sure we | :38:31. | :38:34. | |
have enough care workers going forward to support the most | :38:35. | :38:38. | |
honourable people in our society. Question 13, please, Mr Speaker. | :38:39. | :38:44. | |
The Northern Powerhouse is central to our plans for an economy that | :38:45. | :38:48. | |
works for all. In these last few months, we have published the | :38:49. | :38:50. | |
Northern Powerhouse strategy and launched the second Northern | :38:51. | :38:54. | |
Powerhouse investment portfolio. We are validated over half ?1 billion | :38:55. | :39:02. | |
in investment. -- allocated. Committed tens of millions to | :39:03. | :39:05. | |
cultural investment in the North. And we have been providing funds... | :39:06. | :39:18. | |
With Regional Growth Fund money and record levels of employment being | :39:19. | :39:25. | |
achieved in my constituency, will the Minister ensure the Northern | :39:26. | :39:28. | |
Powerhouse investment fund builds on the success and make sure the power | :39:29. | :39:32. | |
of the powerhouse for years to come? Absolutely. I pay tribute to my | :39:33. | :39:36. | |
honourable friend for the work he does with the local economy. There | :39:37. | :39:43. | |
has been ?694 million of Government funding for local growth funds. The | :39:44. | :39:48. | |
new ?400 million investment fund is there specifically to support | :39:49. | :39:50. | |
smaller, medium-sized businesses across the North that want to grow | :39:51. | :40:01. | |
and expand. Thank you, Mr Speaker. The north-east should be the | :40:02. | :40:05. | |
powerhouse for our country's manufacturing and exporting | :40:06. | :40:08. | |
Renaissance, with a workforce that takes pride in making and building | :40:09. | :40:12. | |
things. Why is it then that the so-called industrial strategy and | :40:13. | :40:18. | |
Northern Powerhouse, so-called, does so little to invest in the jobs and | :40:19. | :40:20. | |
infrastructure that north-eastern needs? -- that the north-east. One | :40:21. | :40:28. | |
of the reasons that people in the north-east has lost their faith in | :40:29. | :40:32. | |
the Labour Party is that the never have anything Paul verse of -- | :40:33. | :40:37. | |
positive to say about the North. All they do is talk down the North and | :40:38. | :40:41. | |
Northern people. Look what is happening. Millions of pounds of | :40:42. | :40:45. | |
Government investment in the north-east. She might not want to | :40:46. | :40:47. | |
talk about Newcastle but I will because it is leading this country's | :40:48. | :40:52. | |
economic recovery. On that note, Mr Speaker, Lancashire | :40:53. | :41:00. | |
County Council has continually blocked an enterprise zone in | :41:01. | :41:08. | |
Morecambe and Lonsdale. With the Minister like to come to delight | :41:09. | :41:13. | |
during this election and listen to the businesses who want the business | :41:14. | :41:18. | |
park? I would be like to do that and I plan to visit 20 of constituencies | :41:19. | :41:21. | |
during this election period. I will visitors. The Secretary of State has | :41:22. | :41:27. | |
already visited. The enterprises are making a real difference to economy | :41:28. | :41:31. | |
is in the north. 9000 jobs have been provided on them, so I will | :41:32. | :41:33. | |
certainly visit. The Manchester evening News reported | :41:34. | :41:42. | |
on a weekend the pressure from the Conservative backbenchers to scrap a | :41:43. | :41:47. | |
two to fund the Brexit bell. Can you minister confirm that it will go | :41:48. | :41:52. | |
ahead to the time and budget outline? Has been no change to | :41:53. | :41:58. | |
discover and's policy on HS two, and I would remind him that in addition | :41:59. | :42:03. | |
to that there is ?13 billion of other investment and we will see | :42:04. | :42:06. | |
early two years in the current Pennine lying in particular new | :42:07. | :42:13. | |
carriages, new services, held new passenger experience, over ?2 | :42:14. | :42:17. | |
billion of investment in that supported trans-Pennine route is | :42:18. | :42:20. | |
happening under this Government. We'll also see the Northern Rail | :42:21. | :42:23. | |
franchise operating on an improvement basis I like under the | :42:24. | :42:26. | |
new improvement basis when it was run by the Labour Party. It is | :42:27. | :42:36. | |
essential that local plans start from an honest assessment of housing | :42:37. | :42:40. | |
needs, and as we set out housing white paper we introduce a standard | :42:41. | :42:48. | |
to ensure that is the case. Queue is seeking to grab this question with | :42:49. | :42:55. | |
16. He can? He well. He's doing it. Methodology used by the council has | :42:56. | :43:02. | |
brought a housing target that has threatened to... If the tenders of | :43:03. | :43:08. | |
method proves my community's suspicion that the target is | :43:09. | :43:12. | |
excessive, Candace override the current target and help save this | :43:13. | :43:17. | |
important green area in my constituency? The methodology will | :43:18. | :43:21. | |
reveal what the real level of housing need is. There are local | :43:22. | :43:23. | |
authorities across the country that used to build more than they need | :43:24. | :43:27. | |
because their permission to grow, and that is a legitimate debate, but | :43:28. | :43:31. | |
is consistency should be aware of what the level of leaders. The white | :43:32. | :43:36. | |
paper makes it clear that green belt land should only be released under | :43:37. | :43:39. | |
exceptional circumstances when all other options for meeting housing | :43:40. | :43:44. | |
needs has been pursued. It has played here Brownfield sites and | :43:45. | :43:51. | |
others not yet built, how can we ensure that low demand in areas like | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
Pendle are better reflected in housing targets? That is exactly the | :43:57. | :43:59. | |
purpose of the new methodology that we are planning to introduce. The | :44:00. | :44:03. | |
level of housing need that we plan for should reflect what the real | :44:04. | :44:06. | |
market demand for housing need is in an area. Mr Speaker, in the past | :44:07. | :44:14. | |
year we received presentations from residents and the old party | :44:15. | :44:20. | |
Parliamentary group,. Goes back and was published in the 20th of April | :44:21. | :44:24. | |
at addressing the concerns include in charges, site management and | :44:25. | :44:28. | |
harassment. Will he remove the temptation which prompt those park | :44:29. | :44:33. | |
owners that have neither the social norm managerial skills to make a | :44:34. | :44:38. | |
success of it to maximise their sales revenue commission by bullying | :44:39. | :44:48. | |
residents so as to secure a higher turnover of such residents? Bullying | :44:49. | :44:52. | |
and harassment is not acceptable in any form which is why we introduced | :44:53. | :44:56. | |
the mobile homes act, which gives local authorities greater powers but | :44:57. | :45:01. | |
we will busy listen to the to see further action is required to stop | :45:02. | :45:09. | |
the kind of behaviour he describes. White paper sets our measures to | :45:10. | :45:14. | |
increase moderate levels of construction and house-building, | :45:15. | :45:18. | |
which will of a huge opportunities beat up our houses are built and | :45:19. | :45:23. | |
improve the quality of the bills. The Castle recently approved buying | :45:24. | :45:31. | |
permission... To have the highest court in sustainable homes built | :45:32. | :45:34. | |
using modern construction methods. But the minister agree that it is | :45:35. | :45:37. | |
vital that the developers of this site are held to this vision of | :45:38. | :45:41. | |
what's a boy can he give to ensure that this happens? Honourable friend | :45:42. | :45:47. | |
has -- an outstanding member of his community and I would be very happy | :45:48. | :45:50. | |
to meet with him to talk about how the Government can persist both in | :45:51. | :45:53. | |
terms of the infrastructure and the mix of housing and the proposed | :45:54. | :45:57. | |
scheme goes through the planning process. The rusting Lake | :45:58. | :46:03. | |
development in my constituency is having more than construction | :46:04. | :46:07. | |
methods, creating hundreds of jobs, and it is an extension to this which | :46:08. | :46:13. | |
has been approved unanimously by Northamptonshire Council which was | :46:14. | :46:15. | |
submitted to the Secretary of State for approval on the 4th of April. | :46:16. | :46:19. | |
The council's concern is that because the election this might not | :46:20. | :46:22. | |
give enough time for it to go through. What is the position? The | :46:23. | :46:28. | |
Government is now an purdah, so further decision cannot be taken but | :46:29. | :46:31. | |
this is an issue that the new Government can look at straightaway, | :46:32. | :46:34. | |
it is to my honourable friend's credit that they are one of the | :46:35. | :46:37. | |
parts of the country that is determined to build the homes that | :46:38. | :46:46. | |
we so desperately need. We are supporting our high streets to | :46:47. | :46:49. | |
thrive as consumer habits change, we've introduced the biggest ever | :46:50. | :46:54. | |
cut interest rates with six point billion... In Gloucestershire. We | :46:55. | :46:57. | |
are also celebrating our high streets or the use that may choose a | :46:58. | :47:02. | |
successful British ICI was which members of on all sides of this | :47:03. | :47:11. | |
House supported. A treasured area high Street now independent shops | :47:12. | :47:16. | |
are all losing customers to two loss killed regeneration was I in many | :47:17. | :47:19. | |
others believe the evaluation of the student reduce business rates for | :47:20. | :47:25. | |
these shops, and that their landlord should also discount their rent, | :47:26. | :47:28. | |
especially as they have caused the shortfall. What does my right | :47:29. | :47:31. | |
honourable friend that the evaluation office you do? And sure | :47:32. | :47:38. | |
it is just a matter of time. Businesses are fully entitled to | :47:39. | :47:41. | |
make the case for a temporary reduction in their rateable value, I | :47:42. | :47:46. | |
do know since -- the area very well, but I would advise the businesses to | :47:47. | :47:51. | |
do is contact the local evaluation offers and discuss their win in the | :47:52. | :47:56. | |
rateable values can be amended. At the minister is well aware, there | :47:57. | :48:01. | |
has been a cigarette increase in begging on Scunthorpe I stated last | :48:02. | :48:04. | |
two years, and the police at local authority and the course between | :48:05. | :48:07. | |
them don't seem to be held to roll up their sleeves and sort this | :48:08. | :48:11. | |
problem out despite trying very hard in different ways. What is the | :48:12. | :48:14. | |
Government going to do to make sure the right powers and the right place | :48:15. | :48:20. | |
to tackle this issue? 'S I will begin by congratulating him on his | :48:21. | :48:25. | |
marathon success yesterday. For such a young man, he did it in such a -- | :48:26. | :48:31. | |
an interesting time. He deserves full credit. It is a problem fully | :48:32. | :48:35. | |
aware of on Scunthorpe which to town centre I think is on the way back, | :48:36. | :48:40. | |
and having to discuss with him for that what we can do across | :48:41. | :48:43. | |
Government to help deal with that particular problem. Traders in | :48:44. | :48:48. | |
Cleethorpes high Street and elsewhere in the resort are | :48:49. | :48:50. | |
particularly concerned following the decision by north east council which | :48:51. | :48:56. | |
is Labour-controlled to close a number of public toilets and refuse | :48:57. | :49:01. | |
to repair others. It is having a detrimental effect. I know that as | :49:02. | :49:04. | |
the coastal communities minister he would want to look favourably on | :49:05. | :49:09. | |
future request for finding, so that these amenities can be improved. It | :49:10. | :49:13. | |
is a delight to get a question from other neighbour. It is the case that | :49:14. | :49:21. | |
cross-linking's area it is bubbling public tiles. We really allocated | :49:22. | :49:26. | |
?20 million to Northern Powerhouse projects and be a further round of | :49:27. | :49:31. | |
bidding in it to work, and if the local coastal team want to come and | :49:32. | :49:39. | |
propose that, we will look at it. Refugees provide vital support for | :49:40. | :49:44. | |
victims of domestic abuse. Said 2014 we have invested over 30 the million | :49:45. | :49:51. | |
powers to services including refugees. We expect local heirs to | :49:52. | :49:55. | |
assess their needs and provide services and support to meet that | :49:56. | :50:00. | |
need. I have one refuge for women in my area. With 17% of specialist | :50:01. | :50:07. | |
refugees in including losses 2010, what is the Government doing to | :50:08. | :50:10. | |
protect this vital lifeline for women and children? This is an issue | :50:11. | :50:16. | |
that this Government takes extremely seriously. No person should be | :50:17. | :50:21. | |
turned away from the support they need. In February we are announced | :50:22. | :50:25. | |
that 76 projects across the country will receive a share of ?20 million | :50:26. | :50:29. | |
to support victims of domestic abuse, creating 2000 that active has | :50:30. | :50:36. | |
done to bed spaces giving supporter of 19,000 victims. Including | :50:37. | :50:44. | |
additional funding to our own area. In the past few weeks we have set | :50:45. | :50:51. | |
out plans to crack down on rogue landlords, we've unveiled a ?40 | :50:52. | :50:54. | |
million cash boost for Britain's hasn't really is. We listen to some | :50:55. | :50:58. | |
of the concerns around business rates evaluation and responded with | :50:59. | :51:03. | |
a package. However, contrary to previous promises, I can no longer | :51:04. | :51:07. | |
expect to deliver 100% business rates retention by the end of this | :51:08. | :51:10. | |
Parliament. That is simple and contained in this parliament will | :51:11. | :51:13. | |
now be coming around rather sooner than I thought. We welcome the award | :51:14. | :51:22. | |
of ?9.5 million, specifically for transport improvements and other | :51:23. | :51:26. | |
priority for the council is to develop a back office hop to improve | :51:27. | :51:32. | |
services and save cost. What more can the Government do to assist with | :51:33. | :51:41. | |
that? I enjoyed my visit to his beautiful constituency last week. I | :51:42. | :51:47. | |
think the idea of a bank offers Hub is a good one, and what it does is | :51:48. | :51:52. | |
highlight the Conservative councils cost you less but the Livermore. If | :51:53. | :51:56. | |
local people want to see this around the country, they should vote | :51:57. | :52:02. | |
Conservative. The minister will know that since 2010, the Tories have | :52:03. | :52:11. | |
stolen 40% of my cousin's ground and 40 the sex percent of another grand. | :52:12. | :52:18. | |
The victims of this crime was they the hard-working people in the area. | :52:19. | :52:22. | |
With the minute I like to take this opportunity to apologise to them for | :52:23. | :52:29. | |
this shabby Conservative prime? The honourable gentleman raises an | :52:30. | :52:34. | |
interesting question seeing as his party said they would be not one | :52:35. | :52:38. | |
more penny for local government. That said, has the audible gentleman | :52:39. | :52:43. | |
has heard, we are putting additional access to ?9.25 billion for adult | :52:44. | :52:47. | |
social care, during the next two years, as his area will benefit from | :52:48. | :52:52. | |
that. Kettering is a wonderful place to live... Some rural parts of the | :52:53. | :53:01. | |
borough are blighted by inappropriate and illegal | :53:02. | :53:04. | |
development by Gypsies and Travellers. This is especially | :53:05. | :53:07. | |
galling when many commuters in Kettering do far more travelling | :53:08. | :53:11. | |
than so-called travellers ever do. If there were a planning policy for | :53:12. | :53:16. | |
black people in planning policy for white people, they would rightly be | :53:17. | :53:20. | |
outrage in this country. Why do we have special planning provisions for | :53:21. | :53:29. | |
Gypsies and Travellers? Can I first say that Kettering is indeed a | :53:30. | :53:34. | |
wonderful place. I understand that unauthorised encampments can cause | :53:35. | :53:37. | |
distress for local communities and my honourable friend will know that | :53:38. | :53:40. | |
since 2010 the Government has made a number of changes that are designed | :53:41. | :53:45. | |
to help with illegal and are not writing tablets but I agree with him | :53:46. | :53:48. | |
that more can be done and I'd be more than happy to sit down with him | :53:49. | :53:53. | |
and listen to what ideas he has. He will be aware of the report into | :53:54. | :54:00. | |
social care, a lot of attention given to finding. But also to the | :54:01. | :54:05. | |
state of care workers who provide this important service. The | :54:06. | :54:08. | |
committee heard that nearly half the workers leave within a year of | :54:09. | :54:13. | |
getting a job, half on the row contracts, many don't get paid | :54:14. | :54:16. | |
travelling time in contradiction to the minimum wage legislation and 27% | :54:17. | :54:21. | |
don't get any training in dementia before the clout to deal with people | :54:22. | :54:25. | |
with that condition. Isn't there a case for a developing well paid a | :54:26. | :54:32. | |
well-trained workforce, utilising ethical care charter as a basis for | :54:33. | :54:40. | |
that? I welcome the select committee's work in this important | :54:41. | :54:43. | |
area and I will listen carefully to the final research that they come up | :54:44. | :54:50. | |
with, the audible gentleman but know that more funding is helpful and the | :54:51. | :54:55. | |
local governments to refer to that earlier, but they need to be some | :54:56. | :54:58. | |
longer term changes that make the whole set more sustainable and that | :54:59. | :55:06. | |
includes skills. I'm pleased that parishes and town councils in my | :55:07. | :55:09. | |
constituency I getting on with their neighbourhood plans. Does my right | :55:10. | :55:12. | |
honourable friend agree that Cornwall Council must address the | :55:13. | :55:17. | |
community given priority is to open up more options for local people who | :55:18. | :55:23. | |
are facing difficulties in finding suitable housing? I'm delighted to | :55:24. | :55:28. | |
hear of the work that my honourable friend has been doing promoting | :55:29. | :55:31. | |
neighbourhood planning. She is a powerful champion for South East | :55:32. | :55:35. | |
Cornwall. She is right that Cornwall county council needs to work with | :55:36. | :55:39. | |
these neighbourhood plans to help local communities deliver the | :55:40. | :55:46. | |
visions they set out. Is icon the honourable member for listing, part | :55:47. | :55:48. | |
I may congratulate the honourable lady as she is one of several | :55:49. | :55:52. | |
members who magnificently ran the marathon yesterday. Maybe feeling a | :55:53. | :55:58. | |
cation today, but not too tired to stand up and asked a question. We | :55:59. | :56:06. | |
are grateful. Value, Mr Speaker. I have to say I'm eminently glad that | :56:07. | :56:10. | |
I am here today and I don't have do Bob, because I think that might just | :56:11. | :56:15. | |
be beyond me. That is bigger, the rise in hate crime follow the UK's | :56:16. | :56:18. | |
vote to leave the EU has shocked us all. The rhetoric on this Tory | :56:19. | :56:23. | |
Government on immigration will do nothing to assist integration and | :56:24. | :56:28. | |
cohesion. What discussion at the UK Government had with ministers from | :56:29. | :56:31. | |
the Scottish Government regarding the case in the door? Will he commit | :56:32. | :56:36. | |
to make sure that the policies in his party's manifesto but not seek | :56:37. | :56:38. | |
to divide people along those lines? I would also like to congratulate | :56:39. | :56:48. | |
the honourable lady what she achieved yesterday. And all the | :56:49. | :56:51. | |
people who raised so much money for so many good causes. The issue she | :56:52. | :56:55. | |
raises is an important one. We are taking the Casey review seriously. | :56:56. | :57:01. | |
It shows the need for a new integration strategy to make sure | :57:02. | :57:05. | |
that we do everything we can to work together across this House, | :57:06. | :57:08. | |
including with people in Scotland and other parts of the UK, to make | :57:09. | :57:12. | |
sure that we bring this nation together and reduce those people | :57:13. | :57:21. | |
that face isolation. With my right honourable friend confirmed that he | :57:22. | :57:28. | |
intends to increase the weight given to certain neighbourhood plans, and | :57:29. | :57:31. | |
though he indicate the same weight will also be given to an emerging | :57:32. | :57:38. | |
five-year land supply? I am happy to confirm that the ministerial | :57:39. | :57:42. | |
statement, and last upon in the white paper, means plans will not be | :57:43. | :57:52. | |
overruled. I can also say that the white paper contains proposals to | :57:53. | :57:54. | |
help councils demonstrate that they have a five-year land supply in | :57:55. | :57:58. | |
order to uphold the plans they have worked on to produce. Sheffield City | :57:59. | :58:03. | |
Council is leading the way in building much-needed affordable | :58:04. | :58:08. | |
housing through its innovative Sheffield housing company | :58:09. | :58:11. | |
partnership. But across the country, the number of affordable homes built | :58:12. | :58:19. | |
last year fell to the lowest in 24 years. Sheffield is doing its bit. | :58:20. | :58:22. | |
Why is the Government failing so badly to address the Government's | :58:23. | :58:28. | |
housing crisis? Mr Speaker, we're investing record amounts in | :58:29. | :58:33. | |
affordable housing. Since 2010, we have seen 310,000 units, more than | :58:34. | :58:35. | |
that, created throughout the country. If he wants to know what a | :58:36. | :58:42. | |
failure on affordable housing looks like, you need only look at the last | :58:43. | :58:45. | |
Labour Government, which saw a fall of 410,000 units in social housing | :58:46. | :58:53. | |
for rent. The housing white paper has greater expectations of local | :58:54. | :58:56. | |
authorities. How can he keep them building? Mr Speaker, local | :58:57. | :59:01. | |
authorities have a number of key roles. To produce a local plan based | :59:02. | :59:06. | |
on an honest assessment of the level of need. Secondly, to deliver the | :59:07. | :59:10. | |
plan. A new housing delivery test is key in that regard. Butler, local | :59:11. | :59:18. | |
authorities play a crucial role in building themselves. We want to | :59:19. | :59:24. | |
support them doing that, through schemes such as the honourable | :59:25. | :59:28. | |
gentleman opposite referred to. Your Mac surely he is aware of the damage | :59:29. | :59:32. | |
being done to local committees by the cuts in local Government | :59:33. | :59:40. | |
spending. It has affected children centres, centres that had been | :59:41. | :59:44. | |
closed down. They are part of our communities. What will he do to get | :59:45. | :59:53. | |
a bite? -- get it right? Every council around the country has had | :59:54. | :59:56. | |
to find efficiencies to balance the books of the country and build a | :59:57. | :00:01. | |
stronger economy. Some have done that well, mainly Conservative led | :00:02. | :00:07. | |
authorities, and Labour authorities have absolutely failed in that. If | :00:08. | :00:14. | |
people want to see more things being delivered less, for Conservative at | :00:15. | :00:19. | |
the election. Thousands of homes are being built across Northamptonshire. | :00:20. | :00:23. | |
What commitment can he give to local people in my constituency that | :00:24. | :00:26. | |
across-the-board, infrastructure and public services will keep up with | :00:27. | :00:32. | |
new homes being built? Mr Speaker, my honourable friend | :00:33. | :00:38. | |
makes an important point a bit infrastructure and how the right | :00:39. | :00:41. | |
infrastructure can help local people accept more housing. You will know | :00:42. | :00:44. | |
already that local councils can put obligations on developers to deliver | :00:45. | :00:48. | |
certain infrastructure. He will moderate the committee | :00:49. | :00:50. | |
infrastructure levy, which can also help. Teibert also like to highlight | :00:51. | :00:55. | |
the housing infrastructure fund. -- but I would also like. He should | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
make an application to use that fund for his local community. Despite a | :01:01. | :01:07. | |
strong objection from historic England, who like me are worried | :01:08. | :01:13. | |
about the impact on a judge in my local area, Labour councils voted | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
for the controversial plan for 100 houses opposite. Will the Secretary | :01:18. | :01:20. | |
of State not acknowledge the planning system does not allow local | :01:21. | :01:26. | |
committees to have a say against unwanted development? The planning | :01:27. | :01:32. | |
system is built on a high level of community involvement at every | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
stage. Local councils should work with communities in developing | :01:37. | :01:40. | |
plans. My honourable friend raised the issue in relation to councils, | :01:41. | :01:47. | |
we're constituents can have representations on planning | :01:48. | :01:53. | |
councils. In Derby, we're looking at | :01:54. | :01:57. | |
alternative methods of giving help to people sleeping rough, such as an | :01:58. | :02:02. | |
app which will direct and agencies like the Hadley Centre, which helps | :02:03. | :02:05. | |
people who asked living rough. Does my right honourable friend agree to | :02:06. | :02:08. | |
me that initiatives like this can help tackle issues of rough | :02:09. | :02:13. | |
sleeping? Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with my honourable friend. We | :02:14. | :02:21. | |
all want to end rough sleeping in our country and looking at these | :02:22. | :02:24. | |
kinds of new ideas can make a real difference. | :02:25. | :02:27. | |
Following the successful and important meeting last week of the | :02:28. | :02:33. | |
all-party group about unfair, unreasonable abuses, can the | :02:34. | :02:40. | |
honourable member say what plans are to do something about this? What I | :02:41. | :02:46. | |
can tell my honourable friend... Firstly, I commend him for the wiki | :02:47. | :02:49. | |
is done in this area to highlight the abuses that have taken place. I | :02:50. | :02:53. | |
am particularly concerned, and another T-shirt is this concern, | :02:54. | :02:56. | |
about where houses are sold on field. I think this is an | :02:57. | :03:02. | |
unacceptable practice and we will do something about it. The leader of | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
the Conservative group in Eastleigh has already questioned the | :03:08. | :03:11. | |
methodology behind the need for the next 10,000 homes, which could lead | :03:12. | :03:13. | |
to a threatening of 400-year-old ancient woodland. Could the minister | :03:14. | :03:19. | |
outline how, without a local plan, when ancient woodland is under | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
threat, housing numbers can be verified? I hope the housing white | :03:24. | :03:27. | |
paper will help honourable friend into the gas. I know how passionate | :03:28. | :03:30. | |
she is about protecting ancient woodland in her constituency. First, | :03:31. | :03:35. | |
the new methodology will give a much clearer indication of what the real | :03:36. | :03:39. | |
level of housing needed in her area is. Secondly, we propose to increase | :03:40. | :03:42. | |
the protections of ancient woodland. It is a precious resource inherited | :03:43. | :03:47. | |
from previous generations that cannot be easily replaced and that | :03:48. | :03:49. | |
is right that we strengthen protection. Can I thank the Minister | :03:50. | :03:58. | |
for the news that North Devon is to receive two coastal communities | :03:59. | :04:00. | |
grants, totalling more than ?2 million. This was fantastic news. | :04:01. | :04:06. | |
Half a million for the Museum in Barnstaple and 1.5 million for the | :04:07. | :04:09. | |
new water sports centre in Ilfracombe. The Minister is | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
currently coming to see it soon. We join me in congratulating those on | :04:15. | :04:16. | |
the committee who helped to make this happen? And will he agree that | :04:17. | :04:22. | |
North Devon only gets this sort of recognition when it has a | :04:23. | :04:25. | |
Conservative Party MP and Conservative Government? I'll | :04:26. | :04:28. | |
fiercely agree with the latter point, but I want to pay tribute to | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
him for the work he has done in advocating both of those projects. | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
-- I obviously agree. The grants funded a whole host of projects | :04:39. | :04:41. | |
across the south-west and proved that if you want investment to | :04:42. | :04:45. | |
continue, residents in the Southwest will have to vote Conservative in | :04:46. | :04:51. | |
the election. Will my right honourable friend the Secretary of | :04:52. | :04:57. | |
State be Nottingham's Robin Hood to Labour's King John, and ensure that | :04:58. | :05:02. | |
those parts of Nottinghamshire and never forced against their will to | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
join the Sheffield city Mayor roll region? Andy Storey County of | :05:08. | :05:12. | |
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire will be safe under a Conservative | :05:13. | :05:16. | |
Government. It is a matter for the Sheffield region to consult on and | :05:17. | :05:23. | |
what the proposals are. I am unable to say anything in detail on that | :05:24. | :05:27. | |
other than it is really important that residents in areas like | :05:28. | :05:32. | |
Derbyshire make their views known as part of the consultation undertaken | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
by the city region. Happy to take to father questions if each consists of | :05:38. | :05:42. | |
only one sentence. -- two more questions. Thank you for that strong | :05:43. | :05:48. | |
concern regarding freehold titles, affecting my constituency. Would he | :05:49. | :05:53. | |
confirmed he is addressed as for people have already bought, and for | :05:54. | :05:55. | |
the future buyer, would he impose restrictions on the right to buy | :05:56. | :06:03. | |
rules so that they can... ? I am sure that there were few: S colons | :06:04. | :06:17. | |
in that sentence! We have been looking at this issue | :06:18. | :06:18. | |
closely. What I will point my honourable | :06:19. | :06:29. | |
friend to is in a recent white paper, some of the changes we have | :06:30. | :06:32. | |
talked about is making sure local plants take account of all needs, | :06:33. | :06:34. | |
including the needs | :06:35. | :06:35. |