Communities and Local Government Questions House of Commons

Order, order. Questions to the

Secretary of State for Communities

and Local Government. Craig

Mackinlay. Question one, Mr Speaker.

Since 2012 we have invested £174

million in 295 projects with the

coastal communities fund. These are

forecast to help deliver over 18,000

jobs. In my honourable friend's

constituents, £2.5 million has been

provided through the fund to support

economic growth and job creation.

Does my right honourable friend

agree the coastal communities fund

helps to attract more visitors to

our coastal communities so they may

thrive and will he promised to

consider very carefully any future

bid to the fund to restore the front

of Ramsgate Royal Harbour in my

constituency, the only royal Harbour

in the country, to its former glory?

I do agree with my honourable

friend, the £2.5 million already

allocated to his constituency will

help South Thanet thrive and attract

more visitors. I commend him for

securing that funding already know

he is very passionate advocate of

Royal Ramsgate harbour and here's a

meeting coming up with a local

minister where he can discuss these

plans.

The North Sea programme is funded by

EU grants totalling 157 million

euros. What plans as he made for

replacing that funding when the UK

leads?

-- leaves. The honourable lady will

know we have set out plans for the

UK's Shared Prosperity Fund, which

will eventually, when it comes into

place, replace EU funding such as

this funding. Number 20.

We will make it mandatory for

landlords to be part of an ombudsman

scheme and increasing Local

Authorities powers to tackle rogue

practices. We published evidence

seeking views on regulating all

letting and management agencies is

omitted in October.

Can I thank my friend for that

answer and in clamping down on rogue

practices in the private sector, can

I urge him to keep a weather eye on

some of our housing associations who

seem to think they are often above

and beyond the rules and regulations

that govern the private sector.

You

are right to raise the profile of

social housing tenants and this is

why we announced there will be a

Green paper on social housing and a

broad review of issues facing social

housing sector to make sure that

tenants forces are heard and the

housing minister is travelling

across the country to listen to

tenants and to make sure we truly

understand all the issues.

Under the

new council's excellent landlord

licensing, the council since January

the 2013, has issued 2800 notices to

abate serious hazards and the

decision of the scheme was during

months ago, can you make sure that

you do not denied the right to

protection that this scheme affords.

Selective licensing is an important

part of how we can protect people

and we will take a very careful look

at it.

I welcome the government's

plans to reform the lettings market

and also the estate agents market,

given that most firms undertake

lettings and sales, will the

government avoid duplication of

rules and regulators, which could be

expensive for business and confusing

for consumers.

You speak with

experience and he makes a very good

point, and of course we will want to

avoid unnecessary regulation, but he

agrees with the government I think

that regulating letting agents is

necessary and it's good that we are

progressing with it.

Isn't one of

the first lines of defence against

rogue landlords, local government

and health inspectors, so how does

taking axe to local government

finance help tenants were not >>

STUDIO: -- help tenants?

When we

change the law so that local

authorities had more power to

intervene against rogue landlords we

also provided additional funding,

£12 million.

Can the Secretary of

State tell us what steps the

government is taking to encourage

private landlords to offer longer

tendencies?

You make a very

important point, as we fix our

broken housing market, with Simon

Amor people today renting than ever

before -- with so many more people.

It's important we find ways of

making sure more of them are given

longer tendencies and this is

something we are actively looking at

and we will bring forward plans that

will make sure this in the budget.

We have established a building

safety programme and identified all

unsafe aluminium composite material

cladding on English social housing

buildings over 80 meetings and I've

-- 80 metres and we are also looking

privately owned residential tower

blocks, to make sure that

appropriate action is being taken to

give all residents safe.

I thank the

Secretary of State for that reply,

but I want is asking about things

that can be done to prevent fires

from claiming lives in no sprinklers

save lives but only 2% of council

tower blocks have sprinkler systems.

Is the Secretary of State content

with that state of affairs and if

not, for months on from the Grenfell

Tower tragedy, when will he stop

passing the buck and puts printer

systems in place?

It is already the

regulation, any new high-rise

building over 30 metres is required

to fit sprinklers, but in terms of

whether that is appropriate and

whether more can be done, the

appropriate way to look at that is

to the independent building

regulation review on fire safety

that is being undertaken and we will

listen very carefully, no evidence

is being gathered -- I no evidence.

A case in Cannock has highlighted

the issue of building homes in very

close proximity to a licensed

recycling site which handles highly

toxic chemicals, presenting concerns

as to fire safety, would you meet to

discuss the need to insure that fire

safety is a top priority in

house-building as well?

You are

right to raise this issue, and I'm

not aware of the details but I would

happily meet with her and discuss it

further.

Can he tell us what

progress he has made in introducing

compulsory electrical safety checks?

You will know that first of all the

department's responsibilities in

this area are shared with other

departments and I'm working with my

colleague the Secretary of State

there to look into this further but

the building regulation fire safety

review is a broader fire safety

review and I expect it to look at

those issues, as well.

Is it not an

irony that it wasn't that enough

money was not spent on Grenfell

Tower, but that term in pounds was

spent on Grenfell Tower to provide

cladding which caused the whole

problem -- but that £10 million.

Experts have told the debt

sprinklers are not the sole solution

to this issue -- have told me that

sprinklers for the fair are other

provisions that can be made.

I won't

speculate on Grenfell Tower and the

causes of that terrible tragedy, and

I'm sure you understand that, but in

terms of his broader point about

measures which are also important

like fire doors, something we found

in Camden, for example, when fire

safety checks were done, there were

hundreds of fire doors that were not

in place, and there are other

measures alongside sprinklers which

can be taken and should be taken

when necessary.

What redress will be

available to privately sold as in a

private residential block that has

failed fire safety tests where the

company does not have the money to

carry out those works?

First of all

she will know there are redress

mechanisms available, and many of

them do depend on whether the

freeholders are members of a redress

scheme and this is one of the

reasons why we recently announced

the need to manage all agents, to

see what we can do.

Housing

associations like the Guinness

partnership which has housing blocks

in my constituency, will you join

the encoding on them to make sure

they improve on their fire safety --

will you join the in calling on

them. I will.

You are right to point

out the critical role housing

associations play, and I have seen

an excellent response from housing

associations since the terrible

Grenfell Tower tragedy. We will

continue to work with them.

The

Scottish Parliament's local

government issued this morning a

fire safety in Scotland, and amongst

the recommendations and the support

it is giving, unannounced

inspections by the Scottish Fire and

Rescue Service and a national

inventory of all high-rise domestic

buildings in Scotland, would you

support this for England, as well?

I

have listened carefully to what you

have said I have followed the moment

is closely in Scotland and we are

working closely with our Scottish

colleagues to make sure we can share

information and knowledge. As to

whether we would follow similar

steps in England, it's important

that I leave the first part of the

decision-making for the independent

building regulations review. Number

four, Mr speaker.

With your

permission, I will answer this

question together with questions 13

and 17. Temporary accommodation

makes sure that no child is left

without a roof over their head,

homelessness prevention is at the

centre of this, we are spending over

950 mean pounds to prevent

homelessness and rough sleeping --

£950 million. And we also have the

Homelessness Reduction Act.

I asked

the minister what recent estimate he

had made of the recent number of

children in temporary accommodation,

the answer is more than 120,000 in

this country, up 6% since his

government came to power, why?

I

would say, the number of children in

temporary accommodation is below its

peak which was in 2006 but we are

certainly not complacent and that is

why we have put in £402 million to

be flexible homelessness support

grant over the next two years so

that local areas can plan

strategically juju is the number of

people in temporary accommodation.

-- strategically to reduce.

Most of

the costs of this is found from the

DWP, even for households that were,

wouldn't this money be better spent

building and letting council homes

whose rent would be less in half

that of expensive for quality

temporary accommodation? --

households that work.

This is why we

have introduced the flexible

homelessness support grant and are

dissolving £402 million to local

authorities so they can plan more

strategically. The honourable lady

will be please to know that the use

of temporary accommodation in her

area has actually reduced.

The

number of families in temporary

accommodation in Croydon has doubled

in seven years, two thirds of

families right now in Croydon in

local authority housing are in debt

and at risk of eviction, because of

Universal Credit, how will the

minister stop more families in

Croydon on Universal Credit becoming

homeless and spending the winter

months in temporary accommodation?

The latest available figures show

that the number of people in

temporary accommodation in Croydon

is actually reducing and this

government has actually given £1

million to Croydon for the

prevention... Homelessness

prevention trailblazer that they put

in for and I would say to the

honourable lady, this government has

given £870 million in discretionary

housing payments to give to people

who have difficulty in sustaining

their accommodation.

The council in

my area has provided a stellar

performance, but pressure at East

Sussex County Council may lead to a

change in service provision in rural

areas like Wealden. Will you help me

to make sure councillors continue to

deliver superb children's services.

I hear what you have said and we

will get that meeting in the diary.

Child victims of human trafficking

are the responsibility of local

government, and adult victims of

human trafficking are dealt with

nationally, would it not be a good

idea to make children victims of

human trafficking looked after

nationally and we should also free

up money for local government to

look after other children?

You raise

an important point, this is an issue

which is very important and we are

considering very carefully

especially as we come up to the

local government finance settlement

and certainly I hear what you say

and no doubt his views will be

considered as we take this area of

policy forward.

Northamptonshire has

a disproportionately large number of

unaccompanied asylum seeker

children, which is very Spencer, so

will you make sure that

Northamptonshire is getting its fair

share of resources -- very expensive

for the.

I'm aware of the issues

that you are referring to, and you

will know that we have undertaken to

do a fair funding review to see how

local government resources are

distributed and we are still

committed to do that.

Despite the

shocking increases in homelessness

overseen by this government, the

recent National Audit Office that

the minister 's department has not

produced a strategy to tackle

homelessness, when are they going to

come up with a plan so we can

finally see some action for the

120,000 homeless children in Britain

today?

As the honourable lady knows, this

government is doing a significant

amount to change the culture across

the country, and make sure that we

do far more in relation to

prevention, through the Homelessness

Reduction Act. We are confident we

will see significant progress, and

as I said right at the start of this

questions section, we are putting

£950 million into this up to 2020.

Number five.

With your position I would like to

group this with question eight and

14. I have metal corresponded with

every metro mayor in England in the

last month and my right honourable

friend the Secretary of State chairs

and interministerial group to drive

forward its growth.

With the Minister agree with me that

one of the vital role is to be

played by elected mayors like Andy

Street in the West Midlands is to

focus on skills, particularly in

areas like the Black Country, where

we have a lot of young people

without basic skills, to make sure

that they can take the opportunities

that are out there and the jobs out

there and to drive economic growth

in areas like the Black Country?

As

my right honourable friend is aware,

Andy Street is already playing a

vital role in tackling the skills

gap. As he will also be aware, we

are devolving the skills budget from

2019 to support all our metro mayors

as they drive forward skills in

their area.

Mr Speaker, the

Government's devolution to city

region mayors has been a real

success in the West Midlands. If

romp Andy Street announced 2.1

million from the regions created by

the technology industry. Does my

honourable friend agree that

devolution could only bring

prosperity, jobs and a bright future

to the people of my constituency and

across Walsall?

I agree with my honourable friend

that Andy Street is a prime example

of how leadership and accountability

of metro mayors and drive forward

our country's economy. Only this

month he approved a bike sharing

scheme in the West Midlands, so its

move over Boris bikes in time for

street's cycles.

Yes...

Does the Minister support the

innovative work of Andy Street... To

boost the number of houses in the

West Midlands, absolutely key to

economic growth? Intensified the use

of urban areas to take pressure off

our green belt, particularly around

Solihull?

Thank you Mr Speaker. The mayor of

the West Midlands, Andy Street, is

determined to build the houses we

need. We are supporting development

across our country through £2.3

billion housing infrastructure fund,

the outcome of the bidding process

will be available shortly.

CBI the FSB the TUC and many of the

ministers calling the local

government or believe there is a

very strong economic case for

devolved settlement for one

Yorkshire. When the minister was at

working through his ministerial box,

does he ever just thinking might be

on the wrong side of this argument?

The Government has been absolutely

clear, not least in the letter from

my right honourable friend the

Secretary of State on the 15th of

September, that we will not

undermine or unpick the south

Yorkshire devolution deal, which

after all, was legislated for by

this House of Commons. However I

would acknowledge the honourable

gentleman and I have held recent

discussions which have been helpful

and also been clear that completion

of the South Yorkshire deal does not

preclude any other devolution

discussions across Yorkshire.

Responsibility for the health and

work programme has been devolved in

Greater Manchester to the

metropolitan mayor Andy Burnham.

CHEERING

Can I ask the Minister if the

funding which is being made

available, £52 million, including

European structural fund money, will

be continued beyond the period of

the SF funding, that that money will

continue to be made good by the

Government and continue to be

devolved to the Manchester Mayor?

The mayor of Greater Manchester,

Andy Burnham... CHEERING

Got to give them something to cheer

about, is doing an excellent job

driving forward Manchester's

economy. The honourable lady will be

aware recent guarantee was put in

place for all European funding, what

happens after that guarantees a

matter for this house.

Thank you Mr Speaker. More like a

devolution cul-de-sac! Isn't the

truth that devolution... The

Secretary of State could learn

something from this. Isn't the truth

devolution has stored? It's bad news

for those with devolved settlement

but worse news for those in England

who don't have any devolution

settlement whatsoever. When, expect

to see the framework for devolution

in England?

33% of England now has an elected

mayor and is the Conservative Party

that is returning power back from

London to our regions. Unlike the

Labour Party that wants to

nationalise and centralise other

thing, like Citizen Smith I can save

power to the people!

It is clear from what the minister

says that Andy Street is doing a

grand job in the West Midlands, but

what about those areas that have not

got an elected mayor? Can the

Minister assure me that they will be

considered when the Government look

at further devolution project? We

urgently need one in northern

Lincolnshire.

The Government's manifesto committed

to provide clarity across England

for what devolution means for

different administrations, by

setting out a clear devolution

framework. As we set out the next

steps in our industrial strategy,

this is exactly what we intend to

dux, as well as clarifying things

like pound bills for places like

Grimsby.

Bristol is the only city outside

London to make a net contribution to

GDP but we do need money to invest

in infrastructure if we are to make

the most of that economic

contribution. We now have a bid in

for £250 million for the housing

infrastructure fund. Can I urge the

Minister and Secretary of State, who

is very familiar with Bristol and

the needs of the city, to look at

that seriously? The only way we can

unlock investment is to have money.

The mayor of the West of England Tim

Bowles worked closely with the

Government in bringing forward his

housing infrastructure bid. As I

said in answer to a previous

question, the decisions about that

fund will be made shortly.

Question

number six, please.

It is the Magistrates' Courts to

decide whether a custodial sentence

should be imposed for nonpayment of

council tax, taking account of the

particular circumstances of each

case. There has been a slight

reduction in the number of such

cases since 2009-10.

Isn't it time

that nonpayment of an council tax

ceases to be an offence?

How is it right that anyone should

do time for falling into debt?

I certainly agree with the

honourable gentleman that people who

are in genuine hardship should be

supported. That's why there are over

4 million people on local council

tax support scheme payments

throughout the country. But I think

we also need to recognise that every

pound of council tax is not

collected means higher tax bills for

law-abiding citizens who do pay, so

there does need to be a form of and

sanction, but it you need is to be

used proportionally and as the

honourable gentleman can see, the

number of people getting a custodial

sentence is reducing.

Guidance to Local Authorities

advises us to be synthetic to those

in genuine hardship. Does the

Minister believe a custodial

sentence with no right of appeal, no

remission for good behaviour and no

requirement for a presentencing

report shows sympathy for those

struggling to pay their council tax?

Will it lead to more or less

families being in genuine hardship?

I would just say to the honourable

lady that council tax is, in lower

than it was in 2010. And at the time

of the Labour government, the cost

of council tax doubled. As I said to

be honourable gentleman in my

response, 4 million people receive

local council tax support and we're

absolutely clear and published

guidance on 2013 on good practice

and want to make sure those in

genuine hardship are supported and

enforcement is proportionate.

Number seven, sir.

I welcome the development of family

hubs and indeed we know a lot of

areas are already moving towards

this model of supporting children

and families. Local government and

their partners understand the needs

of their communities best and they

should be the ones to determine how

they provide services for families.

As we know, the wheels can fall off

any family wagon at any point, yet

family hubs can be an essential part

of the solution to improve the lives

of children, right up to the age of

18. Does the Minister agree more

local areas should upgrade their

children's centres to family hubs,

so we can do this essential work?

I welcome my honourable friend's

commitment to excellent services for

children and families. Ultimately,

it is up to councils to decide on

the best solution for their area.

What I would say, it's important

that the whole of the family do have

access to the right services to meet

their needs.

On that very point, of the 120,000

children in temporary accommodation

across 77,240 families, 28% are

housed in Paris other than their

own, very often the receiving

borough has no idea that those

children, many vulnerable, are

entering their area. Would he look

at the prospect of providing family

hubs at large-scale temporary

accommodation centres outside home

borrowers?

We're absolutely clear that when

people are placed in temporary

accommodation, access to things such

as schooling is taken into account.

We are also absolutely clear that

where people are moved to a

neighbouring or a different borough

that they should be informing the

receiving borough and support should

be given to those families. I can

tell the honourable lady, though, I

am working to support London

authorities who are working with the

GLA to improve the situation around

temporary accommodation across

London and the procurement of

it.

It is good to hear members from

across the House talking of the

value of early intervention and

family hubs cost I love the Minister

to come to Manchester, to see the

early years delivery model that is

now transforming lives in early

years. We work across the voluntary

and private sectors. But critical to

those family hubs is the support of

the Local Authority. Does he agree

with me that the slash and burn

approach of early intervention

monies is putting children's lives

at risk?

I am aware that under the northern

powerhouse initiative we are putting

in three point £2 million to

Manchester for early intervention.

-- three 2p. I would say to the

honourable lady that the next time I

am up in that neck of the woods, I

would be keen to see what is working

in Manchester. But I can reassure

her that this government is

absolutely committed to early

intervention, both through

children's sectors and the troubled

families programme.

Across swathes of England,

children's services are now in

crisis. Seven years of government

funding cuts to services supporting

families is failing children and

driving councils to the financial

brink. Oh million last week a poll

showed the majority of councillors

in the Minister's on party didn't

back their cuts. When will the

Minister finally admit that there is

a growing emergency in children's

social care and finally take some

action ahead of the budget, to deal

with this major crisis for councils

now?

I can say to the honourable

gentleman that over £200 billion is

being given to Local Authorities up

to 2020, to support local services.

Children's services and early

intervention are amongst that

funding stream. What I would also

say to him is we are absolutely

aware of the challenges in many

areas with providing children's

services and safeguarding and this

government continuing league looks

at ways we can support local

government in this regard.

Number

nine, Mr Speaker.

On the 14th of September we

published a consultation proposes a

new standard approach to assessing

housing needs, this will play a role

in meeting housing ambitions and the

proposed approach will reduce cost

and increase transparency.

I thank the Minister for that

answer. More and more people are

wanting to move to Cornwall to live,

after all, it is the best place in

the UK to work, raise a family or

retire. But that is putting

unprecedented levels of demand on

our housing stock. We currently have

over 20,000 people on the housing

register, and young people are being

priced out of ever owning their own

home. Can the Minister tell me if he

believes if the approach he has

outlined will help to deliver more

housing for local people in

Cornwall?

You are absolutely right, the

starting point has to be an honest

and open approach, with the number

of homes and area needs and that is

what this new assessment will

deliver.

My constituency is a also a

beatable place to live but we have

homes which are not being sold

because they are being sold under

lease arrangement -- is also a

beautiful place. I wonder when the

consultation will announce its

results so our housing market can

get moving once again.

You make a

very important point, we need to

make sure there is fairness in the

system and that is precisely why we

launched the consultation and a

significant number of people

responded and we will respond in due

course.

The housing need white paper

also covers viability assessments

and the use of these by developers

in the consultation it refers to,

developers gaming the system to

avoid contributions like affordable

housing. Would you agree that we

need to look at these assessments,

whether they are appropriate for the

market today and whether they should

be scrapped completely.

As my friend

will know, we are consulting on both

changes when it comes to viability

assessments as part of the local

needs assessment and what we have

said in the housing needs White

Paper, we would expect assessments

to be considered at the time making

stage and that will make sure of

more certainty.

My constituents in

the villages of Kidlington and

others find themselves in a perverse

situation, District Council is

planning to build 400 homes in the

green belt between villages to meet

Oxford's city on merit housing need,

but that lead is now down to go

under the new proposed assessment.

With the minister agreed to meet

with me so I can expend the

situation more fully and tell my

constituency is that their grave

concerns about this plan will be

heard.

Of course, I will meet with

the honourable lady, but when it

comes to green belt we are committed

to retaining the current

restrictions, but they will be

exceptional circumstances -- there

will.

Number ten, Mr speaker.

A

strong Midlands engine is viable >>

STUDIO:

-- a strong Midlands engine is vital

to the country.

I thank the

Secretary of State. Do you agree

that the real focus of the Midlands

engine should be improving east-west

connectivity and a direct rail link

into East Midlands Airport and the

new East Midlands Gateway.

I agree

that transport links are critical to

the success of the Midlands engine,

Midlands connect that improving

connectivity can secure £1 billion a

year boost to the economy and create

300,000 jobs, and the recently

commissioned a Gateway connectivity

study will consider how to achieve

this and it will be looking at the

East Berlin 's airport. -- East

Midlands.

Transport links are

essential if the Midlands engine

will drive the economic growth we

want, so can the Ministry Spain by

his colleagues were allowed the

electrification of the Midland

mainline? -- ministry explain why

his colleagues won't allow.

We have

seen a record investment in

transport infrastructure including

in the Midlands and that includes

the recent announcement that the

government will help with the

Midlands rail hub concept.

The

coastline of my constituency is some

of the most beautiful in the

Midlands, and does my friend share

my hope that the Midlands engine

will travel as far as the

Lincolnshire coast line to invest in

the vital infrastructure we need in

our rural and coastal economies.

I

do agree on many fronts, including

how beautiful her constituency is,

and the Midlands engine travels that

far and she is right to raise the

issue and the challenges faced by

our coastal community and that is

why we're having a fifth round of

coastal communities fund and I would

urge her to get her application in.

The Midlands engine sits as a

organisation, sister organisation to

the Northern Powerhouse, and I

wonder if the Secretary of State in

order to drive economic growth in

Yorkshire and the Humber would be

willing to meet with local MPs to

discuss the future of devolution in

Yorkshire and the Humber.

I did

recently received requests to meet

with Yorkshire and Humber MPs and

also local councillors and I have

accepted that request.

The

government is investing over £9

billion between 2016 and 2021 to

deliver a range of affordable

housing to meet a range of people.

We have confirmed a long-range red

certainty for long-term landlords,

as well. -- rent certainty.

Local

constituencies have welcomed recent

announcements, what is the

government doing to help them in

building more affordable homes?

As I

just noted, part of the £9 billion

is £2 billion that my friend

announced, and in terms of

additional funding for rural

housing, including the certainty of

terms of rent, and I have spoken

with housing association leaders and

they are very positive about these

measures and this will enable them

to build additional affordable

homes.

Will the minister read

something of the history of Harold

Macmillan? He was a Prime Minister

who built houses, but this

government isn't building houses and

certainly not building affordable

houses. When is there going to be an

imaginative plan to build houses?

There have almost been a million

homes built since 2010 and since he

talks about the record, in terms of

affordable homes, in the past six

years, more have been built than in

the first and last ditches of the

last labour government, we won't

take any lectures from Labour on

building affordable homes -- first

and last six years. ...

Trying to

get mortgages and extended lending

terms is very difficult for those

who are struggling to get on the

housing ladder.

We announced an

extra £10 for the help to buy scheme

and a number of other schemes are on

the market, but this is about making

sure that more homes are built and

that is what will drive

affordability.

The city of your

consultation on the local plan

closes tonight, and the city has

failed massively on the tenure that

is needed in the city of York and by

5800 short of statutory guidance,

will the minister make sure that if

guidance is set it is followed.

We

want to make sure that the right

number of homes are built in the

right places and the plan will be

assessed by an inspector.

Question

number 15.

The housing White Paper

fixing our broken housing market and

sets out how we will build the homes

that our country need and we want to

do this by Delbonis a -- by

diversifying those building homes.

Another 5000 homes are plan for

Beauly park at Chelmsford, but we

need a railway station and a bypass,

this is Essex's number one priority

for the housing infrastructure fund,

will the minister meet to discuss

this important infrastructure to

unlock housing?

Of course I know you

are a passionate supporter for new

housing for her constituents and I

will of course meet with her. I'm

not able to comment on any

particular bids but there has been a

lot of interest in the £2.3 billion

in the housing infrastructure fund.

Does the minister agree that we

should be building the houses of the

future, Ciro energy build homes

which are helpful to people on low

incomes -- zero.

Yes, of course, we

should be doing precisely that, what

I would say, of course, since 2010,

we have strengthened the energy

requirements of new homes by 30% and

that hasn't used energy bills by

£200 on average. -- that has reduced

energy bills.

Can you carry a fire

the government's policy on building

on the green belt -- can you

clarify.

We are keeping to the

existing rules and regulations but

there will be exceptions.

Nicholas

Bowles.

It is good to be back. The

government has made remarkable

progress in cutting the deficit from

the 10.5% of GDP that we inherited

in 2010, to 2.5% now, can I

therefore urge everyone to back the

Secretary of State in his call for

special borrowing to put in place

the infrastructure, to unlock the

hundreds of thousands of extra

houses that we need wet -- that we

need?

Of course, we all support the

ambition to build more homes, but

what I would say is that he should

wait for the budget announcement in

terms of any specifics.

Has my

friend made an assessment of the

need for social housing especially

in a new town such as mine in Harlow

and will he look at tax incentives

to make sure that housing

associations can build more social

housing?

I can tell you that the

announcements we have made in terms

of rent certainty as was the extra

£2 million has been hugely welcomed

by housing so -- associations and we

are in constant dialogue with them.

I recently met with my friend from

Chichester, the right honourable

friend from barking, and as I start

I will be holding a Round Table with

local government organisations,

cross-party councillors and chief

officers in November on how we break

down the barriers preventing women

engaging with local politics and

standing to be a counsellor.

Thank

you. Women are disproportionately

affected by services under local

government control and yet just one

in four directly elected mayors and

17% of local authority leaders are

women, and in order to address this

imbalance will the government

legislate for all women short lists

in local government elections?

As I

have said, this is a situation which

we take very seriously in this

government and we want to see more

women representational councils and

we want to see more women

representation on cabinets and I

think the political parties have

very much a part to play and I think

members in this house have heart to

play in terms of encouraging people

to stand for election, we are going

to look at this far more carefully

-- have a part to play.

Can I thank

the minister for meeting with myself

and the member for barking. Can I

suggest introducing... Childcare

policies to encourage more women

candidates to come forward.

I thank

my friend for the meeting and the

work she has done in this area with

the society, and as I said, in the

response to the previous question,

this is an area we will look at very

carefully and I'm sure my honourable

friend will bring these ideas to the

table when we meet in November.

Topical question.

Topical question

number one.

The Secretary of State.

Since my last department or

questions, I have asked all private

landlords to clamp down on rogue

management and plans to improve the

buying and selling of homes and

everyone who works I'd should be

able to buy a place they call their

own and we will do everything to

make this vision every other -- make

this vision a reality.

People cannot

grasp his reluctance to accept that

sprinters are necessary fire safety

preventative measures in tower

blocks, but he has turned down

requests from housing to pay for

them. We don't need another review,

we need common sense.

The honourable gentleman says about

the coroner... It's worth reminding

him the then Housing minister, when

he was asked about the Government

paying for sprinklers, he responded

in Parliament that the resources

Local Authorities receive should

enable them to implement necessary

fire measures. There is no new

money. What this government has said

is that we will help every Local

Authority with any essential fire

safety measures.

My interest is a member of Kettering

Borough Council. The acute financial

pressures could be substantially

addressed by imaginative reform of

local government structures in the

county, including establishment of a

combined social care and health

commissioner. Would my right

honourable friend confirm he is

open-minded to such suggestions?

My honourable friend is quite right

to raise this, there are councils

already that have come together and

put forward proposals, we are

considering them all carefully. If

Northamptonshire were to come

forward, I would look at it

carefully.

Three and a half million families

with a variable rate mortgage face

higher costs if the bank of England

rate this week. Why is the

Government, at this time of all time

is scrapping support for mortgage

interest payments.

This government has made it very

clear in our ambition to have more

people own their own homes. There's

a number of areas of intervention,

one of the most prominent is the

help to buy scheme. There are

hundreds of thousands of people who

otherwise may not have been able to

buy a home. Ultimately, if he like

me wants to help more people buy

their own hands, he should support

this government with its white paper

and other measures we take.

Homeownership is a 30 year low and

he doesn't seem to appreciate

126,000 households including 60,000

pensioner households get help from

the current scheme. From April day,

and anyone else struggling with

their mortgage costs will be offered

alone and alone is no good if you

are already struggling with the loan

that you have got. Under Labour,

with our mortgage rescue scheme,

help was there when it was needed an

families facing repossession.

Honourable gentleman laugh from the

other side. Can I say to the

Secretary of State who take this

more seriously, will he use the

budget to scrap the Government

current changes back instead a new

homeownership guarantee scheme as

Labour proposed that the election?

The right honourable gentleman talks

about what happened under Labour

when it came to housing.

Let me

remind him, when he was they housing

minister, house-building felt almost

its lowest level for nearly 100

years. The number of social units

available for rent declined by

410,000 units. So we won't be taking

any lectures from the right

honourable gentleman.

Will be Secretary of State look at

what can be done to lift restrictive

planning conditions that are holding

back long-term economic growth?

Planning condition should of course

only be imposed where they are

necessary and meet the other

requirements of national policy.

What I can say more widely if we are

making changes, in terms of the

planning system, planning fees are

being increased, which will ensure

there is more money within planning

system, or planning authorities, and

we are also looking at requiring

increasing build out rates.

In Bristol, University expansion

means significant increases in

student numbers, putting pressure

right now on stretched local

services, yet student accommodation

providers contribute almost nothing

to the costs. Will the Secretary of

State meet with me to discuss

bringing student accommodation in

the line with these rates?

We have no plans to change business

rates to bring into the scope

student accommodation as she

advocates.

Young people in Sutton and across

London are depending on local action

dealt them secure affordable

housing. What lessons can the

Government learn from the merit of

London's poor record on housing?

My honourable friend raises an

important point, because what has

now become apparent, despite all the

talk from the Merit London, that in

the year he has been in office, his

first year in office, not a single

home, not one for social rent is

started by this labour mayor of

government. Housing starts down by a

third in the last quarter. That is

his track record. You need to live

up to his words and build more homes

for Londoners.

In 2016, a transitional grant was

provided to some Local Authorities.

Calculation is an assumption is that

this were not published an 80% of it

went to Conservative councils. Will

ministers today pledged to make

previous and future calculations

available and will it confirm from

the dispatch box that future funding

will be based on need rather than

anything else?

This was part of a four-year

settlement, which was an historic

four-year settlement. 97% of Local

Authorities signed up to that four

year settlement. Yes, there were

some challenges in terms of the

transition that certain places would

have to make, as a result of the

formula at that time, and it's Ben

widely recognised the way in which

it was still with was the right

thing to do and Labour authorities

at the time such as Lancashire

benefited.

Last year the FSB reported on the

untapped potential of women in

enterprise. However, analysis legal

in my constituency was set up by a

group of female lawyers and is going

from strength to strength. Does the

Minister agree with me that

encouraging more women into business

and supporting female entrepreneurs

is key to the success of the

northern Powerhouse?

I absolutely agree with my

honourable friend, and that is why I

am an active conversation with

groups like the Northern power

women. They have sought to find ways

to champion the visible and diverse

role models of leadership in the

Northern Powerhouse. After all, we

shouldn't ignore 51% of the talent

pool.

He stated the introduction of family

hubs should be accelerated earlier.

This is implicitly welcomed by the

Minister of the local governments,

saying it was down to councils to

use their budgets as they see

appropriate. Does he agree with me

that the 60% real terms cut in

Warwickshire to children's centres

budget and the planned reduction

from 39 children sentenced to 12

family hubs should be stopped and

council reserves which are

significant used for maintenance...?

I'm sorry, to be fair, new members

are not often as aware of this as

they will become a need to be.

Topical questions are supposed to be

shorter than substantive is. Simple

as that, and ministers are supposed

to respond in kind.

I hear what the

honourable gentleman says, although

I think he should look back to the

records of Warwickshire County

Council, which clearly show a motion

being put which was seconded by the

Labour group leader, who advocated

the reduction in funding that the

county council is now making in this

area.

, Secretary of State confirmed that

his department is liaising with

death for a to make sure some ports

have the supplying chain to take

opportunity of chances arising from

the fisheries Bill?

I confirm that, we are working

closely with DEFRA in the transport

department to make sure of just

that.

With the First Minister of Wales

meeting the Prime Minister today, a

continuing lack of clarity over

Brexit. Will the Government respect

the devolved nations and not use

Brexit as an opportunity for a power

grab?

I can tell the honourable gentleman,

of course we will respect the powers

and responsibilities of devolved

nations that make a resounding

success of Brexit.

The proposed revising family formula

well at 8000 homes to the current

target of 30,000, which I believe is

unsustainable without large

investment in infrastructure. Will

my honourable friend agreed to meet

with me and Medway colleagues to

look at this disproportionate burden

on the Medway towns?

Of course I will meet with my

honourable friend. I should point

out Medway doesn't have an

up-to-date plan in place at the

moment and I would encourage them to

respond to the consultation

proposals set out.

In light of the recent announcements

of the Welsh Government to continue

with its council tax reduction

scheme, which incidentally has

reduced council tax for nearly

300,000 low income and vulnerable

families and excluded 220,000

completely, can the Minister

seriously consider the excellent

approach by the Welsh Labour

government and the situation in

England where households are paying

around £190 more?

As I explained to

the House earlier, the local council

taxable scheme gives help to over 4

million people who are on low

incomes and may struggle otherwise

to pay their council tax.

The

Secretary of State will be aware of

the concerns expressed by the leader

of Leicestershire County Council

about the money going back to the

NHS rather than sticking with the

social care authority. Could he

comment on that in discussions he's

had with his colleague the Secretary

of State for Health?

I can tell my right honourable

friend that she is right to raise

this. Delayed transfer care is a

shared endeavour between councils

and the NHS, has been good progress,

especially using the better care

funded Leicestershire. It is a good

opportunity to commend

Leicestershire on its improved

position.

Mr Lewis! I'm sure what is

on your iPhone is of great

importance but your question might

be of greater importance.

Will the Government commit to fast

tracking its private rented sector

consultation, so landlords are

required to use their own funds to

bring properties up to EPC band E by

April next?

It would have been

sooner if the previous Labour

government had taken the private

rented sector more seriously, which

they refused to do. I'm pleased he

welcomes our consultation.

Given the understandable

postponement for a short time of the

business retention scheme, will the

Secretary of State meet with metered

consider the particular funding

pressures it is placing an outer

London boroughs?

Yes.

Splendid.

Scotland secured 941 million euros

in the 2014-20 period, split across

the development fund and social

fund. What plans does this

government have two ensure that

these funds are replace post-Brexit

and that the Scottish Government

will be involved in discussions?

The honourable gentleman will know

that we have set out that there will

be a UK Shared Prosperity Fund that

will eventually replace EU

structural funds and the IDF funds

and we will work together with the

devolved nations in developing it.

One thing that would help drive

further economic growth in Corby is

a new enterprise on custom in

advance of the budget, would my

right honourable friend make the

case to the Chancellor for another

round of bidding opportunities?

My honourable friend is right to

raise the importance of enterprise

zones. We will know in previous

budgets there have been often

announced and I'm sure he's making

an excellent case himself but if I

can help him, I will happily do

that.

Is the Secretary of State aware of

the increasing number of people

illegally subletting in social

housing? Isn't this a very dangerous

tendency when we don't know who is

actually living in a house?

The honourable gentleman is right to

raise this. Of course, this is going

on. That's why we have given from

April this year, we've given

landlords more powers to deal with

this, more funding to look at these

issues and in the forthcoming

reviews and consultation we set out

we will be seeing what further

action we can take.

Last week developers pulled out of a

plan to build 10,000 homes in

Enfield Tarryn Bright because of the

interference by the Mayor of London.

Will my right honourable friend

undertake to look at this plan,

because we desperately need new

homes in London and this plan seems

to provide them?

We have already just heard in this

house the failure of the Mayor of

London to provide a single property

for social rent in the last year, so

my honourable friend is right to

raise this and we will certainly

take a much closer look.