My Lords, noble Lords can tell from me advancing to the wrong place that I have never done anything like this before. It shows that this is something about which I feel absolutely passionate, from my role as the housing spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats and from my own experience as now patron of a local homelessness charity in Watford, New Hope, which I hope I helped not only to survive but to thrive during my time as the elected mayor. This issue is close to my heart.
I have been asked to give a few apologies to the Minister. The noble Lord, Lord Best, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Lister and Lady Tyler, all wished to speak today but are unable to do so due to genuine, legitimate commitments elsewhere.
I start by looking the Minister square in the face and saying that I know she understands this issue and that I know where her heart is. I am doing this because I feel that there are real issues here that are not being factored into the Government’s assessment and financial considerations. That is where I am coming from.
Local housing allowance is not just an abstract welfare lever; it is the mechanism that decides whether people can pay their rent or lose their home. Freezing it again is not fiscal housekeeping—that is where I am coming from today. It is a political choice that knowingly widens the gap between rents and support until families fall through it. A freeze—that is what it is—does not freeze rents, eviction notices or hardship; it freezes help and support while everything else keeps rising.