Contributions
397 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDFamilies with Children: AccommodationI thank the Minister for her Answer, and I know that she understands the challenges and pressures that councils face. The root cause of the logjam in temporary housing is the…19 Jun 2023HANSARDFamilies with Children: AccommodationTo ask His Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take steps in response to the official statistics published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on…19 Jun 2023HANSARDSupported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) BillI rise to support the noble Lord, Lord Best, and Bob Blackman, and particularly to mention Crisis, which has been heavily involved in this. Those of us in local government will…16 Jun 2023HANSARDLeasehold Properties: Building InsuranceMy Lords, insurance costs and service charges are rocketing for the group known as non-qualifying leaseholders, who are not eligible for support from the Government to remediate…15 Jun 2023HANSARDSchool Uniform PoliciesMy Lords, in my long experience in education, schools are very much alive to the needs of their youngsters, particularly with regard to school uniforms. Does the Minister agree…12 Jun 2023HANSARDHousebuildingMy Lords—07 Jun 2023HANSARDHousebuildingMy Lords, 40 years ago SME builders built 40% of all new homes. Today the figure is around 10%. The Minister might therefore understand my disappointment that the Government have…07 Jun 2023HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration BillMy Lords, there is so much that can be said regarding high streets that is very well evidenced, and in fact there is consensus about what does and does not work. Our concern on…22 May 2023HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration BillMy Lords, this has been an incredibly wide-ranging, detailed and at times passionate debate, particularly in the contributions from the noble Lords, Lord Greenhalgh and Lord…03 May 2023HANSARDLeasehold EnfranchisementMy Lords, my recent experience of helping leaseholders in a retirement block near me leads me to ask: does the Minister accept that going to the final arbiter of leasehold…02 May 2023HANSARDHousing: OvercrowdingMy Lords, for me, the key issue is the lack of suitable homes for people to upsize to at a rent that they can afford. Will the Government please reconsider unfreezing the local…25 Apr 2023HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration BillMy Lords, this is a really interesting group of amendments and clearly very technical and detailed. The Minister may be relieved that I shall keep my comments quite simple, to…24 Apr 2023HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration BillMy Lords, I do not want to take up too much time, because much has already been said, but I want to add a couple of points that have perhaps not already been made and expand on…24 Apr 2023HANSARDVAT: Building Repairs and MaintenanceMy Lords, as most registered providers of social housing cannot reclaim VAT, they are reluctant to buy VAT-elected land and resort to an inefficient process known as “golden…19 Apr 2023HANSARDUniversal CreditTo ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Trussell Trust and Joseph Rowntree Foundation An Essentials Guarantee: Reforming Universal…18 Apr 2023HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration BillCan I put the question the other way around? The noble Lord used phrases like “councils can choose” and “in conjunction with their local authority”. Can I ask about councils that…18 Apr 2023HANSARDLevelling-up and Regeneration BillMy Lords, I think I could possibly make the shortest speech with regard to the amendments that have just been discussed and just go #MeToo. In fact, I want to say—and I hope that…18 Apr 2023HANSARDUniversal CreditI thank the Minister for his Answer. Of course, all increases will be welcome after years of freezes and below-inflation rises. However, the key issue is that universal credit…18 Apr 2023HANSARDSupported HousingMy Lords, I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak in this debate, introduced by the noble Baroness, Lady Warwick of Undercliffe. Her excellent opening speech, as well as…30 Mar 2023HANSARDJunior Doctors’ StrikesMy Lords, I rather cheekily snuck two questions in, and the Minister did not give me an answer to the first one, which in many ways is very important. Will the Government look at…30 Mar 2023