Contributions
397 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTown and Country Planning (Fees and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2025I thank the Minister for her explanation of how we got from there to here; its clarity is welcome. I also thank the noble Lords, Lord Shipley and Lord Young of Cookham, for their…25 Mar 2025HANSARDSafe Housing and Hospital DischargeTo ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve collaboration between integrated care boards and housing providers to address barriers to safe housing and…19 Mar 2025HANSARDSafe Housing and Hospital DischargeI thank the Minister for her Answer and welcome what she has said. It is absolutely clear now that the lack of supported housing is a major factor in delayed discharge from…19 Mar 2025HANSARDTown and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025My Lords, the Liberal Democrats wholeheartedly support this rise in planning fees, so I apologise now for repeating some of the very good points that the Minister made. She should…03 Mar 2025HANSARDPrivate Rented Sector: Affordable RentsMy Lords, evidence from Scotland shows that only 4% of tenants with a rent rise use the First-tier Tribunal to challenge that rise. How will the Government ensure that more…27 Feb 2025HANSARDSouthport AttackMy Lords, I have a sad sense of déjà vu, as this is a very real echo of the earlier Question from the noble Lord, Lord Balfe. I respect the insightful comments from noble Lords on…06 Feb 2025HANSARDRenters’ Rights BillMy Lords, I too congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Wilson, and the noble Baroness, Lady Brown, on their entry to the House. I really enjoyed both their speeches. I felt they were…04 Feb 2025HANSARDHomelessnessMy Lords, worryingly, the total spend on homelessness is unknown, largely due to a loophole in what we call exempt accommodation, which I am sure the Minister is aware of. The…21 Jan 2025HANSARDEnglish DevolutionMy Lords, I have the dubious distinction of holding a job as a directly elected mayor for 16 years, in the role that my party wished would never exist, so we have had an…19 Dec 2024HANSARDTributesMy Lords, on behalf of these Benches, I express our most sincere condolences to Parthe Ward’s colleagues in the Library and everyone who knew her. She was clearly a highly…19 Dec 2024HANSARDHousing: Permitted Development RightsMy Lords, surely it is the Government’s mission to create decent homes and not the slums of the future, and I am at a loss to know why the Government are procrastinating on this.…18 Dec 2024HANSARDFootball Governance Bill [HL]Very brief.16 Dec 2024HANSARDPlanning Committees: ReformMy Lords, the Deputy Prime Minister has flagged up the role of elected mayors of combined authorities. As someone who lamented the coalition scrapping regional spatial strategies,…12 Dec 2024HANSARDNew HomesMy Lords, there are currently tens of thousands of Section 106 affordable homes with detailed planning permission waiting to be built out on active sites, but stuck because the…11 Dec 2024HANSARDHousing Supply and HomelessnessMy Lords, I declare my interest as yet another vice-president of the Local Government Association. I begin by acknowledging the very personal valedictory speech of the most…05 Dec 2024HANSARDSchools: Mobile PhonesMy Lords, I was genuinely in two minds about contributing to this important debate due to the expertise that exists in our Chamber, not least from the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron,…28 Nov 2024HANSARDLandlords: Long-term RentalsTo ask His Majesty’s Government what incentives they propose to introduce to encourage landlords back into the private rented sector for long-term rentals.27 Nov 2024HANSARDLandlords: Long-term RentalsI beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper and declare my interest as a vice president of the Local Government Association.27 Nov 2024HANSARDLandlords: Long-term RentalsI did ask what the noble Baroness felt could be done about it. I asked my Question first, but my question is: surely this is bonkers and can we not work out some protocol so that…27 Nov 2024HANSARDLandlords: Long-term RentalsI thank the noble Baroness for her reply and sincerely hope that the Government’s aspirations are met, but note that most of the actions are going to be in the future. However, I…27 Nov 2024