Contributions
2,215 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDRough SleepingWith permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to update the House on the latest rough sleeping annual statistics for 2019, published today, and the Government’s new approach. I think…27 Feb 2020HANSARDRough SleepingLet me again praise the good work that my hon. Friend has done, not least in presenting the Bill that became the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, which has played such a crucial…27 Feb 2020HANSARDRough SleepingThe right hon. Gentleman has made a number of important points. It was for those humanitarian reasons, among others, that we chose to use the derogation enabling public money to…27 Feb 2020HANSARDRough SleepingI should be delighted to visit Wolverhampton. As I have said before, I volunteered at that charity as a teenager, and it is a fantastic organisation. We will be working to see how…27 Feb 2020HANSARDRough SleepingWe are investing more than ever before in affordable housing. Our affordable homes programme is a £9 billion commitment to provide 250,000 affordable homes. We have also made a…27 Feb 2020HANSARDRough SleepingI certainly will. I do not have the figures for Bolton at my fingertips, but Greater Manchester achieved a significant reduction in rough sleeping as a result of good work by…27 Feb 2020HANSARDRough SleepingWe are reviewing the Vagrancy Act, taking into account the differing opinions on the way forward, and will deliver advice on that shortly. We are absolutely focused on the…27 Feb 2020HANSARDRough SleepingI certainly do. I hope that my hon. Friend, and other Members in all parts of the House, will recognise not only our determination to tackle the issue but the fact that we are…27 Feb 2020HANSARDRough SleepingWe have been taking action through the Homelessness Reduction Act, and there will be important work for us to do as we approach the comprehensive spending review to ensure that…27 Feb 2020HANSARDRough SleepingI agree entirely with my hon. Friend. There are some fantastic councils across the country, and today’s figures would not have been achieved without them. I pay tribute to them,…27 Feb 2020HANSARDRough SleepingI am grateful the hon. Gentleman for those comments. We will certainly and happily look at the experience in Scotland and other parts of the Union, as we do at international…27 Feb 2020HANSARDRough SleepingI would be delighted to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency. At the heart of our new strategy is bringing together a co-ordinated approach in central Government. Dame Louise Casey…27 Feb 2020HANSARDRough SleepingIt certainly will. As I said, there are many fantastic organisations across the country. It has been my pleasure to visit many of them in my brief tenure as Housing Secretary. I…27 Feb 2020HANSARDTopical QuestionsMay I praise my hon. Friend for the hard work that he has done on behalf of his communities, who have faced severe flooding over the past two weeks? We have worked together and…24 Feb 2020HANSARDTopical QuestionsI have great sympathy with the issue that my hon. Friend raises, and it will be addressed in our forthcoming White Paper on the planning system.24 Feb 2020HANSARDRough SleepingI would be very happy to hear more about the specific cases that the hon. Lady raises. We have a strategy; we are investing more than ever before—we spent 30% more than we did in…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Local Government Finance (England)I happily join the hon. Gentleman in paying tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Rossendale and Darwen and others in this House, including the hon. Gentleman, who have…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Local Government Finance (England)What a refreshing change it is to have my hon. Friend in the House representing Birmingham in the way he does. He is absolutely right that Birmingham City Council has a lamentable…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Local Government Finance (England)My hon. Friend makes an important point. Knowing something of his constituency, I think it is the perfect example of a part of the country where there is great affluence, but also…24 Feb 2020HANSARD Local Government Finance (England)I am not familiar with those figures, but I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will welcome the fact that through this settlement, we are providing a 4.4% real-terms increase in…24 Feb 2020