Housing and Social Security

There was a deplorable record on building social homes, but that was the record of the previous L...

We of course have a Labour Government in Wales who are committed to building 20,000 new homes, an...

When it comes to fire safety, I think we should learn lessons from wherever we can—whether Wales ...

I am intervening, at the suggestion earlier of the Leader of the House, having spent three and a ...

I agree very much with my hon. Friend. It is very important to continue the work on leasehold ref...

Since 2012-13, when the Government introduced the increased discount for right to buy, 51,352 hom...

If the hon. Gentleman will bear with me, he will very clearly hear what the Government’s track re...

The Secretary of State mentioned extra money for people on disability benefits. Does he agree tha...

Where that happens, we will compensate people in other ways and make sure that the welfare policy...

The Secretary of State mentioned the housing White Paper, which I thought was a terrific document...

I agree very much with my hon. Friend about the importance of self-build and factory-built housin...

To help the Secretary of State with delivery, I suggest he looks at the Housing (Wales) Act 2014,...

The hon. Gentleman may be aware that the Homelessness Reduction Act was passed in the last Parlia...

Will my right hon. Friend join me in welcoming the news that thousands of new homes are being bui...

I have visited home building sites and potential home building sites in Cannock Chase. I commend ...

The Secretary of State is telling us about his record. In these changed times, is it still Govern...

It is Government policy that people should have the right to buy their home, whether it is a coun...

On that point, the housing associations in London have made it very clear collectively that they ...

My hon. Friend touches on a very important point. The public sector land programme is designed to...

We are discussing this year’s Queen’s Speech, not 1997’s. Does the Secretary of State accept that...

I will come to the right hon. Gentleman’s record in particular in just a moment, and then I will ...

I am looking at the live tables—published online yesterday, I believe—concerning the record of th...

Over the past six years, 330,000 new affordable homes have been built, which is a record in a six...

I welcome you to the Chair, Mr Deputy Speaker; I think this is the first time that you have been ...

A Queen’s Speech with, I think, 21 Bills in it, and draft Bills, is not a thin Queen’s Speech. Ma...

To come up with that number of Bills, the hon. Gentleman has to incorporate anything that can be ...

There are plenty of heavyweight people around. Indeed, there are plenty of heavy people around, a...

We need to do both, of course. The major flaw with Help to Buy is that nearly a fifth of the peop...

The right hon. Gentleman says that a £100,000 income should be too high to qualify for Help to Bu...

We would be happy to consult on that. My main argument is with Ministers. They are making the wro...

The right hon. Gentleman talks about our having no plan, but only a few days ago, I was at the ne...

I am glad that the hon. Gentleman’s constituency of Bexhill has seen the benefit of some Governme...

The right hon. Gentleman is right: the checks need to be comprehensive. Everyone agrees about tha...

Support, help and funding if local authorities need it: is that what the Secretary of State is sa...

We have made clear exactly that: if a local authority needs support, including funding support, w...

I am grateful for that and I think that the House is, too. It has taken a dozen questions to the ...

The right hon. Gentleman referred to the decent homes standard for social housing. The programme ...

Will the Secretary of State confirm exactly how much is in the Homes and Communities Agency progr...

I shall be happy to write to the right hon. Gentleman and give him the exact number.

Good. It is a small number, and it has a zero in it—and nothing else.

Let me return to the ...

The right hon. Gentleman must accept that it is this Government who introduced improved regulatio...

But my goodness, didn’t people—including us—have to argue hard for those basic regulations? Why d...

May I put it to the right hon. Gentleman that the last thing people want to see now is parties tu...

This is precisely about politics. This is precisely what the House should do, and, in fact, it is...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I have given way twice to the hon. Gentleman, and I want to finish my speech so that others can s...

I welcome you to the Chair, Mr Deputy Speaker—on a temporary basis—and thank you for presiding ov...

Order. Before I call the Scottish National party spokeswoman, I must tell the House that because ...

I should like to associate myself with the comments made by right hon. and hon. Members across th...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that austerity has failed and that the social security system ...

Absolutely. Statistics already show that over 80% of the cuts fall on women. That is simply not g...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I need to make some progress.

The UK Government are fixated on a failed Brexit strategy and...

Order. I remind the House that the six-minute time limit starts now.

2.11 pm

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir David. I always think that a time limit is...

Does my hon. Friend accept that one way of driving forward house building is through neighbourhoo...

I thank my hon. Friend for that and agree with him, although the caveat is that some developers a...

My hon. Friend is making some extremely important points that resonate in my constituency. Does h...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As recently as 1988, 66% of housing in this country was built...

As the first Labour MP in Kensington, I am walking in the footsteps of giants. Although the bound...

First, I wish to praise the words of my new colleague, the hon. Member for Kensington (Emma Dent ...

Like many others, I had expected a little more from this Queen’s Speech. On the key point regardi...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to deliver my maiden speech during such an impo...

I congratulate the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) on his maiden...

Does the hon. Gentleman, like me, support Open Doors, an organisation that publicises some of the...

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that Open Doors does excellent work, and I am aware of it day to ...

It is a genuine pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). I also...

I wish to associate myself with the earlier comments from the Front Benches on the Grenfell Tower...

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Eastbourne (Stephen Lloyd), and I warmly con...

I warmly congratulate the hon. Member for Aldershot (Leo Docherty) on a fine maiden speech, and c...

Is not the one single bit of reassurance that everyone needs the knowledge that if local authorit...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I and others pushed for that during the statement and at othe...

I want to place on the record my apologies for disappearing from the debate last night: I had a m...

I do hope that, with the passage of time, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire will learn t...

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to make my maiden speech today, Mr Speaker. I start by ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Enfield, Southgate (Bambos Charalambous) who made ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Zac Goldsmith). I congratulate him ...

I congratulate all new Members who made their maiden speeches in the House today. May I take the ...

The Leader of the Opposition, my right hon. Friend the Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn)...

It was Harold MacMillan who said:

“Except for ‘going over the top’ in war, there is hardly ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Mr Clarke)...

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Sir David—albeit fleetingly, perhaps. I am pleased to f...

Is it my hon. Friend’s position that were a Select Committee to look into a terrible tragedy such...

I am glad that my right hon. Friend has made that intervention, because I want to be absolutely c...

May I begin by congratulating those new Members who have made excellent maiden speeches today? I ...

It is a pleasure to speak in this debate and to follow such excellent maiden speeches from Member...

Is the hon. Gentleman querying the Department for Communities and Local Government’s own statisti...

The hon. Lady raises a valid point. There is a different definition. Social housing is part of th...

I will keep my comments brief so that my hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Mo...

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for North Herefordshire (Bill Wiggin) for so grac...

It is lovely to see you in the Chair, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I welcome the new Secretary of State...

Universal credit is being rolled out to all new claimants in my constituency from next month. Doe...

As I say, it is an absolute mess and we have pledged to address it when we are in a position to d...

It is a great pleasure to conclude this debate on the Gracious Speech. I thank all hon. Members f...

It is all zero-hours contracts.

There is a sedentary comment that it is all zero-hours contracts. The employment numbers that cam...

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way, because I am aware that time is short. Do...

We reduced the taper rate recently, so we have taken steps in that direction. One of the attribut...