Speeches by Rayner.

“The hon. Gentleman highlights an issue across the board: we do not have decent homes standards. We want to introduce them in not just the social rented sector but the private rented sector. We have seen far too many situations where tenants are too frightened to come forward with mould, damp and health issues in their …”

“My hon. Friend is right: 160,000 children and families were in temporary accommodation at Christmas. We need to build the social and council homes that we desperately need so that people have a home for life, and stop local authorities spending huge sums of money on temporary accommodation that does not help the life c…”

“The Government have taken action. We will ensure that empty homes are brought back into use. We make no apologies for asking that homes are of a decent and safe standard. People should be able to live in their homes without the risk of hazards that are dangerous to their health.”

“I am sorry to hear of the experience of many of my hon. Friend’s constituents. Most private landlords provide a good service to their tenants, but for the few landlords who fail to take reasonably practicable steps to keep their properties free from serious hazards, local councils will be able to issue fines of up to £…”

“We will deliver on our promise to transform the lives of millions of renters through our landmark Renters’ Rights Bill, which will make renting fairer, more secure and more affordable by banning no-fault evictions, ending bidding wars and extending Awaab’s law to protect private tenants. I am sure my hon. Friend will a…”

“The shadow Secretary of State will know that our mandatory housing targets were based on affordability and were introduced to ensure that people are able to get the houses they desperately need. His Government removed the mandatory housing targets, we saw speculative development, and they failed, year on year, to deliv…”

“We have set out another £500 million for the affordable homes programme and we will set out further requirements as we get to the spending review.”

“We know that we need infrastructure as part of our planning reforms and the mandatory housing targets that we have put forward, and this Government will make sure that that infrastructure is there. I would say to the hon. Gentleman that it was his Government who allowed speculative housing developments, who failed to m…”

“The Government are supporting local planning authorities to facilitate the delivery of more high-quality, well-designed homes, but we know that capacity is a problem with councils and that is why we have also announced a £46 million package of investment to support capacity and capability in local planning authorities,…”

“Sure, and thank you to George for writing. There have been recent announcements made in the Department of Health as well, in the last couple of days, around accessibility, to make sure that people can retrofit and get the equipment they need to live independent lives. Without answering the specifics, which I can get ba…”

“Let me first of all acknowledge that. I have always been frustrated by the NIMBY/YIMBY argument. I do not get that, because nearly everyone in this country knows a family member who has a housing need that is not being met—a daughter or a son who cannot get on the housing ladder, somebody in temporary accommodation or …”

“Again, we have talked about the 300 planning officers, but we have also talked about streamlining some of the planning decisions as well. Sometimes things get called in and are constantly in this merry-go-round, whereas if it is very clear what the rules are, then we should be able to move forward on some things, inste…”

“If somebody wants to come forward and beat that target, then we are not going to turn around and say, “No, you cannot do that.” The 1.5 million homes target is a stretch target. The whole of Cabinet are determined. I do not lose. I hate losing. I have always been underestimated, all my life, and I am determined, person…”

“I have set that target and most people, to be honest, Chris, say, “This is ridiculous. We cannot make that target.””

“Again, we are already unlocking sites that were having challenges. You are absolutely right. I do see us ramping it up as we get through the course of this Parliament but, with the new mandatory targets, which are over the 1.5 million homes targets, we also have the new towns programme. The taskforce will report later …”

“I really welcome the question, because often people will break it down annually. I do not see us getting there annually. There are a number of measures we have taken immediately, such as the national planning policy framework and the consultation we have done already on that, which sets new mandatory targets for all lo…”

“We also recognised that independent schools play a vital role in providing support for some children with special educational needs and disabilities. There were exemptions within that. For example, if an independent school has over 50% of children with a statement of educational needs, they are exempt from paying that …”

“That is why it is important that families get access to that support as well from professionals, whether it is through a GP appointment, which can be really difficult to get, or through the school being able to alert and say, “We need some support here. Can we get some additional support to a young person?” or even thr…”

“Hopefully, there are not losers. We have put an additional £1 billion of funding into special educational needs and disabilities. We are looking at the alternative provision funding as well. It is fair to recognise that one size does not fit all. That is the frustration. Young people even with the label of a particular…”

“I know this has been discussed before the Liaison Committee with the Prime Minister, and with the Secretary of State for Education. There has been a significant amount of money that is going into special educational needs and disability, including the money that we have announced in local government, but there is a rea…”