Speeches by Curtis.

“This is a similar point to that, actually. It is good news that we have seen the progress in the OBR forecast. I think that you have implied that we will get a new forecast in the Budget later this year, which we are hoping will be positively scored, given the further changes you have made. If that forecast in autumn d…”

“I am Chris Curtis, the MP for Milton Keynes North.”

“Have you got Sir Michael Lyons’ report yet?”

“In the mood of reflecting, we have reached a point where starts are down 73% in London. We hit a pretty catastrophic halt in the London property market before we started trying to address the problems facing the BSR. Have you had any reflection on how you can maybe speed up that feedback loop so that we do not reach th…”

“In the year to March 2025, we have seen a 73% drop-off in starts in London. You talk to anyone and they will say the Building Safety Regulator is almost certainly the biggest cause of that, obviously set up with really good intentions after the tragedy at Grenfell. Not only has this had a real impact on our ability to …”

“Do you think, Minister, in hindsight, given that, as far as I can see, nobody really recommended it, that setting the height at which the BSR is involved in a project at 18 metres was too low?”

“I realise, again, you are still waiting on the report, but since you last spoke to us has there been any more thinking or conversation across Government about how these can be funded? Have there been conversations with the Treasury about funding, allowing powers to borrow money, looking at infrastructure levies and thi…”

“It is not a massively fair point, though, is it? The LHN number will not get you to 1.5 million over this Parliament because it is 370,000, which in my understanding drops down to 300,000 when you have just got the mix in the system. In order to hit 1.5 million, we need to deliver far more than 300,000 in the final yea…”

“I mean pushing back the ability to start these projects. We want to get all of them, I think, started before the next election and preferably to hit the 1.5 million target as quickly as possible. What kind of reassurance can you give us that that further conversation about funding is not going to push back these projec…”

“I suppose the concern coming off the back of that is that it has taken a year for us to get this report. We will get it by summer, and then conversations might start, which will have to run across Government, probably with the Treasury, in order to think about funding mechanisms that might be permitted. That could be a…”

“Okay, so what is your definition of summer?”

“You are confident that you have enough money post‑spending review to be able to do that.”

“It may be that you cannot do every site. I do not want you to commit to a number. I am just trying to—”

“Are you confident, post‑spending review, that you will have the revenue spending required to set up new, say, development corporations, or whatever the organisations look like, in order to deliver a substantial number of sites that are recommended by Sir Michael Lyons?”

“Will that be pre-conference?”

“After it does come back to you, is the plan to release that straightaway and respond later? Are you planning on releasing it with a response after a certain period?”

“Are you expecting that that answer will be yes by this time next week?”

“11. Whether she plans to extend the qualifying settlement period for people with British national overseas visas.”

“Many of my constituents came to the UK from Hong Kong under the BNO visa scheme in search of safety, freedom and opportunity. They have shared with me their concerns about how the uncertainty involved in the changes in the visa system might affect their future here. Can the Minister provide reassurance that those on BN…”

“The only way out of the economic doom loop that the previous Government got us into is by growing the British economy again. If the British economy had grown over the past 10 years as quickly as the OECD national average, there would be £40 billion more sitting in the Exchequer without having to touch spending or taxes…”