Speeches by Simmonds.

“I am grateful to the Minister for talking through the Government’s thinking, and for his points about the debates on the previous Bill. The Opposition remain concerned that the envisaged process, whereby there will be an online application for a modest fee, will make it almost invariably in the interest of the tenant t…”

“My hon. Friend raises an extremely good point. As he outlined, this is very much about perverse incentives. We do not want to create a situation in the market where it is always in the interests of the tenant to push this to the tribunal. We need to make sure that that point is effectively addressed, and the amendments…”

“I commend the Government for the work they are doing to ensure that the statute book lines up across all the different pieces of legislation. Will the Minister inform the Committee how the changes to the homelessness prevention duty will impact on tenants who have no recourse to public funds in the UK?”

“I would be grateful if the Minister shared the Government’s thinking on the interaction between this issue of liability for council tax and the legal duties on local authorities to collect it, where they have an obligation to ensure that, as part of the efficient delivery of public services, they maximise the level of …”

“The Minister will be delighted to know that I do not have a detailed, technical question to ask him on this clause, but I am sure that if he gives me some time, I will be able to come up with one.”

“I can assure the Minister that we do not want to push these clauses to a vote. I am grateful to him for his explanation. It is important to recognise that agricultural workers are one category of tenant who often have different sets of circumstances, as their access to a home is connected to their job. School caretaker…”

“Certainty for councils is vital for housing delivery, but given the uncertainty created by the Government’s new top-down targets, which will delay the implementation of local plans and therefore planning decisions, how confident are the Government of meeting their housing targets?”

“In the rush for numbers, we must not ignore the need to ensure that new homes are built to appropriate standards. Given that the Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, the hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Stepney (Rushanara Ali), has been stripped of responsibility for building safety …”

“Given the time constraints, that is the last intervention I will take. I agree with some of the hon. Gentleman’s points. The evidence around Everyone In was positive. The way in which it was carried out by individual local authorities varied enormously because they tend to know their population and situation much bette…”

“It is not an excuse. It is clear when we look at the performance of local authorities in that respect, and in particular in respect of the effectiveness of the many measures introduced following the Homelessness Reduction Act sponsored by my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), that the authorities th…”

“That reinforces my point. We have gone from a situation under the previous Labour Government in which there was no counting at all. There was no serious effort to understand the numbers of people sleeping rough on our streets. As a councillor, I was responsible for some of that period for housing and social care; rough…”

“Q5. Our child protection services have had to deal with a number of cases where parents and carers have argued that their fatal actions were lawful punishment. Will the Deputy Prime Minister bring forward legislation bringing the rest of our country into line with Scotland and Wales, so that all children enjoy unambigu…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship again, Sir Christopher, so soon after we were engaged on local government matters yesterday. I congratulate the hon. Member for Ealing Southall (Deirdre Costigan) on bringing forward this debate—I know her constituency well as mine is nearby—and I congratulate Members o…”

“It is also striking that the biggest reduction in homelessness in Yorkshire and the Humber has been achieved by North Yorkshire’s Conservative-led unitary authority. Local authorities have been able—through the Homelessness Reduction Act, the use of their various powers and the resources brought to bear on this issue, …”

“Q Thank you. May I pursue that last point a little further? One of the issues that has been raised in the evidence so far is about the tenant’s right to challenge rent increases. It is helpful that you have introduced the point about service charges. Clearly, one of the options for a landlord who cannot get the money t…”

“Q Thank you; I suspect that that is exactly the issue. I have a final point. A number of the witnesses today have made a point that clarity about what is permissive versus what is required is a significant issue for their organisations. In particular, we heard about that in respect of the ombudsman, the tribunal and th…”

“There are three questions, but I have forgotten the third one, so I will ask you those two questions and then find the third question and come back with it, if I may. Matthew Pennycook: Let me take those two questions forward. The point that I took from Councillor Hug was a very specific one about the trigger for homel…”

“Q I think that today has been a very illuminating opportunity and I would like to ask you, Minister, to share your thinking around three points that have been raised that I think are quite striking. The first question is simply this: what advice have you received so far and what are the plans in respect of the interact…”

“Q Anny, I would like to ask about your view on the enforcement regime. Do you feel that what has been outlined in the Bill and how it is likely to be reflected in the real world will be sufficiently robust both to deter rogue landlords from bad practices and to ensure that tenants are able to both enforce their rights …”

“Q Can we move on to licensing schemes? I know there has been much debate in the local government world about them, and I have seen at first hand their operation in London. Would you be able to say a bit about the barriers that exist at the moment to the implementation of licensing schemes? Do you think the Bill suffici…”