Speeches by Eshalomi.

“I thank the Backbench Business Committee for finding time for this important and urgent debate. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is responsible for some of the biggest areas that impact all of us every single day, and I welcome the ambitious drive of the Deputy Prime Minister and her Ministers …”

“I thank the Minister and the 15 Members from across the country who have taken part in the debate, which shows the value we place on our local authorities. For far too long, our local councils have not always got the recognition they deserve, but they are the first line of defence for all our constituents, and it is ri…”

“I thank the Foreign Secretary for his statement. He said that the whole House will have in their thoughts the many civilians impacted by this fighting. I have in my thoughts the many protesters who took to the streets after the brutal and tragic killing of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. We saw protesters come forward a…”

“The right hon. Gentleman will remember that, in 2021, he and I worked cross-party on identifying inequalities within certain communities and on getting them to come forward for the covid vaccination. Does he agree that one question we parliamentarians need to ask ourselves is this: how is it right that some communities…”

“Obviously, one of the issues is the availability of properties at the LHA rate and the fact that there are not as many of those properties. Another area is payments to help local authorities with homelessness prevention. Are you worried that the Government are now ringfencing the homelessness prevention grant? In effec…”

“Do you think that the Government should release a target on how many social homes they want to build?”

“Thank you very much, Chair. Good morning, everyone. Ben, I wanted to come back on some of those points. The reality is that we are in a housing crisis. Everyone says this. We have a situation in which there are about 1.5 million people on social housing waiting lists across the country. We have 164,000 children who are…”

“You mentioned the impact, and Steve touched on the proposals for PIP. If they had a choice, which bill would people on a low income, who face seeing their income squeezed further, choose to cut? If they stop paying their rent, it could lead to more people being evicted.”

“Apologies for my lateness, Chair. I have a good excuse; I was with the Deputy Chief Whip. I thank colleagues for allowing me to present this case to the Committee this afternoon. I think it is fair to say that there will be a lot of interest in scrutinising the figures from MHCLG after the spending review last week. On…”

“Obviously, one of the issues is around the fact that planning for long term can only happen if you have long-term funding. Essentially, planning for year-on-year funding is causing a number of organisations quite a lot of problems, including in local government. In many areas, the Government are looking to move to a mu…”

“But should that national funding from the Home Office be ring-fenced for and by services?”

“Good afternoon. The average council taxpayer would be quite perplexed to know that violence against women and girls services are not classed as statutory services, and that is the reality across the country. The reality also across the country is that, according to the LGAs—as you know, Councillor Woolley—we have a sit…”

“It is already ring-fenced?”

“Do you think that there should be more emphasis on funding for preventative services? In a sense, the very same vulnerable women who are struggling to get suitable housing and whose children may be at risk of going into adult and children’s social care, may also have care responsibilities and have older family members …”

“Tuesday, if possible, and just to make sure that we get a response from the relevant Ministers as well.”

“Going back to the issue of short-term funding, obviously you will be aware that the PAC report on tackling violence against women and girls published earlier this year in May noted the issue of short-term funding settlements. Evidence that the Committee has received has highlighted that. A number of women’s organisatio…”

“You will be aware then that there have been calls from the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for ring-fenced national funding. At the moment, it is fair to say there is not parity across the board; some areas do not receive that funding. My understanding is that the Domestic Abuse Commissioner has called for that pot to be r…”

“I think it is fair to say that although there are many issues in this House we disagree on, an issue of this magnitude is something that should bring all of us, as parliamentarians, together to work to ensure that we get justice for the victims. The Home Secretary outlined the next phase, but if we are really honest wi…”

“I thank my constituency neighbour for making such a powerful opening speech. Does she recognise the valuable contributions of the Windrush generation staff at King’s College hospital in her constituency and, equally, the valuable contribution—and powerful statue—of Mary Seacole at St Thomas’ hospital, in my constituenc…”

“I pay tribute to my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), for her powerful introduction to the debate. She referenced areas of her constituency that I know like the back of my hand, because they are where I grew up. Growing up in Brixton, there were things that I …”