Speeches by Eshalomi.

“I am proud to represent the diverse and vibrant constituency of Vauxhall and Camberwell Green—a place where so many people from around the world have chosen to make their home and a place where so many people contribute to our community, day in, day out. Since this announcement, I have been contacted by several constit…”

“I thank the hon. Member for making that important point, which many registered social landlords and local authorities have raised with the Select Committee in various evidence sessions. They are struggling. Many housing associations are saying that they are spending more on repairs and maintenance than actually buildin…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Western. I apologise for my one-minute lateness. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel) for his excellent opening speech. I recognised a number of the points that he outlined, because the issue comes up in my inbox from…”

“As the shadow Minister highlighted, the Minister closes his eyes and sees housing; he cares passionately about this area. Additional enforcement areas will rightly help so many social housing tenants, but does the Minister agree that, because of the number of people caught in temporary housing, the Government need to l…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“I thank the shadow Minister for his open and honest speech. I know that he cares passionately about this area. Does he agree that the previous Government could have helped on the really important issue of no-fault evictions? So many tenants were in properties where there was too much damp and mould, did not say anythin…”

“I want to come back to that point. Chair, you may be aware that the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee recently released a report on housing in temporary accommodation, specifically on the impact on children. Across England, local authorities spend £2.29 billion a year on temporary accommodation alone.…”

“On the issue of long-term funding, again coming back to local authorities that you all work with and local authorities right across England, a number of them are presenting challenges in not just this area but adult social care, children’s social care and temporary accommodation. They are key areas that are forcing a n…”

“Keeping on the issue of funding and looking at long-term funding, one of the areas that you touched on earlier the new duties being placed on local government since 2021. We know that across England local authorities are facing financial pressures; the Local Government Association highlights that in real cash terms the…”

“On Robbie’s point about the national insurance contribution, the Government gave local authorities funding to cover that but the Local Government Association highlighted that there is still a gap of about £200 million. Do you feel that any of those additional costs that local government is facing have been passed direc…”

“I want to go back to something. One of you mentioned the data issue. You will all be aware of the National Audit Office’s report of January this year, which highlighted some of the issues around data and the fact that the Home Office is not leading on it properly. Do you agree with the National Audit Office’s concerns …”

“Ghadah, you mentioned the difficulty that specialist BME groups are facing and you said that you still want a mixture in that long-term funding, including areas of competitive tendering and bids. Are you not worried that some organisations have a full-time member of staff whose sole job is to apply for funding, because…”

“I am mindful of time, Chair. Just coming back to the SDSs, we are saying there should be a national one. Will there be problems securing local agreement for local spatial development plans, especially when we are talking about the money? Bear in mind that we have devolution going on at the same time as local government…”

“Good afternoon. I am gatecrashing from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee. Just listening to you, I was thinking about my time serving as a councillor, as an assembly member and now here. All Governments of all political parties have talked a good game on devolution, but, when it comes down to it, …”

“I associate myself with the Minister’s remarks on the passing of Pope Francis. May his soul rest in perfect peace. It is important for us to remember the innocent residents who are caught up in this dispute, and the fact that they have been suffering for many weeks without that refuse being collected. I think about the…”

“I know that the Leader of the Opposition is not here, but I would say to her gently that she should agree with the whole House and recognise that her comments may inflame the situation, and that they are not just wrong but counterproductive in respect of the work that the Government are doing. I commend Opposition Memb…”

“I thank my fellow Committee member, who brings her experience to the issue from her work with homelessness organisations. Local authorities want to work with the Government, but they need to talk to each other more. We will push the Government further to ensure that local government is speaking with one voice. At the m…”

“I thank the hon. Member for securing this really important debate, and for her passionate speech. She highlights the ripple effect that will be created if we do not challenge social media companies. In the last general election, we saw so many women and black and minority ethnic candidates being targeted online by anon…”

“As a fellow south Londoner, my hon. Friend will recognise the pressures that many boroughs are facing. London councils and all political parties have come together to flag this key issue with the Government. It is not sustainable for London councils to be spending £4 million a day on it. It is vital that we continue to…”

“I thank my neighbour and hon. Friend. This issue sadly affects our borough of Lambeth. In the past year, the data shows that average rents have increased by 9%, and we know that many families’ incomes have not increased by that rate. We need to look at how we get to grips with the private rented sector. As I have said,…”