Speeches by Powell.

“Could I just ask a quick follow-up question on this? Investing in prevention totally makes sense, but we know, historically, some councils have spent up to 80% of their rough sleeping money on temporary accommodation, just because of the current need. I believe in this new grant you have indicated 49% needs to be spent…”

“This is the final question from me. I obviously support the collaborative approach, but there may be times when some sort of sanction or oversight is needed from the Department. You have some powers to do that around B&B, for example. Can you give us any latest analysis of the Department’s approach to using that? Have …”

“One that we took evidence on, and you referenced it, is evidence of category 1 hazards for children in current temporary accommodation. To push a bit more on this relationship with local authorities, do you think that they are doing enough at the moment to monitor the quality and safety of their temporary accommodation…”

“In terms of that collaborative approach, some councils are keen to do more, either buybacks or acquisitions, to have their own temporary accommodation that they can keep to a higher standard. We hope that the decent homes standard will extend to private rented in time. Is that something the Department is looking at sup…”

“The National Audit Office said that the Department does not routinely collect data on standards. Do you think that should change?”

“Thanks, Minister. To move on to standards in temporary accommodation, you referenced in your introduction that horrendous statistic of 160,000 children in temporary accommodation. It is one in 21 children in London. I had a constituent who had been in temporary accommodation for 14 years come to me before Christmas, so…”

“I am Joe Powell, Kensington and Bayswater.”

“I am Joe Powell, Kensington and Bayswater.”

“I thank the Secretary of State and the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty), for their leadership on sanctions. We know that Putin’s shadow fleet is still a major source of financing for the war, and that cutting it of…”

“3. What plans her Department has for the regulation of short-term lets.”

“In recent weeks we have seen the unedifying spectacle of opposition parties trying to curry favour with one particular foreign billionaire. However, this issue is much bigger than Elon Musk. Transparency International UK estimates that £1 in every £10 in our system—£150 million since 2021—comes from questionable or unk…”

“6. If the Commission will make an assessment of the potential merits of banning foreign donations to UK political parties.”

“I thank the Minister for his answer. My constituents in Kensington and Bayswater regularly raise this issue with me, and are looking forward to the registration scheme, not least so that we can better enforce the 90-day rule in London. Does the Minister have any further information on when that scheme will come online?…”

“3. What plans her Department has for the regulation of short-term lets.”

“I thank the Minister for his answer. My constituents in Kensington and Bayswater regularly raise this issue with me, and are looking forward to the registration scheme, not least so that we can better enforce the 90-day rule in London. Does the Minister have any further information on when that scheme will come online?…”

“Just quickly, another new policy that you will be required to implement is Awaab’s law: 14 days for an investigation and seven days if there is a significant concern. Have you made an assessment of the cost of implementing that?”

“I am Joe Powell. I am the MP for Kensington and Bayswater.”

“This is a follow-up on building safety. In the Budget, the Chancellor said that there would be new investment to speed up remediation of social housing. In the remediation action plan, they said that there would be a strategy for social housing published in the spring. Kate, I want to understand specifically what you a…”

“Could I ask your colleagues what that would mean in terms of releasing capital for new homes? Fiona Fletcher-Smith: For L&Q, it will be just short of £500 million, so about £460 million. In addition to the equity point about allowing us to have a building safety fund for social housing, there is other help that the Gov…”

“On Friday, I visited a major National Grid upgrade project in my constituency, which will connect to a huge new data centre in north-west London. The Secretary of State has talked about the additional energy infrastructure needed, but how will he work to speed up the planning system, including taking on those who seek …”