Speeches by Smith.

“My constituents in Hyndburn and Haslingden are blighted by potholes, which cost them hundreds of pounds, but to add insult to injury, twice recently the Reform-led county council has come out and repainted our road markings before coming a day later to complete resurfacing works on the same bit of road. Lancashire coun…”

“15. What steps she is taking to repair potholes on the strategic road network.”

“Yes, specifically on building safety, because obviously it continues to be such a huge issue.”

“Should freeholders be required to disclose information about the building safety status as part of the enfranchisement process, so that the leaseholders are fully aware of the liabilities that they may be assuming?”

“Has consideration been given to how non-participating leaseholders might contribute to the cost of collective enfranchisement if they choose to join the commonhold at a later date?”

“The Government have obviously made a clear commitment to commonhold becoming the default tenure for flat ownership, but why does the Bill not make commonhold the default outcome of a collective enfranchisement? Should leaseholders have to explicitly vote for the conversion?”

“Can you say anything further about what specifically you are doing with conveyancers and solicitors to prepare them for the change?”

“But I think that highlights the need to equip, support and advise people on this. Do you agree that it could be risky for the first blocks to convert for those leaseholders?”

“On the question of 40 versus potentially 20 years to make the transition to peppercorn, I know you can talk about the fact that based on inflation it will have a lower impact on those who pay out every year, but it is the principle: it would be equivalent to about £5,000 for constituents of mine—for leaseholders, in te…”

“In his own block, yes.”

“I take that point. If we refer to the record, he said that specifically in his role—”

“I am Sarah Smith, the Member of Parliament for Hyndburn.”

“I absolutely recognise the huge effort that has gone into engaging the sector as widely as possible. The truth is that the man or woman who is currently a leaseholder quite naturally has not been able to be as close to it. It is not that they do not have the capability or that people do not want this opportunity to tak…”

“Apologies, Chair, I should have said at the start on the record that I am a leaseholder. On behalf of those watching today, I want to understand a bit more. Going back to my previous question, how will the Government promote awareness of commonhold and ensure that leaseholders have access to the advice they need on the…”

“But it would be dependent on them getting that legal advice.”

“I don’t know whether it would fall within this Bill or be part of the future legislation that you bring through, but while you are outlining the process for conversion for those who might be considering it, there is arguably a case for providing specific protection on building safety when it remains such a huge concern…”

“Before being elected to this place, I spent many years working for charities seeking to tackle the challenge of youth unemployment. I remember fondly the future jobs fund, which, under the last Labour Government, delivered real change for people across the country. I have established the Get Hyndburn Working group to h…”

“While this war of choice is raging, Netanyahu’s forces have been murdering innocent Palestinians—men, women and disabled children —in the west bank, so what further action will the Foreign Secretary take to stop Israel repeating what happened in Gaza in the west bank and in Lebanon?”

“Thank you. Martin, I am sure it would be appreciated if you wrote to the Committee with some of the further detail you referenced.”

“I want to step back slightly. In the end, these reforms will not satisfy everybody, because politics and governing are about choices. This very important reform is also about recognising that you, Grosvenor and other businesses have the facility and the money to take these reforms to judicial review, unlike the everyda…”