Social Cohesion and Community during Periods of Change

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Friday 6th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, I apologise for my voice, which I lost last week when I had a cold. I am now recovering, but I sound like a diseased animal, and I apologise for that. As I am going to touch on housing, I declare my interest as listed in the Register of Members’ Interests: I chair a small property company that owns agricultural land and rented properties.

I congratulate the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York on a powerful and compelling speech. It is also a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Sandhurst, who I got to know when he was chairman of the Bar Council; he always imparts great wisdom. Incidentally, I was also pleased that the noble Lord, Lord Cashman, mentioned the late Baroness Kinnock, who was a remarkable Member of this House. I was privileged enough to be her successor as Minister for Africa in the Foreign Office, in the coalition Government in 2010, and it was an incredibly difficult task to follow someone of her stature.

It is very sad, in many ways, that the other most reverend Primate is not here today. He made an incredibly moving speech yesterday. This was going to be his debate and, on this side of the House, anyway, having spoken to my colleagues here, I can say that the vast majority of us regarded him as a truly remarkable leader of the Church, a true Christian and someone of great principles and stature who was a commanding presence in this House. I can understand why, after the Makin report, he decided that he had to take personal responsibility for the institutional failings of the Church of England, and I am very glad that the most reverend Primate and, indeed, the right reverend Prelate, mentioned the failings of the Church. They were grave failings, although I have to say that, since the Makin report, police officers have come forward to say that there was nothing that the most reverend Primate himself could have done, after he was installed, to make more information available. It is very sad that he was not able to go on his own terms and to maybe have a farewell tour around the diocese and abroad. Many of us on this side of the House—I speak for a number of colleagues—feel that it is sad that the House of Bishops did not show great unity and that there was a breaking of the ranks in this. That was not a particularly compassionate or Christian thing to do to someone who has made a truly remarkable contribution to the Church and to this nation.

I would like to concentrate on housing. As a number of noble Lords have pointed out, including the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York, social cohesion depends on families being content, having good housing and building neighbourliness. Of course, climate change is important as well, and I congratulate my former colleague, the noble Lord, Lord Sharma, on what was a really important speech. It brought home to this House the exceptional knowledge he has of climate change and the truly remarkable contribution he has made. If I may say so, many Ministers have come and gone in different departments, but very few have made the impact and contribution that he made to the climate change talks. The work he is doing is ongoing, and we are very fortunate to have him among our number in this House.

Just as good housing can lead to good neighbourliness, secure families and social cohesion, bad housing can lead to all sorts of other issues and problems, such as bad physical and mental health, and offender recidivism. Shelter recently published a report pointing out that some 30% of people leaving prison had previously been homeless, and that approximately 40% of them will go on to reoffend. Getting housing right is incredibly important.

I want to touch on three main areas that I think are in crisis. I do not have all the answers, but I want to suggest some solutions and to talk about what the Church itself could do. I have been close to the Church of England both in my former constituency and where I live now, and if one looks at the three sectors of housing, they are all facing different crises.

First, let us look at private sector housing. There is bound to be an immediate observation that there is this feeling of intergenerational unfairness. After all, in the last 20 years, the cost of houses has gone up on average by 200%. Wages in the period from 1996 to 2022 have gone up by 24%, so many young people who aspire to own a home are now finding it incredibly difficult, given that you have to find a deposit of £70,000, on average, in the south-east. So of course, we need new homes.

I want to pick up on a point made in other debates: that somehow there is a crisis, in that there are fewer planners than ever before and not enough planning decisions being taken. The problem is not that; it is that land that has permission is not being built out. That is nearly 1 million units not being built, which is a serious problem that needs addressing.

On private rented housing, which has now overtaken social rented housing, it is incredibly important that we encourage the best landlords. The worst landlords are dreadful, but the best set the highest possible standards. However, when we try to bring up the worst, we must not bring down the best, and that is why I would use incentives. For example, I would look at a landlord’s charter and at making sure there are more regular inspections. Maybe fewer diversity officers among councils and more environmental health officers would help with those inspections.

On social rented housing, I am not in favour of getting rid of the right to buy, which has helped social cohesion. Why can we not have a “one out, one in” system and use those funds to build more housing association houses? That is exactly what some of the best housing associations in East Anglia are doing.

I think I am right in saying—if not, the most reverend Primate will correct me—that the Church of England and the Church Commissioners own 350,000 acres in the dioceses around the country. I will share some examples from Norfolk. In one village, a bit of glebe land of 10 acres sold recently, and the parish were keen to have four or five housing association houses built. In another village, a strip of land of about two acres, next to the church graveyard, was up for sale. Not too far away, a farm belonging to the diocese of about 200 acres was for sale.

Why can the Church of England not set up its own housing association? Let us look back at the great history of the alms houses. I had a look at the Archbishops’ report, Coming Home, which has many pleas for more help for the homeless and those in housing need, but no long-term vision. There is no long-term radical thinking about practical Church initiatives to help with housing. So, my one plea today to the Minister, the most reverend Primate and right reverend Prelates is this: can they look really urgently at setting up housing associations across the different dioceses, where they can use their land to make a real difference to housing in this country?

Horseracing and Bloodstock Industries

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Monday 29th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her welcome. As she will be aware, the previous Government undertook a review that concluded in April. It is too soon for us to comment on the process or what might emerge from that, but we are keen to work with all parties and explore all the evidence before setting out next steps.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, further to the two questions just asked by my noble friends, will the Minister reflect on the point regarding Ireland? The discrepancy in the prize money between the UK and Ireland has become very severe, with the result that a number of UK owners are now locating their horses in Ireland. What can be done specifically to address that problem?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I am aware of the difference between how different countries administer this. As I mentioned in my response to the noble Baroness, Lady Harding, the previous Government undertook a review that concluded only in April. It is too soon for us to comment on that process, but I am very keen to work with all parties and explore all the evidence before setting out next steps.

Global IT Outage

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Thursday 25th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that question and for his huge support for me in my previous role as chair of the London Resilience Forum. Although the outage is not assessed to be a security incident or cyberattack, the issues that he raises will be covered in the cybersecurity and resilience Bill included in the King’s Speech. This will strengthen our defences and ensure that more essential digital services than ever before are protected. For example, it will look at expanding the remit of the existing regulation, putting regulators on a stronger footing and increasing the reporting requirements to build a better picture in government of cyber threats.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, among the companies most adversely affected in this country were airlines. Many thousands of passengers were hugely inconvenienced. How should they be compensated, and should CrowdStrike be held accountable?

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

I think we all have huge sympathy for those affected. As the noble Lord rightly says, thousands of people were affected on the day. However, compensation is a matter for the individual operators and subject to consumer rules, which would cover any entitlement to compensation or refunds.

Emergency Alert System: Fujitsu

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Wednesday 19th April 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

The noble Lord is right that we do not always get as many bidders as I would like in procurement, and one of the things we are trying to do in the procurement area is to broaden procurement so that we get more bidders. Having said that, of course he is right that those who are looking at contracts, both within departments and across government— because we have central assistance for procurement now—look at the track record of companies, but you have to do that in a fair way.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, I endorse what the Minister said about the emergency alert concept being excellent. The Minister will not necessarily be aware that I was one of the MPs who represented a number of the sub-postmasters, including one who was forced out of the locality in disgrace. His life, his wife’s life and his family’s life were completely destroyed and ruined, whereas he was obviously completely innocent. What really grates—I am sure the Minister understands this, but it would be good to hear her reinforce it—is: why has Fujitsu not in any way apologised?

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

I sympathise with the point made by my noble friend. That is for Fujitsu, of course, and the process of looking at the awful history of the postmasters is still not finished. I agree with him that it can be helpful to say sorry, but that is a matter for Fujitsu. I am sorry that we are not talking much about the alerts, on which I have every answer under the sun. I will try to move things forward more broadly and, on the postmasters, to encourage the progress of the inquiry. We are all longing for the result of that.

House of Lords: Regional Representativeness

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd March 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

We have to come back to the point that the recommendations made to the sovereign on appointments are made by the Prime Minister of the day. That has been conventional right across the party divide. Clearly, the Prime Minister of the day will take into account the talents, diversity and skills of many different people.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

Surely one of the best ways to ensure regional representation is to keep the 92 hereditaries, who come from every single part of the kingdom: that well-known Lib Dem from the far north of Scotland, through Northern Ireland, Wales, East Anglia and Cornwall. That is surely an argument for why they should be maintained.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

My noble friend introduces a new argument into this much-debated subject, which is normally, as today, led by the noble Lord, Lord Grocott. Hereditary Peers continue to be elected by the different party groups and indeed by the Cross Benches. Changes to that, as we know, would have significant constitutional implications, and as yet there is no consensus on change.

WhatsApp: Ministerial Communications

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Wednesday 8th March 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

I do not entirely understand the question, but what I can say is that the High Court dismissed challenges to the Government’s policy and practice with regard to non-corporate communication channels, which allows us to move ahead with the new guidance that I mentioned, and there are clear rules, of which we have already had evidence, on what we are supposed to be doing in the meantime.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, is it not worth remembering that the journalist in question signed an NDA but then betrayed a confidence and handed the documents over—or perhaps sold them—to the Telegraph? Is there a data-protection aspect to this?

Ministerial Appointments: Vetting and Managing Conflicts of Interest

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Tuesday 24th January 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

There is an established procedure that anyone who is fortunate enough to be appointed a Minister goes through, and that includes a number of questions. Indeed, when candidates are put forward to HOLAC for the House of Lords, that is also the case. Tax is one of the areas of questioning but, in relation to today’s debate, clearly the independent adviser will be looking into these matters. It is clear that the Prime Minister became aware of media reports, but when the Minister without Portfolio was appointed, he was told that there were no outstanding issues. Obviously, the details of an individual’s tax affairs are confidential, but this is an important area of inquiry.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, we should never lose sight of the fact that we are talking about a truly remarkable person, whose life story is exceptional and who is an incredible example to all ethnic minorities in this country. Bearing this in mind, should we not await Sir Laurie’s report and not prejudge the issue?

Public Service Ombudsman for England

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Tuesday 10th January 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

On the health area, there was an extensive debate during the passage of the Health and Care Act last year, and I will reflect further on the point the noble Baroness has made and come back to her. However, in some areas such as the DWP there is of course an independent case examiner, which also helps with the flow. We are talking about big numbers here already. I was looking at the figures: there were 5,330 PHSO cases in 2020-21, so it is important that we find a way of resolving complaints, not necessarily through the ombudsman. You need a combination of the two systems.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, surely moving to one overarching body would save substantial money in terms of sharing HR and administrative costs and other overheads. No one is suggesting that there should be an immediate transition, but surely a gradual transition would make a lot of sense.

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con)]

One always hears these arguments in relation to agencies; for example, we put some together to form the Environment Agency. Although there were many pluses, there was also a transition. I remember being in the Business Department when the Department for International Trade was split off. There is a transition cost, which was the point I was making at the beginning. We are talking about a Government with a lot of priorities. As my noble friend says, if we are going to have reform, this is not an immediate priority, but that does not mean that we are not looking at possibilities to improve these things all the time. That is very much what the Parliamentary Ombudsman himself is always trying to do.

Minister for Equalities

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Thursday 20th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

One at a time, please. As far as I am concerned, I agree completely with the noble Baroness and will try to ensure that that happens.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, this House has a really superb reputation for equality, inclusion and diversity. Can the Minister explain why it is necessary in these challenging economic times for the House of Lords to be advertising for a new inclusion and diversity officer on quite a hefty salary?

[Baroness Stedman-Scott (Con)]

That is a very good question. I do not know as I have not seen the advert but I will go away and find out. I am sorry that I did not know that that position had been advertised and cannot answer the question accurately. I think I am going to be speaking to the Clerk of the Parliaments to get an answer, but it is a very good point.

EU Retained Law

Lord Bellingham Excerpts

Thursday 23rd June 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord True (Con)]

My Lords, I am not anticipating either way but as I said in my opening response, in reviewing retained EU law, Defra will obviously, as my noble friend asks, ensure that environmental law is fit for purpose and able to drive improved environmental outcomes while ensuring that regulators can deliver efficiently. It is an important piece of work that will make sure that the UK regulatory framework is appropriate and tailored to the United Kingdom. We have been very clear about our environmental goals and we do not resile from them. They are set out in the 25-year environment plan, the Environment Act 2021 and the net-zero commitment in the recently published Nature Recovery Green Paper. Any changes to environmental regulation in this context or any other will need to support those goals.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, is it the intention of HMG to reform the EU Solvency II rules, which restrict investment by insurance companies to fixed-interest instruments, such as bonds? If we really do want to unlock further wealth and job creation, surely we need to allow insurance companies to invest in, for example, projects such as social housing and wind farms.

[Lord True (Con)]

My Lords, my colleagues in another department will have to answer on the specifics, but my noble friend is absolutely right to highlight that the area of financial services broadly is something of fundamental importance to the national economy, and indeed the Scottish economy. I assure him that my colleagues will continue to examine the areas of regulation to which he has referred, with a view to keeping our financial services sector dynamic and effective and a place where people from all over the world would wish to come and work.