Fire Safety Bill

Lord Duncan of Springbank Excerpts

Report stage & Report stage (Hansard) & Report stage (Hansard): House of Lords
Tuesday 17th November 2020 Lords Chamber

In the light of that explanation, and the assurance that I have given, I invite the noble Baroness to withdraw her amendment. Finally, I point out that on the draft building safety Bill, we are working with experts to explore, with stakeholders, the best way forward to ensure that the key elements of gateway 1 can be considered for in-scope building with permitted development rights. I hope, therefore, that the amendment can be withdrawn.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Duncan of Springbank) (Con)]

I have had no requests to speak after the Minister, so I call the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock. No? It will be slightly unfortunate if we cannot get the noble Baroness on the line—perhaps not for the Government but for others. Lady Pinnock, are you with us?

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[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Duncan of Springbank) (Con)]

My Lords, perhaps I may recapitulate. We return to Amendment 10. The noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, is now on the line and very much in presence. I call on her to make her remarks and to indicate whether she intends to press her amendment.

[Baroness Pinnock (LD) [V]]

I thank noble Lords for that brief wait while technical glitches were sorted out, and I thank everyone who has contributed to our debate on these important issues of public transparency and accountability in terms of fire safety. I especially thank my noble friend Lord Stunell for his knowledgeable and powerful argument, and the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, for his expert input. I assure him that I totally accept the detailed points that he raised and, if we have an opportunity for this amendment regarding public registers for assessments, I am sure that they will be properly considered, and in detail.

I listened carefully to the Minister and I thank him for being so clear in his response to these amendments. I heard him accept the need for, and principle of, transparency in supporting fire safety. Unfortunately, he was unable to go on to say that the Government would accept a register of fire safety assessments so that people can see the issues relating to the properties they live in. He said that householders could ask for fire assessments, but they would have to be on request. I reflected that that would not work well for the residents of Grenfell, who repeatedly raised issues of fire safety and were unable to be heard. A public register would have given huge strength to the concerns that they raised.

Given that the Minister has, unfortunately, been unable to give me an assurance that the Government will provide for a public register for fire safety assessments, I should like to test the opinion of the House.

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Amendments 11 and 12 not moved.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Duncan of Springbank) (Con)]

We now come to the group consisting of Amendment 13. I remind noble Lords that Members other than the mover and the Minister may speak only once and that short questions of elucidation are discouraged. Anyone wishing to press the amendment to a Division should make that clear in the debate.

Amendment 13

Moved by

Covid-19: Housing

Lord Duncan of Springbank Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[The Minister of State, Home Office and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Lord Greenhalgh) (Con)]

A number of questions have been put; where I do not know the answer, I shall write to the noble Baroness or the noble Lord and place a copy of my response in the Library.

I shall start with the questions put by the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy. A ban on evictions is in place, which we shall review in due course once it is released. We have engaged with a number of stakeholders regarding rough sleeping. It is incredible that 90% of rough sleepers—some 5,400 people—have been taken off the streets. Engagement is happening with local authorities, charities and, as I know, the Local Government Association, to come up with a big, bold plan to ensure that these people remain in secure and settled accommodation and do not just get handed back on to the streets.

The noble Baroness mentioned being able to resume construction safely. I note the ONS figures. We know that guidance has been issued on how to restart safely, including a charter on construction safety. Over 100 construction companies have signed that charter and we look to more to do the same. Obviously, the raised levels among construction workers are not necessarily down to construction; there could be other factors such as underlying conditions. We will continue to monitor that.

We assume that access to PPE should be no problem with routine construction. Construction workers have access to testing, as do other key workers, as we reopen the economy. I note the comments around low-interest rates to tenants. I shall write specifically on that to the noble Baroness. We need to recognise that restarting construction is a key part of reopening our economy. The Government recognise that between 600,000 and 900,000 people are employed in the housing sector alone and many millions in the wider construction sector; but we understand the need to do this safely.

[The Deputy Speaker (Lord Duncan of Springbank) (Con)]

We now come to the 30 minutes allocated for Back-Bench questions. I ask that the questions and answers be brief so that I can call the maximum number of speakers.

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[Lord Greenhalgh]

The noble Lord made a very powerful speech on rough sleeping last week and I learnt a lot about the generations of people who were not well served by successive Governments. I note his call for a bold plan to end rough sleeping, finally, and his concerns, which are quite right, about the people who have suffered great economic loss during the pandemic. That is why we need to reopen the economy as safely as we possibly can and in a way that does not cause a second peak. The department is reviewing the situation with regard to evictions, but no decision has been taken yet.

[The Deputy Speaker]

I will be replaced as Deputy Speaker by the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, after this intervention. The noble Lord, Lord Balfe, is not there, so I call the noble Lord, Lord Holmes of Richmond.

[Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)]

Does my noble friend agree that there is a real opportunity and an urgent need to increase the use of digital technology across the construction sector, not least in the supply chain, to ensure that the various industry bodies produce the skills and talent to enable us to flourish in all our digital futures?