Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Foster of Bath and Karen Buck

Monday 8th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Don Foster)]

Let me assure my hon. Friend that we have recently undertaken a review of housing standards, not least to try to reduce the plethora of different standards, which are burdensome and expensive. Space and room size have been considered. We will be consulting on the outcome of the review in the near future.

[Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)]

T8. The Department’s affordable rents policy is putting housing benefit expenditure up. Over at the Department for Work and Pensions, Ministers are trying, unsuccessfully, to cut housing benefit. Meanwhile, the cuts in housing benefit that they are making have resulted in an 86% increase in homelessness applications in my borough of Westminster. Does the Department ever speak to the Department for Work and Pensions, and if so, could they not possibly agree on a single policy, rather than two contradictory ones?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Foster of Bath and Karen Buck

Monday 4th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Foster]

As my hon. Friend will know, as a result of changes made by this Government to deal with the borrowing pressures placed on local authorities, they have been more able to borrow. The review that we are currently undertaking will include the issues that she has raised.

[Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)]

According to the Government’s impact assessment, most of the under-occupied properties are in the north of England and most of the overcrowded properties are in the south. Can the Minister confirm that part of his strategy is to move Londoners in overcrowded housing to the north?

[Mr Foster]

No, it certainly is not. Having recognised that in some parts of the country there will be problems with the introduction of this policy, the Government have provided councils with large sums of money to help them with their transitional arrangements and ensure that everyone can have a decent home over their heads—unlike the last Government, who reduced the amount of social housing by a staggering 421,000 properties.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Foster of Bath and Karen Buck

Monday 17th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)]

Ministers have sent out a strong message to London councils that they should not be placing homeless households far outside the capital and away from their community network support and children’s schools. On Friday, however, I met a gentleman in employment who is being placed in Milton Keynes. Will the Minister tell me if it is acceptable for the gentleman to be placed in homeless accommodation and immediately lose his job, and if anyone is in charge?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Don Foster)]

We have recently introduced new rules that make it absolutely clear that local authorities have to ensure that the accommodation they provide is reasonable, and that they must take into account issues such as jobs and education.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Foster of Bath and Karen Buck

Monday 12th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Ms Buck]

With private rents in London in particular soaring and driving up homelessness, can the Minister tell us which of the following two statements is consistent with Government policy: the statement by the previous Housing Minister, the right hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps), that homeless households should not be uprooted from their local communities and moved hundreds of miles away, or what is actually happening in the seven west London local authorities, who in their homelessness strategy have talked of their aim to manage the movement of households out of London?

[Mr Foster]

There is no evidence that across the board there are rising—or rocketing—rents as the hon. Lady described. Only on Friday we announced measures that will make it easier for local authorities to make use of the privately rented sector. We have also introduced measures to ensure that accommodation is appropriate, taking account of not only the accommodation itself but local facilities, including schools. That will help councils keep people in the local area.