Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Meg Hillier and Rachel Maclean

Monday 5th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Maclean]

The hon. Gentleman has set out clearly the reason why the Government are taking these significant steps to make sure that we get the balance right between tourists visiting an area, bringing in vital income and supporting local businesses, and those local communities having the necessary housing for people and workers to live in and to buy. We are progressing this consultation as quickly as possible and will make further announcements in due course.

[Dame Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Member’s Financial Interests and to the fact that I am a leaseholder. Ten days ago, I met some of my residents who are leaseholders. They are yet another group of residents in Hackney who are frustrated by the inaction and slow actions of their freeholder. They desperately want commonhold and yet, despite a manifesto commitment in 2019 and promises from Secretaries of State in each of the past three years, we have seen nothing from this Government. Why is this dither and delay continuing?

[Rachel Maclean]

I do not agree that there has been dither and delay. We have already capped ground rents for significant numbers of leaseholders. We are committed to creating a housing system that works for everyone. We are determined to better protect and empower leaseholders to challenge unreasonable costs, extend the benefits of freehold ownership to more homeowners, and introduce more legislation within this Parliament.

Draft Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2022

Debate between Meg Hillier and Rachel Maclean

Wednesday 26th October 2022 General Committees

[Rachel Maclean]

I thank all colleagues for their contributions to this debate. I will take the issues that were raised in turn before I come to the shadow Minister. My right hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead raised very good points about the importance of using SIs for a specific purpose, which is exactly what we have done. There is a role both for the Ministry of Justice and for the Home Office. We have had to amend the Police Act 1997, as I set out in my initial remarks, and we are also having to amend the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. As other Members have suggested, the scheme has been incredibly important. I agree with the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch and pay tribute to all Members of this House and elsewhere who are hosting our Ukrainian guests. It is an incredibly compassionate act and demonstrates the true British spirit.

The hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch asked when we became aware of the issues. It is fair to say I was part of the initial set-up of the scheme in my previous role in the Home Office under the previous Home Secretary, and we worked at pace, along with Lord Harrington, to set up the scheme, which was a true cross-Government effort. It was a completely new, bespoke scheme, so we worked through the night on many occasions to try to address the myriad issues that sat with our Department, with other Departments, with DLUHC, and, in some cases, with the devolved Administrations.

[Dame Meg Hillier]

On that point, the Minister says that it was a bespoke scheme. The Public Accounts Committee, which I have the privilege of chairing, looked at the Syrian resettlement scheme, which we gave quite a big tick. There are always issues with big projects, but it worked very well, so there was an example of a scheme that went before. It was not domestic hosting, so the safeguarding was slightly different, but there were still issues there. Did she look back to that scheme? I am still puzzled why the Government drew up a whole new scheme when there was a fairly good model on the stocks.

[Rachel Maclean]

That is a perfectly valid question, but I fear that the scope of this debate is very narrow and is about the exceptions in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. I was not the Minister responsible for the policy decisions. The right answer for colleagues who have raised valid points about the future of the scheme is probably to seek a Backbench Business debate—perhaps a Westminster Hall debate—so that the relevant Minister can come along and answer all those questions. It is not possible for me to answer them now, but I am happy to feed them back to my colleagues or to answer any correspondence on them.

The hon. Member for Lewisham West and Penge mentioned the fact that the scheme was initially going to run for a shorter period and that people are now coming to the end of that period, and asked what plans we have made for that. Again, it would be wrong for me to try to answer those questions as I am not the Minister with responsibility for those issues.

I very much hope that colleagues are reassured that the draft SI is an important part of the Government’s safeguarding responsibility, and I commend it to the Committee.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Meg Hillier and Rachel Maclean

Tuesday 18th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Maclean]

My hon. Friend is completely right to highlight the harm and the horrendous impacts of drug dealing in his constituency. There are already significant penalties for supplying that drug—as a class B drug, the maximum penalty is four years in prison—but the Government always keep such matters under review.

[Dame Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is not just the criminal courts that are seeing backlogs; the probate registry service and the divorce courts are also causing problems. One constituent came to my surgery last week. She is still living with her husband but her divorce case has been passed to Suffolk, where people cannot understand how she could still be living in the same house as him while trying to divorce—but that is the reality of the London housing situation. What action is the Minister taking to make sure that the pace of dealing with such cases increases?

Free Travel for Under-18s: London

Debate between Meg Hillier and Rachel Maclean

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Rachel Maclean)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury) on securing this end-of-day debate on what is an important issue. It gives me a welcome opportunity to set out the policy and detail behind the generous support package agreed and given to Transport for London.

The covid-19 pandemic has given rise to an unprecedented health and public safety emergency. The Government continue to work to ensure that public transport is safe in these unprecedented times, and that the capacity is there for key workers and those who need to use public transport to support the critical restart of the economy. We can all agree that the transport network has a key role to play in supporting a safe and sustainable recovery for London.

A £1.6 billion extraordinary funding and financing agreement was first announced on 15 May. It was agreed to enable TfL to continue to operate services. The agreement contained a series of measures to manage demand and facilitate safe travel, including the temporary suspension of free travel for under-18s on buses. That was agreed by the Government, the Mayor of London and the Deputy Mayor for Transport. I make the point that these demand reduction measures were agreed by the Mayor of London. I quote from one of his public broadcasts on the matter:

“What we don’t want is children and their parents and carers using public transport during rush hour, leading to social interaction leading to the virus spreading.”

[Meg Hillier]

The Minister quotes the Mayor of London. I wonder whether she can tell me the date on which he made that comment about children not travelling on buses?

--- Later in debate ---

[Rachel Maclean]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. I will certainly write to her with that information.

Before the covid-19 crisis, around a third of journeys between 8 and 9 am were made by young people travelling to school. However, according to TfL, the average journey to school in London is less than one kilometre. The temporary suspension of free travel for under-18s is one way to manage demand for buses during the morning peak, and it is necessary to ensure that capacity is available to those who need it, including some schoolchildren, given reduced capacity as a result of social distancing measures.

I assure the hon. Member for Brentford and Isleworth that the Department continues to work closely with TfL on how that temporary suspension will be operationalised, while ensuring—this is a very important point—that any child eligible for free home-to-school travel under the Education Act 1996 will still receive it. The Department, to answer her question directly, is completing an equality impact assessment that will consider whether there are further categories of children who should receive free transport. Those children whom hon. Members have rightly expressed concerns about will receive free travel and this work is still continuing.

I can confirm, in answer to the hon. Lady’s questions, that the cost of the temporary suspension will not fall on London boroughs. In addition, the Department for Transport is working closely with TfL and the Department for Education to look at a whole range of other measures to help to manage demand for bus travel to and from school. That includes considering staggered start times, using coaches and promoting active travel. For those schoolchildren who no longer have access to free bus travel, I emphasise the opportunity that presents to promote and encourage use of active travel modes and to maximise the benefits of the Government’s record £2 billion investment in walking and cycling.

[Meg Hillier]

In my constituency, sadly we have a problem with gangs, and a parent has written to me saying that she does not want her son to be another statistic. She chose a school on a safe bus route to make sure he was safe. Switching to what the Minister describes as active travel, which I would normally support, is not as simple as she describes, and I hope she will recognise that.

[Rachel Maclean]

I thank the hon. Lady for her point. All these matters are being considered in the work that is going on while this policy is being operationalised by TfL and the Department for Transport.

Walking and cycling will play a vital role in ensuring that pupils are able to attend classes safely and on time. While we do appreciate some of the challenges that have been identified, it is the Government’s preferred approach that pupils should walk and cycle wherever possible.