Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

My Lords, it may not surprise your Lordships that before we start the debate on the first group, I remind the Committee again of the protocol around declaring interests. As I have mentioned, noble Lords should declare relevant interests at each stage of proceedings on a Bill. That means that in Committee, relevant interests should be declared during the first group on which a noble Lord speaks. If a noble Lord has already declared an interest in Committee, that is sufficient, but if this is their first contribution, any relevant interests should be declared.

Amendment 206A

Moved by

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Monday 12th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

My Lords, it may not surprise noble Lords that, before we start the debate on the first group, I again remind the Committee of the protocol around declaring interests. As I mentioned last week, noble Lords should declare relevant interests at each stage of proceedings on a Bill. That means that in Committee, relevant interests should be declared during the first group on which a noble Lord speaks. If a noble Lord declared an interest during the previous two days in Committee, that is sufficient, but if this is their first contribution, any relevant interests should be declared.

[Lord Shipley (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for what he has just said, reminding us of the importance of declaring interests in Committee if they have not been declared so far, but will he make a statement to the Committee about the Government’s plans for further consideration of this Bill, given that we were promised six days of consideration? We lost more than two hours last week through dinner-hour business, and today—for extremely good reasons—we have now lost more than five hours of consideration. I hope the Government have now decided that they must give this Committee an extra day, because we were promised six days and we have not had six days. I hope the Government’s intention is not simply to go through the night tonight and through the night on Wednesday. This would not mean reasonable discussion of the 132 amendments that still stand to be debated in your Lordships’ Committee.

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for those comments. We will try to resolve this through the usual channels, but there are six days and this is the fifth day. We want to make progress today and we want to complete Committee on the sixth day, which is Wednesday this week.

Clause 17: Landlords etc: financial penalties and offences

Amendment 145

Moved by

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[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

My Lords, before the Minister stands up to respond, I just make the point that it has gone midnight. We did not start consideration of Committee until 8.30 pm. That has meant that people have gone home without putting forward their amendments, and there has not been proper scrutiny on the last few groups. The Committee has done amazingly well to get as far as it has, but it has now gone midnight. I do not know if the Whip intends to resume the House.

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

I will resume the House at the appropriate time. This is not the first time where debates have gone beyond midnight: on day 1 of Report, the Great British Energy Bill went to 1 am. I do not intend to take this much further. I want to stop at Amendment 206, which is another two groups, and then that will be it. Hopefully, we will be finished very shortly.

[Baroness Williams of Trafford (Con)]

The reason we are on the penultimate group is because people have not been in the Chamber to move their amendments in Committee. There have been very short debates in Committee, and some very important groups in Committee have just been glossed over—that is my point.

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

As I said, I want to get to Amendment 206. There is only one amendment that has not been moved. There have been other debates that have gone on until 1 am. If we spent less time discussing this aspect, we could finish quite soon.

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

My Lords, the central aim of the Renters’ Rights Bill is to give tenants more security in their homes. Landlords must not be able to evict tenants without a ground for possession, as defined in Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, which we are expanding and refining to ensure that landlords can gain possession where proportionate.

The noble Baroness, Lady Scott of Bybrook, supported by the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson, has stated that they do not support Clause 61 standing part of the Bill. This clause will repeal Part 3 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, which, if brought into force, would have allowed landlords to take possession of premises they believed to be abandoned without a court order. However, Part 3 of the 2016 Act was never brought into force. It also wholly pertained to assured shorthold tenancies. Those tenancies will cease to exist in the private rented sector after the implementation of the Bill. The repeal of Part 3, therefore, is necessary to maintain a coherent statute book.

As I mentioned, Part 3 of the 2016 Act would have enabled landlords to reclaim possession of properties under an assured shorthold tenancy that had been abandoned without a court order, provided they had issued three warning notices without response and the tenant was in rent arrears. While we acknowledge that genuine abandonment can present challenges—I dealt with a case that had gone on for years and years in Stevenage—not only for landlords but also for the wider community, these provisions were not the appropriate solution. At the time, they were criticised as a rogue landlord’s charter, and it is appropriate that they were never implemented.

Where abandonment has occurred, landlords will need to establish a ground for possession. It is likely that, in abandonment scenarios, tenants will also be in rent arrears, making those grounds for possession applicable. Landlords may also rely on breaches of tenancy agreements, such as clauses prohibiting prolonged unoccupancy or on grounds relating to deterioration of the property. In clear-cut situations, implied surrender may also apply—for example, where tenants have returned the keys and the landlord has accepted them even if no formal notice was given.

It is vital that tenants have access to justice when facing the loss of their home. Landlords must not be enabled to take possession without a valid ground. Clause 61 ensures the removal of these redundant provisions from the statute book. I commend this clause to the Committee.

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Tuesday 6th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

My Lords, before we start the debate on the first group, I remind the Committee again of the protocol around declaring interests. As I mentioned last week, noble Lords should declare relevant interests at each stage of a Bill’s proceedings. That means that, in Committee, relevant interests should be declared during the first group in which a noble Lord speaks. If a noble Lord declared an interest during the previous two days in Committee then that is sufficient, but if they are making their first contribution today then any relevant interest should be declared.

Clause 12: Right to request permission to keep a pet

Amendment 118

Moved by

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Monday 28th April 2025 Lords Chamber

Relevant document: 14th Report from the Delegated Powers Committee. Scottish Legislative Consent granted; Welsh Legislative Consent sought.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

Before we move to the debate on the amendments, I will make a statement. I remind the House again of the protocol around declaring interests. As I mentioned last week, noble Lords should declare relevant interests at each stage of proceedings on a Bill. That means in Committee, relevant interests should be declared during the first group on which a noble Lord speaks. If a noble Lord declared an interest during the last two days in Committee, that is sufficient, but, if this your first contribution, any relevant interests should be declared in a specific but brief way.

Amendment 69

Moved by

--- Later in debate ---

These amendments seek to satisfy the interests of renters and landlords, and indeed the investors standing behind the landlords. They try to avoid the cumbersome conflict and potential delay involved—

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

Can I ask the noble Lord to bring his remarks to an end? He has spoken for well over 10 minutes.

[Lord Best (CB)]

They introduce an arrangement that all parties could accept as a distinct improvement on the Bill’s reliance on appeals to the tribunal.

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Thursday 24th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

My Lords, before we start the debate on the first group, I remind the Committee of the protocol around declaring interests, following a number of questions. As I mentioned earlier this week, noble Lords should declare any relevant interests at each stage of proceedings on a Bill. That means that, in Committee, relevant interests should be declared during the first group on which a noble Lord speaks. If a noble Lord declared an interest during the previous day of Committee then that is sufficient, but if this is their first contribution then any relevant interest should be declared specifically but briefly.

Clause 3: Sections 1 and 2: effect of superior leases

Amendment 16

Moved by

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

My Lords, before we start the debate on the first group, following a number of questions, the Chief Whip has asked me to remind the House of the protocol on declaring interests. Noble Lords should declare any relevant interest at each stage of proceedings on a Bill. This means that, in Committee, relevant interests should be declared during the first group on which a noble Lord speaks. Declarations should be specific and brief. Members should briefly indicate the nature of their interest and not simply refer to their entry in the Register of Lords’ Interests.

Amendment 1

Moved by

Holocaust Memorial Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Committee stage
Thursday 27th March 2025 Grand Committee

[Lord Inglewood (CB)]

I am not Jewish, as I have explained to the Committee on previous occasions. I have found what I have heard in the debates around these amendments moving and interesting, but it is important in this context that we are clear that the Holocaust is not exclusively part of Jewish history. It is part of British history—because, for example, my family went and fought the Germans in order to try to rid the world of this evil. Some of my concerns about the proposal in its current form arise from the fact of this slightly wider context. Victoria Tower Gardens are an important site for the whole of the British people, but this commemorates something that, in a different way from the Jewish community, is part of our history and our heritage. It is important that that is borne in mind.

I also think as an individual—and this may engender considerable criticism—that the greatest thing we can do in this country to honour those who died in the Holocaust is to have a country that operates under the rule of law, where Governments cannot bully and just override citizens, and that we have a proper process where all the interested parties have their interests properly taken into account. My amendment—which the Minister, I thought rather unfairly, described as being about planning consent—was about using planning consent as a kind of milestone in the process.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

I ask the noble Lord to sit down. We are no longer discussing his amendment. This is a completely separate group, and the Minister has now sat down. We need to move on.

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I am saving the best to last, naturally. My noble friend Lord Pickles was, in the nicest possible way, dancing on the head of a pin. He sought to rubbish the whole concept of the amendment by picking on the word “Nazi”. He rightly pointed out that many other countries in Europe were also killing Jews through their various police organisations and other nasty affiliations, but is he seriously suggesting that those countries would have committed their own Holocaust and started exterminating the Jews if Hitler had not given the lead, if they were not inspired by Hitler?

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab)]

I just say to noble Lords that we do not want to be reliving the whole debate, as passionate as it is. We should be winding up now, as the Minister has sat down.

[Lord Pickles (Con)]

I can do this in 20 seconds. All I am saying is that the Arrow Cross was murdering Jews in Hungary while Hitler was attempting the Munich putsch. The antisemitic laws were first introduced not at Nuremberg but in Hungary.

Holocaust Memorial Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 4th March 2025 Grand Committee

“to locate their offices, or set up satellite offices, within the wider physical campus. The Commission also recommends that the Learning Centre includes the Imperial War Museum’s Holocaust Exhibition”.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

I ask the noble Lord to draw his remarks to a conclusion.

[Lord Blencathra (Con)]

I appreciate that. I apologise for going over 10 minutes, but I did not expect to have to do two minutes on the amendments tabled by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of St Albans.

If I can conclude with just a few more seconds to go, the commission commended the 9/11 exhibition in New York. In November last year, I had to attend some official meetings at the United Nations, so I thought I would go along to see it. I was half expecting it to be, in the usual American way, a bit over the top and a bit tacky, but I was utterly wrong. It was exceptionally well done, moving and authoritative, with exquisite architecture—and it was absolutely massive. It was to commemorate just—just—2,977 victims. We are trying to commemorate 6 million victims by squeezing them into this tiny little bunker under the ground, which has usable space of just 1,700 square metres. It is simply not good enough. I commend my amendments to the Committee.

Renters’ Rights Bill

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wilson of Sedgefield (Lab) (Maiden Speech)]

My Lords, I refer noble Lords to my entry in the register of interests. I thank all sides of this House for the welcome they have given me to the Lords. It has been a warm and gracious welcome, so thank you very much. I thank the offices of the Lord Speaker, Black Rod and the Clerk of the Parliaments, who worked with great professionalism to ensure that my introduction to this House went according to plan. I have discovered that the House of Lords is, like the House of Commons, a rabbit warren, only with red carpets. I therefore thank the doorkeepers for pointing me in the right direction.

I thank my noble friends Lady Smith of Basildon and Lord Kennedy of Southwark for their leadership. I pay tribute to my noble friends Lady Armstrong of Hill Top and Lord Hanson of Flint for sponsoring me. I have known my noble friend Lady Armstrong for almost 40 years. As MP for North West Durham, she introduced me to the House of Commons when I won the Sedgefield by-election. My noble friend Lord Hanson and I shadowed the Home Office between 2010 and 2015; my noble friend was the shadow Minister and I the shadow Whip. I remember us winning a couple of votes in Committee on one occasion—I emphasise that it was on only one occasion.

This year, 2025, is turning out to be an eventful one for the Wilson family. On 14 January, I became a grandfather for the third time, this time to a beautiful baby girl. On 20 January, I was introduced to this House, and, next month, my mother will celebrate her 100th birthday. Obviously a little tired after 100 years, mam is still as sharp as a pin and loves to reminisce. I will never forget how her face lit up when I told her I was to be a Member of the House of Lords. She leant forward in her chair, reached out for my hand and said: “And your dad was a miner”. Mam was born in 1925, in the colliery village of Fishburn, in County Durham. In 1925, this House was home to 26 Dukes, 29 Marquesses, 130 Earls and 73 Viscounts—none of them, as far as I am aware, the son or daughter of a coal miner.

My dad was brought up in Trimdon, another colliery village, just to the north of Fishburn, and my parents left school on the eve of the Second World War. Ambition and aspiration were restricted primarily to three occupations for men in those villages at that time: work on a farm, go down the pit, or join the Army. Dad’s first job was on a farm. Since he was in a reserved occupation, he joined the Home Guard, and would pick up his rifle and three rounds of ammunition from the vicarage to fend off any potential Nazi invasion. On 30 August 1939, his elder brother joined the Royal Artillery. Evacuated from Dunkirk, he would eventually see service behind the beaches of Normandy with the second battalion of the SAS. He was our rogue hero.

Careers for women in those villages at that time were also rare. Mam worked during the war in a fish shop in Billingham, on Teesside, and she still regales the family with how it was in old money: 1p for a bag of chips and threepence for a fish. Every night, the blitz came to Billingham. Every night, she took to the bomb shelter or hid under her neighbour’s reinforced kitchen table as the Nazis tried to destroy the town. By the time my parents married, dad was working down the pit, and he did so for the best part of 40 years. I grew up one of two sons on a council estate in Trimdon. It was a close-knit community.

I joined the Labour Party many years ago because I believe in ambition and aspiration. There is plenty of talent around, but opportunity for all is scarce. Equality of opportunity is central to a just society: an education that takes you as far as you want to go, a job which enriches your life and that of society, a society in which you are looked after when you are ill and where you live in a home not just a house, and where we all understand that the first duty of government is to defend the nation.

I had the privilege of representing Sedgefield for 12 years. The constituency had moved on from being a mining constituency. The area that was once the Sedgefield constituency boasts, at Newton Aycliffe, one of the largest business parks in the north-east. I am proud of the part that I played in ensuring that Hitachi Rail built its train manufacturing plant in the constituency, situated just a few hundred yards from where George Stephenson assembled Locomotion No. 1 some 200 years ago this September. I wanted to make sure that the opportunities that were not there for my parents were there for my constituents.

The 2019 election was a defeat for me and a defeat for Labour. That election was dire for the country. The electorate was confronted with a choice of Prime Minister which was not a choice between the lesser of two evils, as many thought, but was in fact, I am afraid, a choice between the evil of two lessers. It was a torrid time, but I am pleased and proud that Keir Starmer has turned Labour into a party that is once again serious about government—so serious in fact that we have formed a Government only five years after a massive defeat.

Of course, Tony Blair was my predecessor, and his leadership galvanised Labour to victory. I first met him in the bar of the Trimdon Community College at the time of his selection as Sedgefield’s Labour candidate in 1983, and I went on to work for him for many years. Tony had a big smile, big charisma and big ideas. However, so dreadful were Labour’s prospects in 1983 that, if you had said to me back then that Tony Blair would go on to form a Government that would keep the Conservatives out of power for 13 years and win three consecutive general elections, I would have replied, “Go away, pick up a pen and write a novel. You’ve a great imagination”. If you had said to me back then that I would be relaying this story in my maiden speech in the House of Lords, I would have replied, “I think that you have being drinking one too many pints down the Labour club”.

I want to end by returning to my granddaughter. Because of medical advancements, she will probably reach her centenary in 2125. What kind of world will it be? Will my granddaughter be able to afford to buy her own house, or will she only be able to afford to rent? Will she live in a society where we understand that we can go faster alone but only go further together? Will she live in a society where free speech is not just opinion but based in fact and founded on truth? Will our generation prevent another world war, so that my grandchildren can live to become grandparents themselves? Will the worst effects of climate change be stopped, or will it not even be safe for her to venture outside? In 2125, will there still be hereditary Peers in the House of Lords?

The task for us all, especially this Government, is to face the challenges that are moulding the 21st century, with all its contradictions, tragedies and opportunities, and to do so with belief, imagination and fortitude. Our responsibility is huge: to protect all that we believe in—human rights, democracy, the rule of law, equality of opportunity and our way of life. This Government need to be successful for the country and for the sake of all our grandchildren. It is my ambition and aspiration to ensure that I play my part in that.

Draft Newcastle Upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland Combined Authority (Establishment and Functions) Order 2018

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Monday 22nd October 2018 General Committees

[Jake Berry]

Those were two excellent contributions from the Back Benches. I congratulate the hon. Member for North Tyneside, who correctly signposted the very strong thread of inclusive growth woven through the deal by the Government and the local authorities involved. Her refreshing contribution showed how, throughout this entire negotiation, politics has been laid aside and people of different political backgrounds and none have come together for the benefit of the entire area. It was an excellent contribution.

The hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North asked whether the deal is the start of an ongoing process. First let us get devolution deal No. 1 done, through the Committee today and through the other place next week, but I very much agree that it should be the start of a conversation about the ongoing story of devolution across the north-east. She asked whether the shared prosperity fund would be allocated to the mayoral combined authority area. We are currently designing the shared prosperity fund, and we will consult on it widely. I will take her contribution as some early lobbying on behalf of the mayoral combined authority.

The hon. Lady also spoke very well about simplifying the complicated picture in the north-east, and I take her comments on board. Frankly, it is regrettable that the combined authority area does not cover all the seven authorities that originally came to the Government to discuss the devolution deal. The way in which the three areas north of the Tyne came together and, despite that initial setback to their prospects, came forward with a very positive deal for the people who live there gives us all hope. Of course, the door remains open to other authorities in the area to start the conversation with the Government about their ambition for a devolution deal—perhaps even about joining this deal. The Government always remain in listening mode. Although she has not spoken, let me take this opportunity to congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, who has been an exceptional champion for getting this deal done.

Let me deal with some of the shadow Minister’s comments. I spoke briefly about how it is not possible to do devolution 2.0 without devolution 1.0, so I hope he does not cause a Division but supports the draft order. He asked where the cash would come from. Look, £600 million is not an insignificant sum to invest in the north-east, and we heard from his own party’s Back Benchers how that will multiply up to more than £1 billion being invested in the economy.

I mentioned the new fleet of trains for the Tyne and Wear metro, the North East LEP growth deals, the international advanced manufacturing park at the Nissan plant in Sunderland and the £117 million Northern Spire bridge across the River Wear—I once accidentally described it as being across the River Tyne; I will try not to make that mistake again. Those projects total nearly £1 billion. In addition, this devolution cash will go directly into the north-east’s economy to drive it forward, so a total of more than £1.5 billion will have been agreed to and spent during the coalition Government and under this deal. I think that shows that the Government back the north-east.

The shadow Minister went on to say that the Government are desperate to move devolution forward but nothing is happening. I gently point out that in 13 years of a Labour Government there was no devolution at all for the English regions.

[Phil Wilson (Sedgefield) (Lab)]

London? Scotland? Wales?

[Jake Berry]

I repeat: there was no devolution at all for the English regions. Clearly some people were not listening. The Opposition say we have not done enough, but we have created six metro Mayors, we are doing a deal north of the Tyne and, as I said, the Conservative party is the party of English devolution. That is typical. Frankly, it says everything about Labour Governments that they talk a good game—they talk about backing the north-east and the north of England—but it is simply that: talk. I can stand here as a Minister and say, “Here is £1.5 billion of cash going into the north-east. Here is a devolution deal for the north-east, designed not by the Government but by the people of the north-east, who rightly have an ambition to drive forward their own economy.” I hope the shadow Minister thinks about his party’s record. I know he has a car that dates from the 1980s—I saw that on his Twitter feed. I hope we are not going back to the Labour party of the 1980s, but we may be.

Finally, the shadow Minister asked about the devolution framework. The Government are committed to bringing that framework forward in the autumn, which, as he will have seen, the Secretary of State said to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee.

[Phil Wilson]

I am pleased the devolution deal is going ahead. If the local authorities that are not involved in the combined authority that will come out of the draft order—Durham, for example, which is my local authority—want to join it, will the Government accept that?

[Jake Berry]

I rather suspect the hon. Gentleman is asking me to write a blank cheque. If he listened, he will know that I said the Government remain open to discussions with the areas outside the combined authority that the draft order will create. I would welcome the other areas of the north-east coming to the Government and talking to us about devolution. Although this is a very good deal, it is unfortunate that some of the seven boroughs that started the discussions with the Government decided to walk away from those discussions. I hope and believe that if they came to the Government in the spirit of openness to negotiate a locally supported, ground-up deal, the Government would happily listen to their proposals.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That the Committee has considered the draft Newcastle Upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland Combined Authority (Establishment and Functions) Order 2018.