Angela Rayner
Main Page: Angela Rayner (Labour - Ashton-under-Lyne)Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Brandon Lewis
Obviously, rent changes are going through the House at the moment, but this right-to-buy scheme helps housing associations build more homes. It gives them access to more finance and a greater realisation of their assets, and I support that. With regard to the rent changes, bearing in mind the savings that are going on right across the public sector, looking for efficiencies of 1% a year from housing associations is not unreasonable. Many housing associations are embracing that idea.
Angela Rayner (Ashton-under-Lyne) (Lab)
The New Charter Group is a major social housing provider is my constituency. How can its housing associations support right to buy with no staff? As my hon. Friend the Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne) said, a loss of 150 jobs has been announced today. Inevitably, that will mean poorer services for tenants and fewer homes built for local people. Will the Minister meet New Charter’s management and the union Unison, which represents the workers? What action will he take to protect our social housing for the sake of current and future tenants?
Brandon Lewis
What I say to housing associations and generally is that we do need to ensure that we are efficient in our use of public funds and of tenants’ income. Housing associations should be looking at that and at whether they have the right mechanisms and structures in place. I cannot comment on particular housing associations, but right to buy will mean that there is more work for them to do in terms of building those extra homes that we want to see right across the country.