Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Brandon Lewis and Kit Malthouse(6 years, 5 months ago)
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Brandon Lewis
The right hon. Gentleman is right that that is a good example of the great generosity across this country. We see it not only at events such as Friday night’s, but in the community sponsorship programmes and in communities wanting to do what they can to help some of the most vulnerable people in the world. We should all be proud of what we do as a country and of what the Government are doing to bring over children who need support and help. We are doing that, and our rules do allow for family reunion as well.
Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire) (Con)
One of the dangers that unaccompanied children face is human trafficking, meaning that they may end up being sold for sex in this country. Did the Minister see the appalling report in The Times last week about children as young as five being sold for sex on the streets of Glasgow? What engagement has the Home Office had with the National Crime Agency, Border Force, the Scottish Executive and Police Scotland to stamp that out?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend rightly draws attention to a horrific case that many of us will have seen, and the Home Secretary spoke to Michael Matheson just today to offer our full support and help. My hon. Friend also highlights why it is important that we do all we can to deter people from making perilous journeys and to crack down on the rogue traders and the despicable behaviour of human traffickers. I am pleased by the work that has been done recently across the Home Office, the police, immigration enforcement and the NCA to break down some of those routes, but there is always more to do, and we must stay focused.
Housing and Planning Bill
Debate between Brandon Lewis and Kit Malthouse
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend makes a very good point. I can assure him that I have very recently written to the chief executive of the Planning Inspectorate, and I know that that letter is very clearly in the front of the mind, on the database and under the nose of all planning inspectors, so they are clear that we believe neighbourhood plans should be respected. The amendment (a) that we have tabled will take that even further, but I will continue to work with colleagues to look at how we can go further to ensure that neighbourhood plans get the robust support and programme that they need in the period ahead.
Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire) (Con)
The Minister is making a powerful point. Last week, he very kindly made that point to three of my constituents from Overton, Whitchurch and Oakley, all of which have neighbourhood plans in place. Does he agree that although greater protection for neighbourhood plans would be very welcome, one of the key building blocks is the five-year land supply? What consideration is he giving to allowing councils greater power to protect their five-year land supply from challenges from developers, so that that can cascade down into greater certainty for neighbourhood plans?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend makes a very good point about the importance of making sure that five-year land supplies are in place, that we are delivering the housing we need and that developers get the message loud and clear that neighbourhood plans will be respected by local authorities, the Planning Inspectorate and the Government.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Brandon Lewis and Kit Malthouse
Brandon Lewis
If the hon. Gentleman looks at some of the papers published over the past couple of weeks, he will see that although there was a fall in home ownership since 2003, it has stalled. It is our clear determination and policy to make sure that we increase home ownership, and that is what starter homes are about. I hope that he will support us in delivering those homes for first-time buyers under 40, at a discount of at least 20%, so that we can help them to be able to afford to get into that ownership model again.
Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire) (Con)
One of the key planks of the Government’s policy on delivering affordable housing is neighbourhood planning, so the Minister will be pleased to hear that in Oakley, in my constituency, the neighbourhood plan went to a referendum last Thursday and received 95% approval. Given that, does he agree that it is an outrage that just seven days before the referendum, the planning inspector allowed an appeal in that village that largely renders the plan pointless after two years of work? What is he going to do about the Planning Inspectorate effectively bulldozing Government policy in my constituency?
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Brandon Lewis and Kit Malthouse(8 years, 2 months ago)
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Brandon Lewis
As we have said throughout the progress of the Housing and Planning Bill, on the Floor of the House and in Committee, we are looking at tapering to bring this in and we are working with the sector itself. It is absolutely right that we come up with a deal that is also fair for taxpayers, to make sure that as people earn more and can afford to pay towards their home they do so in a way that always makes it pay to work.
Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire) (Con)
I assume that the Minister is aware that Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s local plan is due for adoption this spring. Could he reassure the council’s planning committee that it can now start to make decisions in line with that plan, safe in the knowledge that the planning inspector will not overturn those decisions, thus protecting the countryside from speculative development?
Brandon Lewis
That is good news. My hon. Friend outlines another local plan that is in its later stages. I can confirm that, as a local plan gets to those later stages, it picks up more weight, so the local authority should be making planning decisions in line with the local plan. That is the right thing to do for local communities.
Right to Buy
Debate between Brandon Lewis and Kit MalthouseUrgent 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.
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Brandon Lewis
On the properties the hon. Lady outlined, in the deal itself and the right to buy there are exemptions, but I do sympathise with her point. I understand how the Scottish Government came to the point that they did in terms of the frustration with housing supply because, as I have just outlined, Labour simply did not build the houses over their 13 years in government. The answer is that we need to make sure we are building the houses. I would encourage the Scottish Government that the solution is not to stop people having the right to buy their own home. I would encourage that and use the money from that to build the extra houses we need; if Labour had done that for 13 years, we would not have lost the 420,000 affordable homes that were lost in those years. We have increased those numbers in the last Parliament. We will do so again in this Parliament and, through the money coming in from right to buy, there will be that full replacement income for housing associations to build an extra home; that is the key to this.
Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire) (Con)
I congratulate the Secretary of State and Minister on this most civilised of solutions. However, may I raise a point I have had discussions with them on on a number of occasions: exemptions for small rural communities where housing association properties are extremely valuable but also extremely hard to replace? Have we had discussions with housing associations about the same exemptions for those small communities as are currently embodied in council house right to buy?
Brandon Lewis
I thank my hon. Friend. He makes a good point. The housing associations have played a hugely important part through the way they have come forward with this deal and have recognised the mandate the Government got in the general election to deliver this. They have done an excellent job in this regard. This is about extending the right to buy and therefore the rural exemptions extend as well. Indeed my hon. Friend can see the deal on the National Housing Federation website and there are some examples there of the very point he has outlined.