Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Daniel Kawczynski and James Brokenshire

Monday 17th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury and Atcham) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State acknowledge that in counties such as Shropshire, where our elderly population is growing at a disproportionate rate compared with the rest of the country, adult social care costs are going up very quickly? What steps is he going to take with the Treasury to ensure that more money is provided to enable rural shire counties such as Shropshire to deal adequately with adult social care costs?

[James Brokenshire]

I know that my hon. Friend will recognise the £650 million in additional funding that has been provided to local government for social care in 2019-20. He highlights some of the differentials around rural services, and as part of our fair funding review, we want to ensure that that is properly captured.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Daniel Kawczynski and James Brokenshire

Monday 4th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury and Atcham) (Con)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to reduce homelessness.

[The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (James Brokenshire)]

Tackling home- lessness and rough sleeping is a key priority for this Government. We are spending more than £1.2 billion on homelessness through to 2020, with our rough sleeping initiative delivering more than 1,750 additional beds and 500 support staff. We recently published our delivery plan for the rough sleeping strategy, which will help us see rough sleeping become a thing of the past.

[Daniel Kawczynski]

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. I say to him unequivocally that there are still not enough resources going into rural shire counties such as Shropshire to deal with this issue and many others, but does he agree that the rapid rehousing pathway announcement will be crucial in solving rough sleeping?

[James Brokenshire]

I know that my hon. Friend has been a champion for Shropshire and I commend him for his work on homelessness and on other issues. He rightly highlights the rapid rehousing pathway. That is a key part of our rough sleeping strategy to see that support and care are provided quickly and to see people getting off the street into homes, with all the assistance they require.