Business of the House

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Thursday 14th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The Government are naturally working hard to make sure people are safe and feel safe in their homes. The Government are determined to learn the lessons from the Grenfell tragedy, and we are bringing forward the most significant building safety reforms in almost 40 years. It does remain building owners’ responsibility to address unsafe cladding on buildings of all heights. The Government have provided expert advice on the measures building owners should take to ensure their buildings are safe. It is worth adding that 84% of buildings with Grenfell-type cladding have had it removed, rising to 99% in the social sector. However, I understand from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government that, in some circumstances, combustible insulation materials such as Kooltherm K15 can be retained. I will ask for further details on how this can happen and why this can happen for my hon. Friend, so that he has a full explanation.

On the Fire Safety Bill, the Government are naturally keen to reduce the burden on leaseholders. However, in the Government’s view, the amendment would have some unintended consequences, but I can assure my hon. Friend that the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is very focused on this issue. Michael Wade’s work is under way, and the Communities Secretary has committed to address this as soon as we are in a position to do so.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

During the Christmas period, on 27 December, a young women in my constituency was tragically murdered by her partner. She was 26 years old. As the right hon. Gentleman may know, the media have rightly exposed the appalling practices of some GPs who are charging victims of domestic abuse over £150 for a letter confirming their injuries to enable them to get legal aid and other vital support. Legal aid is a lifeline for women fleeing domestic abuse, but as I said in the House last November, the legal aid sector has faced many cuts over the years and the demand for it is growing. At a time when we should be removing barriers, we are making it much harder for victims to come forward to get support. Can we have a debate in Government time to look at the impact that cuts to the legal aid sector are having on our most vulnerable constituents?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady, whose question is well timed because the responsible Minister, the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins), has just joined me on the Front Bench. The Domestic Abuse Bill will be looking into the legal aid matter, and the Government are looking into the charge being made to victims of domestic abuse who need to go to their GP to get certificates. Immediately following this session, my hon. Friend the Minister will be answering questions in greater detail.

Business of the House

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Thursday 17th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend, as so often, is absolutely right. I do indeed rejoice that family is being put at the centre of public life. The Department for Education has announced it will be launching a procurement for a national centre for family hubs, whose role would be to champion family hubs and to work with councils to develop and spread best practice, and an evaluation innovation fund to build the evidence base on integrated family service models. I think my hon. Friend’s idea that we should all go out and have family hubs and support family hubs is a very good one. I do my bit: I have got six children, so my support for the family is unstinting.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

Mr Speaker, may I take this opportunity to wish you and the House staff a merry Christmas? For a number of my constituents, this Christmas will not be a merry one, because they are living in properties that still have unsafe cladding. They are having to face enormous costs because of the waking watch. They will not have a good Christmas, so can we please, in 2021, have an urgent debate on this really important issue in the House?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The hon. Lady raises a point that the Government have been tackling. We have brought forward the most significant building safety reforms in nearly 40 years. We are providing £1.6 billion to speed up the removal of unsafe cladding, making homes safer sooner. Almost 80% of buildings with dangerous Grenfell-style cladding have had it removed or are in the process of doing so, and that rises to 97% in the social housing sector. More than 100 buildings have started remediation on site in 2020 so far, despite the backdrop of the global pandemic, and that is more than in the whole of 2019. We are clear that works to remove unsafe ACM cladding must be completed by the end of 2021. I hope this will be some reassurance to the hon. Lady’s constituents.

Business of the House

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Thursday 3rd September 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

My hon. Friend raises a really sensible and important point. Free ports will be of great importance to many areas of our economy, both coastal and inland, and they will be a centrepiece of our international trade economy in the future. As he rightly says, this is only possible because we are leaving the dead regulatory hand of the European Union’s transition period on 31 December, having already left that organisation on 31 January. The free port consultation has closed and officials are carefully reviewing the hundreds of responses received, probably including one from my hon. Friend. The Government will publish a response in due course and set out their policy of free ports being national hubs for trade, innovation and commerce regenerating communities across the United Kingdom.

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op) [V]]

Two weeks ago, I held a Zoom call with around 75 Vauxhall residents living in a new-build development with dangerous cladding. In January, there were given an external wall rating of B1, which is the lowest rating. As a result, the fire authorities mandated a waking watch. That is an expensive cost for many leaseholders and those costs are not covered by the Government. This is making these buildings really dangerous. A number of the residents, whose lives are on hold, have told me that they cannot move and cannot get a mortgage. Essentially, they are trapped in homes that are high risk. Can we please have a debate in Government time about the scandal and the shameful situation of dangerous cladding and the enormous personal impact this is having on leaseholders, not just in Vauxhall but right across the country?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

The Government are introducing legislation improving building standards, including requiring building owners and managers of multi-occupied buildings to consider the risks of cladding and fire doors, and introducing clearer accountability for those responsible for the safety of high-rise buildings. We have also made available a significant amount of taxpayers’ money to remove dangerous cladding. However, the hon. Lady raises the case of a specific building, and I will pass that on to the Secretary of State responsible.

Business of the House

Florence Eshalomi Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2020 Commons Chamber

[Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall) (Lab/Co-op)]

Does the Leader of the House recognise that Vauxhall has a proud and long history with the LGBTQI community? Does he agree that we should have a debate, during this LGBT History Month, to celebrate their fantastic contribution to the UK?

[Mr Rees-Mogg]

I was unaware of Vauxhall’s history in that regard, so I am better informed thanks to the hon. Lady. Vauxhall is not a million miles from here, but I am grateful to her for raising that point. I would have thought that as it relates specifically to one area—to her constituency—it is worth making an application to Mr Speaker and raising it in an Adjournment debate.