Business of the House

Graham P Jones Excerpts

Thursday 7th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Sir George Young]

Weightman is doing the task that he was asked to do. We have had the first stage of his report, and we will then address the second. On Monday week, we will be dealing with national planning policy statements, and the hon. Gentleman might have an opportunity to raise these issues again in that debate.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

May we have an urgent statement from the Housing Minister on the crisis of rogue landlords in the private rented sector, following a series of television exposés, including “Dispatches” on Channel 4 on Monday night, which showed one landlord, who was operating as a charity, boasting that he could break the law and that he would sort his tenants out with a baseball bat? Tens of thousands of people are trapped with poor or rogue landlords in the private rented sector. Following the programme, the Housing Minister was bombarded on Twitter, to which he replied. May we have an urgent statement from the Minister about his comments?

[Sir George Young]

It is a serious offence, punishable by imprisonment, to threaten a tenant in the way that the hon. Gentleman has just described. I will draw his remarks to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Housing Minister and ask whether there is any action that he should be taking in the light of that television programme.