Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Grant Shapps and Paul Maynard(12 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Paul Maynard (Blackpool North and Cleveleys) (Con)
T6. I am sure that my right hon. Friend will join me in praising the contribution that many indoor markets across the north of England make to our local communities, including Cleveleys and Bispham in my constituency. Will he update the House on the progress he is making on implementing the recommendations of the Mary Portas review?
Grant Shapps
I am pleased to tell my hon. Friend that we will have a Government response to the Mary Portas review by spring. We have also backed the “Love your local market” fortnight, working with the sector, and I know that there are many excellent markets across the north of England, including in his own patch.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Grant Shapps and Paul Maynard
Grant Shapps
As I have said, security of tenure is incredibly important, particularly for people in social housing, and we are keen to protect that. There are 1.8 million families languishing on that social housing waiting list, and it is right and proper that we look at the way in which we can reduce that list. It may include looking at tenure for the future.
Paul Maynard (Blackpool North and Cleveleys) (Con)
8. What steps he is taking to improve the co-ordination of Government policy on homelessness.
The Minister for Housing (Grant Shapps)
That will be me then.
The most important thing is that there is an honest street count, but there has not been such a count up to now. We will introduce measures to take street counts into account. The last street count said that there were just 468 people sleeping rough in the entire country: it is nonsense, and we are going to get it sorted.
Paul Maynard
May I welcome my right hon. Friend eventually to the Dispatch Box? We have a fine record in Blackpool of inter-agency working to tackle systemic structural homelessness involving both the council and NHS Blackpool. Will he tell me, as part of his collaborative efforts in government, which Departments he will target and which thematic issues are important in tackling the rough sleeping that he has just described?