Coalfield Communities

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Adam Jogee]

I thank my hon. Friend. During the election campaign, he came to support me and saw many of the communities to which I am referring, and I agree with him wholeheartedly. It is important that we know where we have come from, but it is more important that we set the path to where we want to go.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme on securing this debate. Through his wife if nothing else, he will know the strong industrial connections with coalmining at Ballycastle and Coalisland—the name is a giveaway. Some of those rocks are some 330 million years old. Does the hon. Member agree that while these issues are devolved, it is crucial that we have a joint UK strategy to protect our coalmining towns and villages across this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

[Adam Jogee]

I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. My wife is a wise and wonderful woman, so he will be reassured to know that I learn lots from her. I agree that we are one United Kingdom, and that this issue requires one approach.

At the commemoration last month to which I referred, the order of service contained a poem from Captain John William Roberts, whose grandfather died in the disaster and whose daughter, Maisie Farrell, was at the memorial with me despite suffering a stroke in recent months. I am pleased to say that she is on the road to recovery. Staffordshire women are made of strong stuff— I should know, as I was born to one—and I wish Maisie well in her recovery to full health. It just so happens that Maisie is Newcastle-under-Lyme born and bred, and is a close friend of my family. I want to share a small part of that poem with the House:

“Diglake Disaster:

That bitter day in January, Christmas not long gone

We went to work joking and singing—clogs echoing to mirth

How could we guess early, subterranean Niagara sweep lads away

By the nature of its vector, trap mates without escape?

While we struggled in icy water, choked for clear air, agony of heart,

Burning in our mind we were separated for ever from loved ones.

This mixed group of men, not able to see Easter—”

It ends,

“Bequeath our generation acts, they knew we could perform—

Advancing wisdom, better leaders, unselfish goals

Thus, take up the human charter: embrace our task.

The words of Captain John William Roberts, ACF.”

What a tribute those words are to the sacrifice of those men and boys who died, and to the shared experience of miners right across our United Kingdom, from South Wales to the east midlands and from Yorkshire to the jewel in our kingdom’s crown in north Staffordshire. Those miners worked hard, they powered our economy, and they showed what grit, determination, dignity, strength and commitment look like. As my hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins) alluded to, we have a duty to give back to the communities that gave us the men and boys, and the strong women right beside them, without whom our country would never have developed in the way that it has.

Rural Housing Targets

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 29th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine; I did it last week and I have done it this week as well, so we are on a roll. It was a pleasure to hear the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) clearly setting the scene in his constituency. The debate is about housing targets in rural areas, and I will set the scene in mine.

The hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) said this is a devolved matter, and it is a devolved matter for Northern Ireland as well. However, it is important that we come along to contribute to the debate and wholeheartedly support the theme the right hon. Member for East Hampshire put forward.

I represent the constituency of Strangford, which is very rural. The issue of housing in rural areas comes up all the time, and I will explain why in my contribution. There have been numerous calls for better housing provision and a better level of housing—in other words, houses that are up to the standards that people want. So I wholeheartedly echo what the right hon. Member for East Hampshire said in his opening comments about housing provision in his constituency.

From private housing to social housing provision, there are real challenges with the number of properties available. That is something that my staff and I witness daily in the office. We have countless—I use that word on purpose—ongoing social housing cases where people in rural areas need to be rehomed, for different reasons, but the stock is not there. That is the issue that all hon. Members have tried to illustrate.

Last month, the Communities Minister back home announced the launch of the housing supply strategy 2024 to 2039, which provides a 15-year framework for the development and delivery of policies and actions needed to meet our housing supply needs. There are a series of challenges that must be addressed, and that will require a collaborative approach from all stages of Government. Again, I want to sow into the debate what we are doing in Northern Ireland, to hopefully support the right hon. Member for East Hampshire and the Minister. The Minister is always constructive in his answers to our questions; we appreciate that very much, and I look forward to his contribution.

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is of major importance when it comes to the housing stock, especially in rural areas. The Housing Executive has also released a rural strategy specifically for Northern Ireland. Evidence from the 2016-20 draft rural strategy highlighted successes in the rural housing sector in Northern Ireland. For example, the Housing Executive invested approximately £204.13 million in rural communities, and just under 18% of that was for housing stock. Work commenced on 425 new build social homes in rural areas, helping to address social housing needs and to support the growth of those communities. So there is a strategy, a policy and a way forward, and approximately £82.4 million was invested in the maintenance and improvement of our rural housing stock.

That work highlights the importance of funding our rural areas, which are a massive part of the housing sector, but there is still a long way to go. The social housing lists in my two constituency offices—one in Ballynahinch and one in Newtownards—illustrate that figuratively and statistically. As of June 2023, over 45,000 individuals were on the Housing Executive’s waiting list, with more than 32,000 classified as being in housing stress, indicating an urgent need for accommodation. That is not solely the responsibility of the Housing Executive, as the money we get to fund our Departments and sectors comes from this Government through the block grant. There is more to do to take the immense pressure off families by making housing more affordable, accessible and safe.

The housing backlog comes from an increase in property prices. Some of the greatest house price rises in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have been in Northern Ireland. The standard monthly rental price is between £600 and £700—far above the breadline.

I am conscious of the time, so I will conclude with this point. More needs to be done to preserve and maintain housing stock, and housing prices are hitting a record high, so I look to the Minister for direction on his plans to support the devolved institutions as much as he can. It is always understood that these issues are devolved, but there is a moral responsibility to ensure that no family is left behind, and that our Executive have the support they need from central Government right here.

--- Later in debate ---

[Charlotte Cane (Ely and East Cambridgeshire) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) on securing the debate. I refer hon. Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests: I am a district councillor.

Everyone deserves a decent home and should be able to find that home near family, friends and work, but young adults in rural areas do not have that opportunity. The Campaign to Protect Rural England reports that in the five years to March 2023, rural homelessness increased by 40%. From my work as a district councillor, and indeed from my MP casework, I know that much existing rural housing suffers from damp, is poorly insulated and relies on oil or bottled gas for heating.

The Liberal Democrats know that development can benefit rural communities, but only if those communities are fully involved in the decisions about that development. We welcome the priority given to housing. As well as building more houses, we must ensure that they are high-quality homes. The Conservatives let developers get away with building to poor standards and without the GPs, schools and community infrastructure that are so badly needed, especially in rural areas. They also let developers off the hook for leaving land for housing unbuilt and new homes empty.

Liberal Democrats would build 150,000 new social homes to tackle the housing shortage crisis, and give renters a fair deal by immediately banning no-fault evictions and creating a national register of licensed landlords. We welcomed those measures in the Renters’ Rights Bill. We want housing development that is community led, by integrating infrastructure and public services into the planning process. With proper community engagement, local amenities such as GPs, schools and public transport will be built alongside the new homes.

We believe that local authorities should have greater powers to build their own homes and hold developers to account. Local authorities, not central Government, are best placed to know what developments are needed in their area. In my Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency, Bottisham parish council has been exemplary in working with developers to identify sites to deliver affordable housing and maintain a strong sense of a village community.

Land for housing is in limited supply, yet land with planning permission is often banked by developers. The Government must unblock the thousands of permitted homes that are not being built, and allow councils to buy land at current use value, rather than an inflated hoped-for value, so that more social and affordable homes can be built.

None of this housing should come at the expense of our environment. The Government must deliver house building and protect our environment. South Cambridgeshire district council has an excellent record on that, with Cambourne and Trumpington Meadows in Cambridge both delivering housing and open space for wildlife and recreation, in partnership with the local wildlife trust. In my constituency, the development of Waterbeach also has green space at its core.

For the planning process to be run effectively, our local authorities need strong planning departments, which takes money. As well as the Government providing more funding, local authorities should be able to set their own fees, so that they have the capacity to consult appropriately and assess each case fully and promptly.

Finally, houses do not build themselves, and we do not have enough qualified construction workers. Further education colleges need sufficient long-term funding to set up the courses to train those workers, and we need to look at the qualifications required to teach the courses. Some older, experienced construction workers are not eligible to teach because they have older qualifications. We need to review whether their existing qualifications and experience are sufficient, or they can be fast-tracked to achieve the new qualifications, so they can teach the next cohort of bricklayers, plumbers and other construction workers.

[Jim Shannon]

I commend the hon. Lady for bringing up an important point about apprenticeships. In my constituency, where there is a tradition of service in the construction sector, there is a shortage because there is better pay for those outside the sector. Does she agree that if there is to be a change, with maybe a three-year apprenticeship, there needs to be a better pay structure, to incentivise people into the construction sector?

[Charlotte Cane]

I agree with the hon. Member, and we need to look at the salaries for the trainers as well.

We stand ready to support the Government to get more houses built, including in rural areas, but the planning reforms must work with local communities, not cut them out of the process. Local authorities must be resourced and empowered to ensure that developers build the houses, with adequate GPs, schools, shops and other infrastructure, and green space for people and nature at the heart of all developments. We must ensure that most of those houses are the social and truly affordable homes that so many people in rural areas desperately need.

Community Engagement Principles and Extremism Definition

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 21st January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alex Norris]

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the position has not moved. I have previously stated in answer to written questions that we are not meeting the Muslim Council of Britain. [Hon. Members: “Say it again!”] I am not sure I can say it any more clearly than at the Dispatch Box in the Chamber of the House of Commons. The position has not changed from the previous Government.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister for his answers to all the questions. In Northern Ireland, of course, we face extremism from the left and right, but at the same time we have managed to have community engagement, and I believe lessons can be learned. It is essential that our police forces have the wherewithal to deal with threats through an appropriate mechanism. The designation of community threats and extremism is truly essential. Will the Minister outline whether the process of designation can be streamlined to ensure that the police have all the powers they need to work within communities to root out and deal with paramilitaries and extremists, with safeguards for human rights?

[Alex Norris]

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s question. His work on the persecution of Christians across the world reads across to some of those challenges in making sure we have cohesive communities across the UK. Of course, policing in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter, so it is not for a Minister in the UK Parliament, but I assure him that we give the best insight to make sure that public institutions are interacting in the best way possible. I often feel for junior officers who, early in their service, are having to deal with what are often quite complicated issues in live time. We want to make sure they get the best information so that they are able to do so.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alex Norris]

I cannot accept the hon. Gentleman’s characterisation. This Government’s decisions—whether on the support going into rural communities and rural policing, or the different business rates reductions—show that we want to support businesses in those communities to thrive, and we will continue to do so.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister very much for his answers. He is a regular visitor to Northern Ireland, and that is because he loves Northern Ireland and wants to ensure that we play our part in the economic boost. Since coming into government, has he had an opportunity to speak to his Northern Ireland counterpart, to ensure that we can go forward together as we should?

[Alex Norris]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his kind points. I have a strong personal enthusiasm for Northern Ireland—its potential is huge. I speak frequently to Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive and will continue to do so. As part of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister’s reset of our relationship with the devolved Administrations, we meet them regularly and plan together so that our investments and their investments get the best value. I will continue to do that, and I look forward to working with the hon. Gentleman as well.

Town Centres: Stoke-on-Trent

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 15th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Gareth Snell]

My hon. Friend has basically stolen one part of my speech, because I was going to congratulate Longton Exchange on the mini-renaissance that is taking place in that town, and in particular the work it does on the Longton carnival and the pig walk—unfortunately, I was unable to make it last year, but I very much intend to be there in April for this year’s. It is those sort of small cultural events—and the small but determined work of dogged individuals who love where they live and have pride in the place they call home—that will deliver the upturn and improvement to our town centres.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing the debate. There will not be a town centre in this great United Kingdom that does not suffer from the problem of online shopping, which takes trade away from the town centre. Does he agree that one of the things that could be done—we look to the Minister on this—is to help micro and small businesses in city centres with start-up funds? Those businesses bring people in, bring employment in and help the economy.

[Gareth Snell]

The hon. Gentleman, as always, is absolutely right. He has hit the nail on the head. Whether it is Strangford or Stoke-on-Trent, the town centres and small and medium-sized enterprises, whether they are a service, a community organisation or retail, are sometimes the places that people have most affinity with because they have a personal relationship with the owner. In Stoke-on-Trent we find that the microbusinesses that can be run from someone’s garage or back bedroom thrive.

The big stores tend to be able to weather the economic climate that we find ourselves in, but for mid-sized shops the high street is probably just outside of financial reach because of business rates and because the footfall is not there. The high street is struggling because of the decisions of the last Government. Regardless of fault, things need to be addressed by the present Government. I have absolute confidence that the Minister and his team at the Department will do that.

I want to focus mostly on Hanley city centre, but I also want to pay tribute, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South, to the amazing work in Longton. I will not repeat what she has already adequately and wonderfully put on the record, but I want to briefly talk about Fenton and Stoke. Fenton is a town that Arnold Bennett did not really forget. He took it out of the books because he did not like his mother-in-law, but that is an entirely different debate.

The work being done around Fenton town hall to turn the area into a vibrant community hub is fabulous; I am thinking of Ben Husdan and the community interest company that he works with, and Restoke, which runs the town hall, and the Step Up Stoke charities. I hold my surgeries in the café there and when I have time off I go there to enjoy the city that I live in and call home. The events run there draw people in from all over the west midlands; they have demonstrated that, with determination and a little bit of community spirit, something wonderful can be achieved. A model has been put together that could be used in other parts of Stoke-on-Trent.

I also want to pay tribute to the work being done by Jeff Nash and his team at the Spode site in Stoke. A hub is emerging there with support from levelling-up funds. To give credit to the last Government, they put some money in, as did the city council. The site demonstrates that the heritage buildings in my constituency, which are sometimes considered to be part of our past, can actually be part of our future. And that demonstrates that with a bit of imagination and a bit of support, which I know the Government are committed to, we can deliver real regeneration, new homes and good quality jobs for the new future for the city that I think is there.

I turn to Hanley—possibly the most challenging town centre of the six towns that make up Stoke-on-Trent. The Minister is aware of that because he kindly met me, along with Councillor Jane Ashworth, leader of Stoke-on-Trent council, chief exec Jon Rouse, and Rachel Laver, the wonderful chief executive of the Chambers of Commerce. For many years Hanley has been a challenge. It has been seen as, “If we fix Hanley, we fix everything else”, and there is an argument that that is correct. But the solutions have always dwarfed the scale of the challenge.

Like Hull, Mr Turner, Stoke-on-Trent deserved more from the last Government. We were given levelling-up funds, but the last Conservative council decided that the best thing they could do with the support offered was to build a car park. An economically deprived city’s working age people in in-work poverty were told that their lives were going to be levelled up with the building of a multi-storey, colourful car park on the edge of the city centre—and “That’s your lot!” That car park, ironically, is now costing the council money because it was so poorly planned and executed that the revenue it should have generated is not there. It is now a loss for the council, which is a demonstration of the legacy of the last Government.

On top of that, the last Conservative council made grand aspirational plans for arenas and shopping centres. On paper, they looked wonderful—what the artist’s impression showed would be wanted in every town centre. But there was no plan, no money and no intention. That is something that the council learned from the last Conservative Government when it comes to economic regeneration across this country.

We look to the Government not to solve our problems for us—I want to be clear to the Minister that I am not here with a begging bowl to ask for handouts; I firmly believe that the future of our city has to be driven by our city—but for them to join us in a new partnership by putting the governmental shoulder behind our municipal wheel. If we are able to forge a new partnership for the city centre, we will meet the housing demand. We can more than meet the demands placed on us by Government, and then some, if we have the land consolidation powers that Homes England executes, and if we had a self-replenishing fund for the pump-priming work, and could look at remediation of brownfield sites.

We have the building blocks in the city centre. The work done by Richard Buxton, Jonathan Bellamy and Rachel Laver, through the city centre’s business improvement district, is phenomenal. They almost always have a bright idea about something we could do in Stoke-on-Trent to bring people into the city, whether that is food markets or their work on supplementing the municipal support they should have had from a council suffering budget cuts. That is the wardens, street cleaning and street scene work.

We have good policing led by Sergeant Chris Gifford, doing their best to ensure that the city centre feels safe. That is also a challenge because of the reduction in drug and alcohol support services that the previous Government thrust upon us, meaning that people who need help cannot get it, so they gravitate to our town centre, causing a social problem.

Local Government Reorganisation

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 15th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jim McMahon]

The White Paper was directive on this issue. I can only assume the hon. Gentleman has not read it, or he got bored and gave up halfway through—I will leave him to answer that. Over quite a long period of time, councillors have been relegated to the back benches if they are not in the cabinet, and we do not believe that is right going forward. We want local councillors to be frontline councillors, community conveyors, leading in their local communities and getting things done. However we marshal the system—regardless of the size of the council, where it is, whether it is a unitary council in a met area or a reorganised council in a shire county—localism has to be at its heart.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister for his answers to this urgent question. He is outlining a clear policy and strategy for the way forward, and we welcome that. The papers today are full of calls for debt cancellations for English councils, which do not provide much relief to those councils that have sought to stretch moneys and resources to make ends meet, rather than ramping up debt with vanity projects. How can the Minister ensure that reorganisation assists councils to prioritise people over policy?

[Jim McMahon]

I thought I was going to get a request to reorganise Newtownards—I have got enough on my plate with England! The point the hon. Gentleman makes about the treatment of debt is important, and we understand there are pressures. In most places, the treatment of accrued debt is manageable within the geography, but we accept there are outliers—Woking and Thurrock have been mentioned—where the debt that has been built up is significant and that we need to take a view on that. We are not at that stage yet until we see what proposal will be developed further.

Parking: Town Centres

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 14th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the matter of parking in town centres.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Furniss. I rise to voice concerns about increased parking fees. Local authorities across the country are trying to claw their way out of financial difficulties by increasing parking fees and in my constituency, Dudley council has implemented such changes, which have been subject to much debate.

Our high streets and leisure centres are the heart of our communities. They provide social and economic value for residents in Dudley and across the UK, but in recent years we have seen too many once-thriving high streets fail. Successive Governments have attempted to reverse the trend by introducing grant funding for high street improvements, business improvement districts, empty shop strategies and business rate relief—the list goes on—but many of those measures were required only because of mistakes in development policy over the past 14 years. Council budgets have been eroded, forcing councils to make impossible decisions, and the previous Government’s levelling-up funding seems contradictory in hindsight. Ultimately, it is local people who are suffering.

Luckily, many councils have learned from those mistakes and proactively avoided developments that undermine the viability of high streets, but the rise of internet shopping has continued to drive shoppers from our historic towns, and long-standing traders in Dudley have suffered.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Lady for raising this incredibly important issue for my constituency and those of all Members here. Footfall is the lifeblood of the local high street, and there is a need to balance car parking and accessibility. My council has implemented discounts for five-hour parking and is considering discounts for two to three-hour parking to allow people to spend more money in a reasonable timeframe. Does she agree that if what Ards and North Down borough council has done is implemented across the United Kingdom, it would increase footfall and help town centres and high streets?

[Sonia Kumar]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman—I will call him my hon. Friend. Extending parking discounts beyond an hour would mean that people who want to get a coffee are not charged £1.80 for one hour’s parking, which is what has been implemented in my constituency. They would spend more time in the town centre, and that would increase footfall.

Playgrounds

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 8th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is an absolute pleasure to speak in this debate; I will restrict myself to the time limit to ensure that others can speak. I commend the hon. Member for Bournemouth East (Tom Hayes) for taking the opportunity to set the scene so well.

If we ask any councillor in any borough of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland about playground provision, they will say that one of the biggest issues they face—after dog fouling, of course—is not simply securing funding for play parks, but upkeep and the need for better provision of disabled access equipment. It happens all the time. I commend those in my constituency; I used to be a councillor for 26 years before I became an Assembly Member and then came to this place, so I understand where the responsibility lies.

I also understand that community power can sometimes make a difference. My council, Ards and North Down borough council, was going to close the play park in Kircubbin, but community power made the difference. The community campaigned heavily and in the end it won, justifiably.

The council’s play strategy states:

“It is recognised that the ability to play should be available to all regardless of age, gender and ability. The delivery of fixed and non-fixed play provision should ensure that all needs are catered for. As a minimum, 30% of equipment in fixed play areas should be classified as ‘inclusive’”—

so everyone can use it—

“and there should be a reasonable balance of play equipment suitable for younger children 3-6 years and 7-12 years old.”

That is much easier said than done, of course. Although it is great that councils have their own play strategies, the piecemeal approach means a postcode lottery. The point that I put to the Minister, from a Northern Ireland perspective, is that we do not need a postcode lottery; we need strategy, policy and regulation across all council areas.

According to 97% of teachers, outdoor play is critical for children to reach their full potential. I have six grandchildren. The biggest girl is 15 and plays in the local football team. The sport and outdoor activity of my six grandchildren, aged from 15 right down to two, is so important. It boosts social skills and gives children the opportunity to let off steam. Given the recent worrying news that some 70,000 children in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are suffering as a result of inadequate mental health support, adventurous, outdoor play is more important than ever. For those with autism, who are educationally challenged, with ADHD, dyslexia or other educational issues, it is really important.

Does the Minister have any plans to deliver funding to councils to enable them to meet their obligations, to ensure that children in every area of the United Kingdom where he has responsibility to have the opportunity to meet other children, learn new skills and push themselves into new experiences, and to mention this in the discussions that he has regularly with his Northern Ireland counterparts? I believe that is imperative and that we must prioritise it.

I want to make one quick point. All Christmases are special, but this one was even better for my wife and I. My younger son, his wife, their four-year-old and two-year-old are staying with us, and the wee two-year-old boy smiles all the time. There would not a day when he smiles at me—even when I may not feel like smiling—that it fails to give me a lift. The laughter of children is priceless but there is a price to be paid to achieve it, and we must be prepared to stand over it.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

Social Housing Tenants: Antisocial Behaviour

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 8th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is a real pleasure to speak in this debate and, as always, a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. Thank you so much for that opportunity.

I thank the hon. Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) for leading the debate and setting the scene. There is not one of us in this Chamber today who has not been impacted by this issue through our constituents. I want to give a couple of examples, and one of them will be incredibly extreme, but it does illustrate the issue. I know that this Minister has no responsibility for housing in Northern Ireland, but I know also that he has a deep interest in Northern Ireland. He has come over to Northern Ireland on a number of occasions, and we are always very pleased to see him there, because we know that he does that out of interest and wanting to help.

Issues involving antisocial behaviour impact all our constituencies, and we are no strangers to dealing with these issues in our offices. Unfortunately, probably nearly every week, I have at least one or two of these things to deal with. By the way, they are not always in social housing. Sometimes they are in private housing as well, so people should not ever think that it is just social housing where the problems are. There is more to be done to protect tenants and also give housing associations more rights to take control of their own properties, so it is great to be here to discuss that.

May I first commend the intervention by my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell)? He made a very pertinent comment. Many of those in social housing aspire to own their own house, whether the one they are living in, under the system of purchase, or a house elsewhere. To give one story as an example, many years ago someone came to me and said, “Jim, I’ve been offered a house up in a certain place, and I’m not sure whether I should take it, because it’s got a reputation.” I said, “My suggestion to you is: it’s a lovely house, it’s a lovely area, and I think you should take it. The reason I say that is that you could go there and have the best neighbour you ever had in your life, or you could go to somewhere really special and you could have the neighbour from hell. That’s how it works. You have no control over who your neighbour is.” The area does not always mean that the house itself is in a bad area. That person took that house, by the way, and they still live there. That is an example of taking an opportunity, and of having neighbours who are genuine and lovely.

I have a great working relationship with the Housing Executive in my constituency, and with Ards and North Down council and Newry, Mourne and Down council, because they take in a large portion of my constituency after the boundary changes. I believe it is important to have a good working relationship with the housing associations: first, with the Housing Executive, which is the biggest house owner in Northern Ireland, but also with Choice Housing, Radius Housing, Clanmil Housing, Alpha Housing and Habinteg. I name them all because they are important housing associations and providers in my constituency. Working together, we can ensure that tenants are safe and that their issues are dealt with quickly and efficiently.

I do not agree with the “three strikes and you’re out” rule mentioned earlier. If someone is continuing to party, causing noise, disturbance and damage, and if someone has addiction issues, all those around them are impacted, especially in flats. If, for example, there is a six-block flat and one flat is partying all the time, the other five are all impacted by that, and maybe the neighbours next door as well, so we cannot ignore what is happening. When a tenant signs for a house, there is a list of conditions and rules to which they are supposed to adhere. If they cannot adhere to those rules, then they are out—the hon. Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) referred to that, and I think that is right. It is only right for those who want a decent life, who aspire to other things, who aspire to a quality of life, and who—even if they do not aspire to own a house—aspire to live peacefully with their neighbours. Those are the priorities we should be trying to achieve. The hon. Member for Ashfield has done us justice by securing this debate on an issue with which many of us have contact every day and every week.

Antisocial behaviour encompasses numerous disruptive activities, such as excessive noise, vandalism, harassment and other actions that cause harm or distress to individuals or the community. Another such activity, which is prevalent specifically in my constituency, seems to drinking and taking drugs. I am sorry to say that. I know that people have addictions—I am not here to criticise anybody—but I gently say that those with addictions, whether to alcohol, drugs or whatever, have a responsibility to look after, and not cause a problem to, their neighbours.

Both the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and the housing associations offer clear guidelines on what constitutes antisocial behaviour and provide mechanisms for residents to report incidents.

[Carla Lockhart (Upper Bann) (DUP)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and commend the hon. Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) for securing this excellent debate. Does my hon. Friend agree that many good, hard-working families, predominantly in our working-class estates, are being absolutely tortured because of the inappropriate placing of people within their estates? Often, we see people with addictions placed beside elderly residents and folks. There needs to be appropriate placing by our housing authorities and, when a problem is identified, action needs to be taken against them. It cannot take three, four or five years just to get these people into court.

[Jim Shannon]

I thank my hon. Friend and colleague for that intervention. I am mindful that I am not allowed to name certain things in Hansard, so I will give the example without naming the estates. We had an occasion that was the very thing that she refers to, where individuals with problems seemed to be moved. Why were they moved out of estates in Belfast, Newtownabbey and further afield to come to Newtownards? I will tell you why: because they caused bother in those estates and they had to be moved elsewhere. An estate in my town, Newtownards, was their destination, and they brought their problems with them.

We had to have meetings with the police, the Housing Executive and an intermediary body that tries to find solutions, as well as with the Tenants Association and the local representatives. It is a massive problem. The hon. Member for Ashfield referred to an example where the people who cause problems were all put together on one street. There is a responsibility on the tenants—they must adhere to the rules. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive emphasises earlier intervention and prevention strategies to address antisocial behaviours effectively.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland—it is important to have police working alongside—is instrumental in providing support for keeping the peace, because there are many cases where it comes to blows and fighting, which spills out on to the street, and sometimes worse things happen. The police’s first objective is to keep the peace and ensure that there is as little disruption as possible.

To give a perspective of the issue in Northern Ireland, in the 12-month period from March 2023 to February 2024, which is not that far back, there were 45,355 antisocial behaviour instances recorded by the PSNI, and the population in Northern Ireland is 1.9 million. My goodness! Those statistics give us an idea of the scale of the issue—in theory, they represent a decrease, and it is still an enormous figure.

Many may be aware—again, this is an extreme example—that one of the housing associations built a housing estate in Newtownards, and at the very beginning we expressed some concern that estates could potentially become aligned with one paramilitary group. I met the housing association at the very beginning to express that concern and ensure that that would not happen, and the housing association told me that it was constrained by the points system for allocating properties.

That estate was Weavers Grange in Newtownards— I will put this one on the record, because it became a fairly provincial story on a weekly basis over a period of time—where one organisation tried to ensure that the only people who could live in that estate were those who belonged to a certain group, and everyone else who wanted to go there found it impossible to stay there. Several homes were targeted, with windows smashed and graffiti sprayed—this was considered to be part of local, ongoing disputes. It has taken almost the last three years to erase that as a possibility.

By the way, the houses are lovely and really gorgeous—anyone would love to have one to live in, because they are modern and sought after—but if we cannot get peace in those estates, then we have a really serious problem to address. The housing association came round at the end of the day and understood the issues, and helped, along with the local community groups, which are critical to finding solutions and making places acceptable—the hon. Member for Mansfield referred to that as well.

Some of the instances of intimidation were actually death threats, so it was pretty heavy stuff. Efforts have been made by local neighbourhood policing teams, which include the community policing officers, the community groups, the housing associations and elected representatives, including myself, Members of the Legislative Assembly, councillors and community councillors. This is a clear example of the impact that antisocial behaviour can have on social housing developments, and in particular the impact it can have on other the tenants in the area.

When it comes to evicting a tenant, they have to go to court, and it takes such a long time, so my question is whether there is anything legislative that the Minister—who is always very helpful in his responses—could do to make the system quicker and take the niggle or aggravation out of the whole thing at an earlier stage?

I will commit to working alongside partners in my constituency to help to combat instances of antisocial behaviour. In the past, I have met members from the local policing teams to discuss strategies for combating ASB in local areas such as Newtownards, Killyleagh and Portavogie. I am sorry, Ms McVey, I am going on a wee bit; I am on the last paragraph now.

To conclude, there is more work to be done to tackle instances of antisocial behaviour in social housing areas, and the key word is collaboration. It is important that we have the collaboration among all the bodies, in conjunction with local police, housing associations, Members and other community politicians. There are so many other avenues that we can utilise to put an end to instances of ASB; and it is essential that we do this to make our towns and communities safer, happier and better places to live and work.

As I always do, I look to the Minister positively for his response, and for his commitment to ensure that more is done across the whole of the United Kingdom. I know that he will be in touch with the representatives and bodies back home as well; perhaps he can give us some assurance on that.

Town Centres

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Luke Murphy (Basingstoke) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered Government support for town centres.

Thank you for the opportunity to lead this important Westminster Hall debate on the future of Britain’s town centres under your chairship, Ms Vaz. Like so many towns across the UK, my constituency of Basingstoke is grappling with the consequences of years of neglect under successive Conservative Governments and the changing habits and shopping trends of consumers. High streets have suffered from an array of pressures, made worse, not better, by the policies of the previous Administration.

For more than a decade, the Conservatives failed to modernise the business rates system, leaving small businesses disproportionately burdened while allowing major online retailers to shirk paying their fair share. The failure to secure our energy supply and tackle retail crime, and the disastrous mini-Budget, which sent interest rates soaring, stifled the ambitions of our high street businesses, leaving them grappling with higher costs and a lower footfall.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I am sorry, Ms Vaz, but the hon. Gentleman said to me, “Get in early,” so I have taken him at his word and done as he asked.

The hon. Gentleman has clearly outlined the issues for his own town centre. In the past, the Government here gave the devolved Administrations and institutions money sensibly. I know the Minister will respond to this when the time comes. They also did that through the levelling-up fund, so money did come through. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that more needs to be done to promote the economic and social regeneration of disadvantaged areas? After all, this is the great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We are always better together, so we should be helping each other.

[Luke Murphy]

I think it was the hon. Gentleman who suggested that he might come in early, but I thank him for his intervention. I agree, but I will leave it to the Minister to respond more fully. I will take interventions from a number of Members. I am grateful to those who made it clear in advance that they wish to speak. I will try to get to them first, and I will do my best if others want to come in, but I am conscious that we do not have a huge amount of time.

Because of the issues and trends that I have highlighted, Basingstoke’s Festival Place shopping centre now contends with long-term vacancies. Some of the largest storefronts, such as the old Debenhams building, have sat empty for years. All too often, new businesses open their doors with optimism in the Top of the Town, but they find themselves shuttered within a matter of months.

After 14 years of Conservative Government, Britain’s high streets and town centres have been hollowed out. According to the Centre for Retail Research, more than 10,000 shops closed in 2023 alone. The high turnover of shopfronts leaves not just holes in the high street but a sense of instability that undermines confidence in the local economy, yet amid the challenges there is undeniably an opportunity to breathe new life into our high streets.