Karen Buck
Main Page: Karen Buck (Labour - Westminster North)
Sajid Javid
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise that point. The immediate support was to provide emergency accommodation in hotel rooms for all families who required it, and that has been done. Many of them are still in hotel rooms; that is what they decided to do. The council has designed an offer for people in many of the nearby blocks. Specific offers have been made to families in three of them— Barandon Walk, Hurstway Walk and Testerton Walk—to allow them to return to their homes and to provide them with the support they need.
Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)
The Government intervened in housing providers’ budgets by imposing a rent cut that reduced their income. Because of that and other factors, we already know that repairs and maintenance budgets have fallen by almost a fifth since 2010. If tenants and residents are not to fear that fire safety will be compromised by budgets or that repair and maintenance budgets will not be compromised by fire safety, will the Secretary of State assure us that all housing providers will know that they do not have to squeeze further other essential repairs and maintenance work in order to install sprinklers and carry out other remedial fire safety work?
Sajid Javid
I have been clear that it is clearly the legal responsibility of all local authorities and housing associations to ensure that their residents are safe and that they are meeting all safety regulations, including fire safety regulations. If there are instances where they cannot afford such work, they should approach us.