Kerry McCarthy
Main Page: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Mr Pickles
My hon. Friend makes a reasonable point. It is particularly important for my Department to take a lead. That is why we have been so keen to reduce the central costs of our budgets and to take a lead in reorganising the Department to recognise its changing role, whereby it no longer dictates to local government, but tries to enable more power to go to local communities.
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
22. What estimate his Department has made of the likely number of new social housing starts between May 2010 and April 2015.
The Minister for Housing and Local Government (Grant Shapps)
We are investing £4.5 billion in new affordable housing over the next four years, with the hope of producing 150,000 new affordable homes.
Kerry McCarthy
I thank the Minister for his reply, although I note that he referred just to affordable housing, not to affordable social housing. Given the imminent publication of the Government’s child poverty strategy, what conversations has he had with colleagues in other Departments about the impact of the lack of affordable social housing on achieving our child poverty targets?
Grant Shapps
The hon. Lady is right to draw the subject to the House’s attention. It is sadly true that there were 45,000 fewer affordable social homes in this country following 13 years of her party’s being in power. I have had extensive conversations with colleagues across Government to ensure that, in the next 13 years—or at least in the next four—a significantly greater number of social, affordable and all types of homes will be built across the social and regular housing sectors because this country needs homes, for which the new homes bonus will provide a significant boost.[Official Report, 8 June 2011, Vol. 529, c. 3MC.]