Integrated Communities

Kevin Foster Excerpts

Wednesday 14th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

The hon. Lady is right to raise the importance of opportunities and how having a more integrated society will help with that, particularly learning English, but it is about a lot more than that and other skills are required as well. It is good that we have a strong economy with more people—including more women—employed than ever before. That is a prerequisite, but of course there is a lot more to do, and I hope she agrees that the strategy will help.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

I join colleagues in condemning the letters that have been received by other hon. Members. An attack on one MP for doing their job is an attack on every single one of us and our democracy.

During my time in Coventry, I saw at first hand what faith communities could do to bring people together, and I spoke at temples about my faith. What role does my right hon. Friend see faith communities, especially groups such as the Church of England, playing in delivering this strategy?

[Sajid Javid]

My hon. Friend gives me an opportunity to thank and congratulate so many faith communities of every faith that do so much to bring people together. I have seen some excellent examples, whether in schools or through mosques, churches and temples. I hope that those faith communities that are already doing good work and have good practice will bid for some of the funds under the strategy, especially the innovation fund, and benefit themselves as well as allowing others to see what they can do.

Homelessness

Kevin Foster Excerpts

Tuesday 27th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Green (Bolton West) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) in this important debate. There are so many different issues that affect people’s lives and cause homelessness, but rough sleeping is particularly complex. I am thinking of those people who are out on the streets in this appalling weather, and indeed throughout the year. There are so many factors, ranging from mental health problems to family breakdown.

We must recognise that the family is the source of our health, wealth and education, so it is such a loss when someone loses their family home. That is why the work that my hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Alex Burghart) has done through the Centre for Social Justice is so important, because having a home is the foundation on which we build all our other support networks. We all need that stability and security. That is clearly a problem for adults and parents, but growing up in an unstable home environment is especially difficult for children, as it is so much more difficult for them to reach out to get the help they need.

Homelessness often leads to mental health problems and to drug and alcohol problems. There is a particular problem with the increasing use of the drug Spice, which is cheap and readily available but has such a negative impact on people. The police must do more to crack down on the sale of Spice, which does so much damage.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the problems is that Spice is categorised as a class B drug, rather than class A, despite its impact?

[Chris Green]

The right approach by the police will naturally follow the right categorisation, so the clear suggestion is that Spice ought to be re-categorised as a class A drug, so that law enforcement agencies respond appropriately.

I want to take this opportunity to recognise the valuable work that Bolton Council and Wigan Council do to tackle homelessness in my constituency, and the important work done by charities such as Urban Outreach. The charity Crisis has recognised what the Government are doing, stating: “Crisis supports the commitment made by the Government to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. In the Budget there were welcome announcements of further funding on homelessness.” That recognition of money going to the right place is welcome. Bolton is set to receive an additional £187,000 over the next three years, which is very welcome. On a recent visit to Greater Manchester, the Prime Minister committed another £1.8 million to end rough sleeping, and a further £1 billion overall has been allocated to tackle homelessness, running up to 2020.

The Government are doing their part, but local government also needs to do its part. Councils have an important role to play, because they are closest to the communities affected. It is really important that they do their job. We must also consider our new metro Mayors. I am pleased to recognise the commitment made by the Mayor of Greater Manchester to eradicating rough sleeping across the city by 2020. That is an incredibly important commitment. He will work with charities, churches, businesses and local government across Greater Manchester to achieve that, but also with national Government.

We must also recognise that the initial Greater Manchester spatial framework, which was intended to ensure that infrastructure and housing is developed in tandem, was not fit for purpose. There was far too much urban sprawl of three, four or five-bedroom semi-detached and detached houses, which will not solve the problem of homelessness and rough sleeping. We have to ensure that the right housing is built in the right locations.

I am pleased that the Government have committed to halving rough sleeping by 2022, and eliminating it by 2027. I look forward to their taking inspiration from the work that the Mayor of Greater Manchester will do to eradicate it by 2020.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to be able to speak in this debate about a challenge that has been particularly discussed in my constituency over the past few days.

We must look at how we quantify the challenge. At the moment, most of the statistics come from the rough sleeping counts, which date back to the Victorian era: the idea of walking around—a bit like a train spotter, but for vulnerable people—trying to spot people sleeping rough. If someone visibly might be homeless but is standing up in a doorway, they would not count and the process tells us nothing other than the numbers out there. For me, the statistics gained are pretty useless and can vary massively.

When I was deputy leader of Coventry City Council, it was supposed to have done brilliantly in addressing homelessness one year. We said that that was because we did not think the organisation that did the rough sleeper count had done a particularly good job, and a year later the number went up. That was not because anyone felt that the numbers had hugely increased but partly because of how the count was done, which was completely archaic.

I very much welcome what was done under the Torbay “End Street Homelessness” campaign and the proper connections week survey that it undertook recently. Volunteers spent a week on the streets interviewing people sleeping rough to find out why they were there and to treat them as individuals and humans, not as someone they had spotted from a distance. The process has produced useful statistics—actually a slightly higher number than the official rough sleeper count—and something that we can work on.

Then there is the campaign featured in the national media today: the “fake homeless” campaign, which the hon. Member for Westminster North (Ms Buck) referred to in an intervention. A lot of the campaign comes out of frustration with the current legislation, which is woefully out of date. The Vagrancy Act 1824 was passed in a completely different era. In theory, it criminalises someone for sleeping rough, which none of us would consider an offence—the act of sleeping rough should not make someone a criminal. The legislation’s provisions regarding those who beg, and some who beg when they do not need to, do not reflect the modern era and leave the police and others without useful tools. Yes, it is possible to use public spaces protection orders and more modern legislation, but the 1824 Act has long since had its day and urgently needs reform.

There has been significant debate about the “fake homeless” campaign, but there have been other examples. Police in Ely recently said that all beggars there were fake, and last year Middlesbrough Council identified nine fake beggars. Before people think that the campaign was launched by people who do not care about this issue or are particularly heartless, I should say that an organisation called Humanity Torbay launched it—a homelessness charity that has helped hundreds of people. The campaign was born of a frustration at the fact that the legal tools to deal with those who seek to defraud the public are so out of date as to be nearly useless.

The issue, of course, needs to be considered carefully; I accept that any change in the law must only be made in a way that protects the genuinely vulnerable out on the streets. But from what I have seen in the Bay, and having been out on patrol with Torquay’s neighbourhood policing team on Saturday night, I can say that people do not have the tools they need. That is why the legislation needs reform.

I welcome the work that has been done. I certainly welcome the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, which is due to come into force on 1 April. However, the issue is not just about support but about a legislative framework that gives organisations the right tools.

Grenfell Tower

Kevin Foster Excerpts

Monday 5th February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

The right hon. Gentleman has raised a number of points. First, he talked about cladding that might be unsafe. He did not specify which, but any concerns can be sent to the Building Research Establishment for sampling. We can get that checked in the right way.

In relation to the issue between freeholders and leaseholders, we have been clear all along that it is for the owner of the property to conduct the required renovation and to bear the cost. On local authorities, wherever financial flexibility is required, they can come to us. We have not said no to one yet. Housing associations should go to the regulator. In relation to private sector landlords, we have made it very clear that we believe they should bear the cost. It will depend on the specific leases, and of course the legal question of whether costs are being unreasonably handed over to tenants can be determined by the first-tier tribunal. That is a legal issue and we cannot interfere in that, but morally, we know that there are plenty of freeholders in the private sector who should be doing just as local authorities and housing associations are doing, and who should not be passing on any unreasonable cost to leaseholders or tenants.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

It is interesting to contrast some of the comments made at the Opposition Dispatch Box today with the reactions of that individual to previous issues when he was a Minister. Will the Minister tell me what is being done to ensure that social housing tenants will be listened to in future? That is one of the big things that has come out of this. People put forward their concerns, but they were just not listened to, even by those who were supposed to be representing them.

[Dominic Raab]

My hon. Friend makes a broader point. We have two important streams of work under way to ensure that lessons are learned. The first relates to building regulations. We have had the interim report from the Hackitt review and we look forward to the full report. We are also conducting a series of workshops for social housing tenants across the country. We have held something like 100 events, and I have attended two of them, in Basingstoke and in relation to Grenfell. That is the right way to proceed. We must ensure that we listen to social tenants with an open mind and an open heart, and that we learn the lessons as we take forward our reform proposals.

Parking (Code of Practice) Bill

Kevin Foster Excerpts

2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 2nd February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

Given the time, I shall keep my remarks brief to allow for discussion of the next Bill on the Order Paper. I very much welcome this Bill, which follows on from a debate I secured last year in which many right hon. and hon. Members recounted various issues in their constituencies.

In my constituency, I have two parking companies: Premier Parking Solutions of Newton Abbot and Premier Park Ltd of Exeter. They are responsible for the management of one privately owned car park each, yet each of those car parks generates more complaints about enforcement practices than the entirety of Torbay Council’s enforcement operations, which include 39 car parks and all on-street car parking. Various interesting practices and excuses are used for things such as why a barrier cannot be put in place so that people know, before they leave, that they have not paid, and can avoid getting one of these fake fines in the post. As the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire (Pete Wishart) said, they are made to look like fines, but they are not—they are invoices.

When I secured my debate last year, one of the companies pleaded with me not to name them as part of a cowboy industry, saying, “We haven’t had any complaints over the past month or two,” and I said, “Yeah, that’s because you had a massive fire in your car park and it’s been closed for the past couple of months, so you haven’t been trapping people.” Companies in this industry are like bloodsuckers in many cases. The reality is that the current system of regulation is absolutely hopeless. It is like putting Dracula in charge down at the blood bank. There are two different sets of regulations and companies can choose which they use, so there is an incentive to dismiss as many appeals as possible. To be fair, I do not want to impugn either set of regulations, but it is clear that the system does not have any rigour or structure and it desperately needs to change.

Contrast that system with the one governing the solicitors these companies use. We can complain to the Solicitors Regulation Authority—at least we know who is responsible. The same cannot be said in this instance. The Bill is therefore welcome and long overdue. My constituents and I fully support it. I hope it gets its Second Reading quickly so that we can get on with the task.

It is fundamentally wrong that details given to the state—details that we are required to give to the DVLA in order to register our cars by law—are then used to allow the industry to practise in this way. Most examples come from remote enforcement. It is the DVLA that needs to be the focus, and not how much is charged in a car park or the choices that people make. We should focus on the relationship whereby we have given information to the state only for it to be passed on to a company to behave in this manner. That is why the law needs to change and why this Bill is so welcome.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kevin Foster Excerpts

Monday 22nd January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Wheeler]

My hon. Friend is quite correct: this is a complex matter involving some inherent difficulties such as mental health issues, family breakdown, crisis and chaos, but equally, the state has to be fair-handed, and if people are begging aggressively and have properties of their own, the state will do what it has to do. Our focus is on rough sleepers who need the help most.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to welcome the Minister to her place. She will be aware that, following a grant that provided funding for the Torbay End Street Homelessness campaign, we have seen the number of rough sleepers fall. Will she confirm how work of that sort will be complemented by the Homelessness Reduction Act coming into force later this year?

[Mrs Wheeler]

I thank my hon. Friend, whom I have known for many years, for his good question. We want to pick up on the pilots around the country that are working so well, and the Homelessness Reduction Act means that councils will have a duty to try to help people before they become homeless. That is why, as part of a suite of efforts, we are looking into dealing with these matters. We are confident that, by 2022, we will halve rough sleeping in this country.

Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation and Liability for Housing Standards) Bill

Kevin Foster Excerpts

Friday 19th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to be called to speak on this Bill. In fact, it is a pleasure to be able to speak on it; before the reshuffle, I would have had to sit where my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon South (Chris Philp) is currently sat. As the former Parliamentary Private Secretary to the former Housing Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Reading West (Alok Sharma), I know how hard the hon. Member for Westminster North (Ms Buck) worked to reach agreement and come forward with a Bill that would genuinely make a difference. To be fair to her as an Opposition Member, she resisted the urge to make points because she actually wanted to make progress and to deliver for those she represents and serves well in this House.

I welcome my long-standing friend, the Minister, to her place. She probably remembers when we slogged our way across parts of Cheylesmore and Whitley together, delivering her election literature about 13 or 14 years ago. I think I first met her 18 years ago, when I was also helping to put out some literature for her. It was lovely to have her at my and Hazel’s wedding last year. It is great to see her in her place, and to know that she will be following me to respond to the debate.

For those who know that I can speak for a while on a Friday, I have absolutely no intention of attempting to talk the Bill out. I will set out why the Bill is needed, its benefits, why it is a proportionate approach and what I hope its impact will be. Many hon. Members have made their points about why the Bill is needed. I was particularly struck by the figures from the 2015-17 English housing survey quoted in the Library briefing note. The research mentioned that the private rented sector had the highest proportion of properties with at least one indicator of poor housing standards, at 40%. In fairness, the level of non-decent homes in the private rental sector declined from 47% to 30% between 2006 and 2013, but the figures still indicate the need for this type of legislation.

The hon. Member for Sheffield South East (Mr Betts), who is sadly not currently in his place, referred to the housing health and safety rating system, which—I think it is safe to say—is far from perfect. The system is risk-based, and it is hard to see many tenants being able really to grasp what it means and what the balances are.

As was rightly pointed out by my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow) and the hon. Member for Ipswich (Sandy Martin), councils cannot enforce against themselves. If a tenant in a council house is concerned about their landlord, where do they go? They go and talk to their landlord about the poor condition of the property. Introducing this civil remedy makes it possible for a tenant to enforce a legal right against their landlord, which is welcome. It would be bizarre if we said that those looking for social care provided by the local authority could not challenge it legally because the care was provided by the local authority. It is right that we bring in this measure. I welcome the fact that it can sit alongside other areas.

With regard to the housing standards in parts of my constituency such as Melville Hill, Nick Burleigh is a gentleman I probably do not agree with a lot on politics, but in this case we have had similar concerns about the standards of rental accommodation. My hon. Friends the Members for Telford (Lucy Allan) and for Corby (Tom Pursglove) referred to the standards of a type of property in new towns that was innovative 60 years ago and now is anything but. In Paignton, we have Victorian properties that were once grand villas—big places that were used in the summer by aristocratic families—but have now been split into multiple units that are not of particularly good quality, may have a very high turnover of tenants, and are sometimes rented to those who can rent nowhere else. One or two of the photos that Nick has shared on his “We love Melville Hill” website look like something one would expect of the Dickensian era. That is why it is right that we provide this further ability to enforce standards. This is a modern piece of legislation that is grounded in the 21st-century housing market, not just an attempt to revive a piece of Victorian legislation passed in an era when housing standards were very different. It sets a clear standard, brings forward a clear remedy, and makes it possible for a tenant to take action.

Is the Bill proportionate to needs? Many Members have made very clear the problems that poor housing can bring. I certainly see that in some of my own advice surgeries. This should bring absolutely no fear to the vast majority of landlords who provide decent accommodation at reasonable prices. For anyone sitting at home thinking, “But I try to do a good job, and I keep my property in good condition”, this debate is completely irrelevant. The person who does need to be concerned is someone who never picks up the phone to their tenant when there is a complaint, who has just about avoided prosecution by the council a couple of times, and who knows, bluntly, that the property they rent out is not somewhere they would even think of living themselves. Those are the sorts of people who should be listening in.

It is right that this Bill makes progress alongside the inevitable review of the main regulations that we will be having following the incident at Grenfell. It was a pleasure to work on some of that in what was then the Department for Communities and Local Government. As we make progress with the remedy that the Bill gives, we can have a debate about the exact process we go through.

On selective licensing, I support that in some parts of my constituency, but it cannot be applied everywhere. It would not make sense to apply it in my coastal areas. This Bill applying everywhere deals with properties that have an issue. I welcome the fact that licensing was approved to continue in Newham. It is right that local authorities are able to look at whether it is right for their areas and their communities. In parts of Torbay, it would be right to have it.

We need to make it very clear to local authorities—I hope that the Minister will be clear in her response—that this is not about replacing the system of prosecuting those who do not make repairs they have been required to make. It is not a replacement for the criminal law. It cannot be used as an excuse for not prosecuting people. It is an additional right and power on top of what local authorities should be doing. In my intervention on my hon. Friend the Member for Telford, I said that the increased level of civil penalty that councils can now apply has prompted Torbay to appoint someone extra to its housing standards team to be able to increase its enforcement, on the basis that, when it does so, it can apply appropriate penalties. This is, in effect, rogue landlords paying for enforcement against themselves—something I think we would all welcome.

I hope that the Minister will dwell slightly on how she sees the ability to bring this process to court. What discussions will she be having with the Secretary of State for Justice about how it can be taken through? Will it be on the small claims track? How can we make sure that the process is simple and easy to do? How will that be communicated? We do not want a right that sits on the statute book but is then very hard for people to implement.

Overall, the Bill is very welcome, and the tone of this debate has also been extremely welcome. This is exactly what a sitting Friday should be about: we are taking a problem that Members have identified from casework in their constituencies, and plugging a hole in the law and fixing the problem. The Bill will be of benefit to the residents of Torbay, and it will certainly be of benefit in areas that have more acute housing pressures and problems than, thankfully, is the case in Torbay.

The Bill is proportionate in what it sets out to do. As I have said, there will be those listening who will ask whether it is something that landlords should fear. No, it is not, as is made clear by the support of the main landlords associations. The only people who have anything to worry about are those who do not maintain their properties to the standards that tenants deserve.