Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lisa Nandy and Joe Powell

Thursday 3rd September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)]

1. What steps her Department is taking to improve the regulation of short-term lets.

[The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)]

Can I associate myself with your kind words, Mr Speaker, about the legend that is Sir Billy Boston? It was also a real pleasure to hear you say the word “Wigan” in the context of rugby league without choking.

This Government are committed to implementing the regulation of short-term lets. We believe in our communities and in their right to shape their own areas. This regulation is about putting power back into people’s hands so that they can shape the right balance between the benefits that tourism brings and the needs of people locally for decent housing.

[Joe Powell]

Over the summer, the abuse of short-term lets in my community has continued with breaches of lease, antisocial behaviour, subletting of private rented properties and social housing, and even short-term lets hosting brothels. We still do not have a way of identifying where these lets are so that enforcement action can be taken, nor do we have a way of implementing London’s 90-day cap on lets, so will the Secretary of State please do all she can to make it a priority to tackle these serious harms? Can she tell us when the register will go live, and will she work with those of us affected and local councils so that we can find solutions for our communities?

[Lisa Nandy]

I assure my hon. Friend that we certainly will. The problem that he points to is a problem across the country. I recognise it in my own constituency of Wigan, where the council has taken decisive action to clamp down on houses in multiple occupation. What we have seen instead is short-term lets springing up to get around the ban, which is causing havoc in local communities. I can reassure my hon. Friend that in his first week in the job the Prime Minister asked me to accelerate this work, and that work is now continuing apace. In any case, the register will be up and running in full by March.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lisa Nandy and Joe Powell

Thursday 27th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lisa Nandy]

Obviously I speak regularly to the Energy Secretary, and I am happy to do so, but the hon. Gentleman should know that I share my right hon. Friend’s commitment to turning this country into a clean energy powerhouse and ensuring that the hon. Gentleman’s constituents and mine receive the benefits in the form of lower bills and better energy security.

The point of the visitor levy is that it gives powers to local areas to raise their own funds and decide how they are spent. I would have thought that everybody in this House should be able to support that.

[Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)]

T6.   At every resident meeting I host, I hear horror stories about the misuse of short-term lets, including illegal sub-letting, breaching London’s 90-day cap, late-night parties, and conditions that violate building insurance and fire safety. When will the hugely welcome mandatory register for short-term lets come online, and what difference will it make to ensuring that homes are not hotels?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lisa Nandy and Joe Powell

Thursday 3rd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lisa Nandy]

Our creatives are second to none in the world, as I just said, and our copyright framework is an essential part of their success. We have been clear that if it does not work for creatives, it does not work for us and we will not do it. On negotiations with the United States, the Prime Minister has been clear that this is the start of the process, but we will always work in the national interest, and we are considering all steps as we look to the future.

[Joe Powell (Kensington and Bayswater) (Lab)]

3. What steps her Department is taking to reduce gambling harms.

[Naushabah Khan (Gillingham and Rainham) (Lab)]

11. What steps her Department is taking to reduce gambling harms.

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)]

This Government have introduced a landmark statutory gambling levy, which will be charged to gambling operators to fund the research, prevention and treatment of gambling harm. The levy will come into effect next week and will raise around £100 million every year. We are also introducing stake limits in the coming weeks for online slot games, which were associated with a higher risk of harm for the first time. We know that gambling brings joy to many, but for those for whom it poses a problem, we are determined to offer all the support they need.

[Joe Powell]

I recently met the family of Luke, a devoted husband and father of two and a passionate Leicester City fan. Luke developed a gambling addiction in 2018, and although he self-excluded and repaid debts with his wife’s support, he relapsed during the pandemic and tragically took his own life in 2021, with the inquest finding that his gambling disorder contributed to his death and that Betfair failed to act, and issuing a prevention of future deaths report to Betfair, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Gambling Commission. In the light of that tragic case and of calls today from more than 30 local government and council leaders for reform on betting shops, will the Secretary of State set out what action the Government are taking to restrict gambling advertising and to better protect people like Luke from gambling harms?

[Lisa Nandy]

May I thank my hon. Friend very much, and not just for raising that serious issue but for the sensitive way in which he has approached it? I extend my sincere condolences to Luke’s family, who I believe are here today. I am so sorry to hear about their loss.

We believe, as a Government, that advertising should be socially responsible. The Minister for Gambling has set the gambling industry a clear task to further raise standards to ensure that levels of gambling advertising do not exacerbate harm, and we will continue to review the evidence, including the very tragic case that my hon. Friend talks about, to make sure we get that right.