Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Matthew Pennycook and Tulip Siddiq(2 days, 8 hours ago)
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The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)
Leasehold and commonhold reform are key priorities for this Government, and we remain absolutely determined to honour the commitments made in our manifesto and finally bring the feudal leasehold system to an end in this Parliament. We have already brought into force a range of provisions from the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, and we will progress the required secondary legislation to commence many more this year. We also intend to publish an ambitious draft commonhold and leasehold reform Bill in the coming weeks.
Tulip Siddiq
The leaseholders on the Hillcrest estate in Highgate in my constituency have written to me, because they have 84 years left on their leases. They are unsure whether they should wait for the Government reforms—which they welcome, by the way—or proceed with lease extension now to avoid the costs of incurring marriage value. Their fear, to which I am very sympathetic, is that they will extend under the current law and then better terms will be brought in by new legislation. I know the Minister has just said that reforms will happen in this Parliament, but may I ask him urgently to provide further clarity on the timings of the proposed reforms? Any savings from those reforms could have a huge impact on 100 of my constituents living on the Hillcrest estate.
Matthew Pennycook
I appreciate fully that leaseholders with leases approaching 80 years remaining want clarity on when the enfranchisement provisions in the 2024 Act will be brought into force. To bring those provisions into force, we need to not only consult on valuation rates, but rectify through primary legislation the small number of serious flaws in the 2024 Act that the previous Government bequeathed to us. The latter is obviously a more challenging proposition than the former, but we intend to make the necessary fixes as soon as possible so that leaseholders can begin to benefit from the new valuation process. I am more than happy to speak to my hon. Friend in further detail about the way in which we plan to take these reforms forward.
British Prisoners in Iran
Debate between Matthew Pennycook and Tulip Siddiq(8 years, 5 months ago)
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Tulip Siddiq
I agree that it was a missed opportunity, but there have been other big missed opportunities, including a visit by diplomats to Evin prison, which I shall talk about later.
To mark Nazanin’s 100 days of detention, Richard Ratcliffe and I went to No. 10 when David Cameron was Prime Minister and handed in a petition. With the hon. Member for Hertsmere (Oliver Dowden), we went to the Foreign Secretary’s office to deliver a petition signed by 261 MPs and peers calling for Nazanin’s release. I have tried to raise this issue as much as possible in the House, especially during the International Women’s Day debate, in which the rights of women were examined over and over by Members of the Opposition but Nazanin’s case was largely ignored. It has been raised in the House several times, and people are worried about it, but the Government, to their shame, have not echoed the calls for Nazanin’s release.
Matthew Pennycook (Greenwich and Woolwich) (Lab)
Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the elements of this case that the family cannot understand is why the Foreign Secretary and the former Foreign Secretary have not taken the time to meet Richard and the family? I know Ministers have, but surely the Foreign Secretary can give a case of this seriousness some of his personal time.
Tulip Siddiq
That is something the families have raised with me over and over again. Why will the Foreign Secretary not meet with the families? Let me be clear: we do not doubt the sincerity of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff, but the fact is that this is not working. The Foreign Secretary needs to meet the families.