Building Safety

Debate between Michael Gove and Ellie Reeves

Monday 30th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

On PEEPs, I am reliant on the good offices of my friends in the Home Office. They are working hard and I hope to update the House shortly. On leasehold, the plan is for a Bill to be introduced in the Queen’s Speech and then rapid progress through this House; I do not know whether in the other place there might be one or two people who are pro-feudalism, but I hope they will recognise that this House will be speaking with a united voice.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

Dane House in Sydenham is a four-storey block of 26 flats with cladding on the third floor. Due to fire safety concerns, the building insurance is more than £23,000. Given today’s statement, will the original developers, Crest Nicholson, now be obliged to remove the cladding? The Secretary of State has talked about tackling insurance, but will he give a commitment that my constituents will no longer face such astronomical bills?

[Michael Gove]

We will do everything we can, and I hope Crest Nicholson will hear clearly exactly the eloquent plea the hon. Lady makes.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Gove and Ellie Reeves

Thursday 8th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important and serious issue. The permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office and the head of the Government Security Group are looking at precisely this question because, as the hon. Gentleman quite rightly points out, it has a bearing on the security of Government business, and indeed on the possibility of malicious actors, abroad or elsewhere, who may wish to use information garnered in that way to work against the interests of all our citizens.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

What assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy of the Government’s civil contingency plans and (b) preparedness for a potential future pandemic.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Gove and Ellie Reeves

Thursday 27th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[Ellie Reeves [V]]

The Bromley wards in my constituency were part of a voter ID pilot in 2018 and the council’s own figures suggest that 154 people were turned away from polling stations because of the requirement for ID. If this was scaled up nationally the overall number of those disfranchised would be huge, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission says it would disproportionately impact ethnic minority communities and older people, yet there were only 33 allegations of voter personation at the 2019 general election. Can the Minister not see the huge disparity here?

[Michael Gove]

The hon. Lady makes an important point. It is incumbent on local authorities like her excellent local authority in Lewisham to work to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to vote. I should say, because her question gives me an opportunity to do so, that in recent local elections, not just for the London Assembly and the London Mayor but across the country, those who work in local government—returning officers and others—did a sterling job in challenging circumstances, and I know that as we introduce reforms to ensure the integrity of the ballot, local authorities such as hers will be at the forefront of delivering those changes.