Housing Benefit and Supported Housing

Natascha Engel Excerpts

Wednesday 27th January 2016 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Natascha Engel)]

Order.

[Brandon Lewis]

I think there was an intervention somewhere in that speech. The hon. Lady has experience of the excellent work that those organisations do, as do I—I was a trustee of a Foyer. That is why it is important that we ensure that we protect the most vulnerable in society.

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[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Natascha Engel)]

Order. I remind hon. Members that there will be a speech limit of six minutes after the SNP Front-Bench spokesperson has finished.

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[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Natascha Engel)]

Order. The speech limit is now five minutes.

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[Madam Deputy Speaker (Natascha Engel)]

Order. The hon. Lady’s interventions are very long, and this is a time-limited debate.

[Simon Hoare]

The hon. Lady speaks with enormous passion, and I understand that. Of course, service providers want some certainty, and the pressing of the pause button announced by the Government today will be welcomed, but what has added precious little certainty to providers seeking to make short, medium and longer-term financial commitments has been Labour Members’ panic-stricken shroud waving. They have been trotting round the country desperately trying to stoke this up for party political advantage.

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[Yasmin Qureshi]

Sometimes I genuinely struggle with the question whether some Conservative Members either care or are bothered. If you were really concerned about disabled and vulnerable people, you would have spent your five-minute speech talking about them, rather than criticising Labour Members for raising this issue and accusing us of shedding crocodile tears. I do not know how many times you used that phrase.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Natascha Engel)]

Order. The hon. Lady is speaking through the Chair, and should not do so.

[Yasmin Qureshi]

I am so sorry, Madam Deputy Speaker; I got carried away.

If Members on the Government Benches were genuinely concerned about the vulnerable, they would be supporting our motion today, because it is only about specific sets and groups of people with a whole range of issues.

Going back to Emmaus and its companions, it gets £132 in housing benefit that it uses for them, but the companions then have to come off other social security benefits. The cost to the charity of providing a home for these people is £1,000, but it does it because it wants to help them learn skills and reintegrate into society. This cut in benefits will mean it will have to find even more money in order to support these people.

If the people in St Vincent’s housing, for example, are turfed out, that will cost the state far more than cutting their housing benefit. So I go back to the question I asked the Minister right at the beginning when he opened this debate: can he guarantee to us that people currently in supported housing will not be turfed out of their home? Will they be supported and protected? I have still not had an answer to that.