First elected: 9th April 1992
Left House: 30th March 2015 (Retired)
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Nick Raynsford, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Nick Raynsford has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Nick Raynsford has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Nick Raynsford has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Provisional student numbers for 2014/15 were issued on 20 February 2014. Since then we have considered applications for a higher number and adjusted numbers issued where appropriate on 2 May 2014. However, we cannot confirm final allocations until providers have been re-designated for student support purposes for the 2014/15 academic year.
The Government has not held discussions with Thames Water on the details of the Mayor's revised draft housing strategy or any change in the capacity of London's sewerage systemrequired as a consequence of it. It is for Thames Water to take population changes into account as part of its business planning for the five-yearly price review process with Ofwat.
However, Defra is working closely with Thames Water on enabling construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel. The Tunnel will significantly reduce pollution in the Tidal Thames caused by sewage overflowing into the River Thames from combined sewage overflows when there is significant rainfall. It will also ensure that London's Victorian sewerage system, which is currently close to capacity at certain times of day, is able to meet the needs of the predicted increase in population in central London. This is set out in the economic and strategic case for the Tunnel, which can be viewed at the gov.uk website.
I refer the rt. hon Member to my answers of 12 and 16 March to his Questions 226642, 226652 and 226673.
I refer the rt. hon Member to my answer to him of 12 March 2015, Question 226673, and the associated guidance which outlines the exceptions policy in place.
I refer the rt. hon. Member to my Department’s guidance on the national starter home exception site policy, which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/starter-homes-guidance
I refer the rt. hon. Member to my Department’s guidance on the national starter home exception site policy, which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/starter-homes-guidance
The policy enables applications to be considered at a local level. We have not produced precise estimates for each individual local authority.
As laid out in the guidance on Starter Homes published by my Department, Starter Homes exception sites are expected to be on land that has been in commercial or industrial use, and which has not currently been identified for residential development. The types and sizes of site suitable for Starter Homes are likely to vary across the country, and will reflect the pattern of existing and former industrial and commercial use as well as local market conditions. Land in both public and private ownership can be considered
The Coalition Government’s goal is to deliver 100,000 new homes under the scheme. Already more than 30 house builders have said that they support the plans.
The Prime Minister has also set out Conservative Party policy intentions to take the scheme further in the next Parliament.
As laid out in the guidance on Starter Homes published by my Department, Starter Homes exception sites are expected to be on land that has been in commercial or industrial use, and which has not currently been identified for residential development. The types and sizes of site suitable for Starter Homes are likely to vary across the country, and will reflect the pattern of existing and former industrial and commercial use as well as local market conditions. Land in both public and private ownership can be considered
The Coalition Government’s goal is to deliver 100,000 new homes under the scheme. Already more than 30 house builders have said that they support the plans.
The Prime Minister has also set out Conservative Party policy intentions to take the scheme further in the next Parliament.
The Government believes a five year restriction on the sale or letting of a Starter Home at its open market value under the new Starter Home exception sites planning policy strikes the right balance between discouraging short term speculation and enabling this generation of young first buyers into homeownership.
Information reported by local authorities on the provision of additional new build affordable housing on rural exception sites has been collected in the Local Authority Housing Statistics return since 2011-12 and is shown in the table below:
Provision of additional new build affordable housing on rural exception sites in England
2011-12 1,535
2012-13 981
2013-14 1,642
Source: Local Authority Housing Statistics return
Equivalent data was not collected prior to 2011-12.
Further to my Written Ministerial Statement of 2 March 2015, Official Report, Column 42-44WS, we do not anticipate any shortfall, as these are homes which would not otherwise have been built.
Councils will still benefit from the New Homes Bonus and council tax receipts from the new homes.
The Department published a discussion document earlier this year, Review of Property Conditions in the Private Rented Sector, which invited views on what more could be done to improve property conditions and tackle rogue landlords. An announcement on the outcome of the consultation will be made in the New Year.
The published proposals from our Housing Standards Review relate to new build housing. The conversion of an existing building is technically more complex than a new build – as the existing configuration of internal walls and structures will influence the spatial dimensions of the new dwelling.
Notwithstanding, any new dwellings created by change of use would be subject to Housing Health and Safety Rating System regulations on space and crowding, as well as aspects of the building regulations including fire safety, sound insulation and energy efficiency.
We have not undertaken any research yet into the effects of the 2010 changes to the ventilation provisions in Part F of the Building Regulations, but this is being considered by the Department.
I refer the rt. hon. Member to the answer given on 9 July 2014, Official Report, Column 292W.
Officials are currently finalising the evaluation report before submitting it to Ministers. The findings of the evaluation will then be published in due course.
DCLG published a discussion document earlier this year, which invited views on what more could be done to improve property conditions in the private rented sector. Responses are now being considered and we will publish our response along with a summary of the views submitted later this summer.
Statistics on the amount of dwelling stock in England by tenure are published in the Department's live table 104, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants
This provides the total amount of stock owned by Private Registered Providers (housing associations) and local authorities but does not provide any further breakdown.
More detailed information on housing stock owned by local authorities, including a breakdown between those for social rent and those for affordable rent, for 2011-12 and 2012-13 only, can be found in the dataset that accompanies the Department's annual Local Authority Housing Statistics release. Information on housing stock for intermediate rent and affordable home ownership is not collected separately. For 2011-12 and 2012-13, these datasets can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2012-to-2013 (Section A, Question 2)
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2011-to-2012 (Section A, Question 2)
Detailed information on housing stock owned by Private Registered Providers can be found in the dataset that accompanies the Homes and Communities Agency's annual Statistical Data Return. For 2011-12 and 2012-13, these datasets can be found here:
http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/news/second-statistical-data-return (2012-13)
http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/news/statistical-data-return (2011-12)
Prior to 2011-12, this information was collected in the Tenant Services Authority's Regulatory and Statistical return and can be found here:
£19.5 billion of public and private investment in affordable homes will deliver 170,000 homes in the four years to 2015. Half way through, we have already delivered almost 99,000 affordable homes (98,700).
The Department is undertaking a wider evaluation of the New Homes Bonus; its findings will be published in due course.