Social Housing Bill [Lords]

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

2nd reading
Thursday 10th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

I had a much longer speech prepared for this debate, but with the constraints on time I do not think I will be able to make it. Let me reflect on the fact that for the majority of this debate, the Conservative Benches have been next to empty, with almost no contributions from Conservative Members other than those on the Front Bench. I posit that that may be because of an element of shame on the part of Conservative Back Benchers regarding the contribution that we heard from those on their Front Bench. This is a Tory party—that, not too long ago, was led by somebody born on the upper east side of New York—deciding that it will start defining the value of people as British citizens based on whether they were born here. For shame! I am more than happy to get fully behind this legislation.

Local Government Reorganisation

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

Monday 7th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Angela Rayner]

I assure the hon. Member that the Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton, is in his place and will be meeting Lancashire Members. We want to make sure that we unlock the potential of that area. The Prime Minister talks about growth in every postcode, which includes making sure that devolution and local government reorganisation deliver for everybody across the whole of Lancashire. That is what we want to do through this review, and it is at the forefront of my mind.

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

I have to say that I am really disappointed by this decision. Councils have spent months working on proposals; resources and precious time have been spent—or, I would say, wasted—on them. Growth is meant to be a priority for this Government, and Oxfordshire is a high growth delivery area, yet we have no devolution, no local government reorganisation and no timescale for either. Will the Secretary of State or one of her Ministers meet me and my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) to discuss the shortcomings in this high-value growth area?

[Angela Rayner]

Absolutely; the Minister and I will happily meet my hon. Friend as part of this programme. The new Prime Minister has made absolutely clear that we want growth in every postcode; in order for the UK—and England in particular—to raise its growth agenda, every area needs to feel that. The Chancellor made a statement earlier today about how he sees that as a priority and about devolution being part of that programme. We will be in touch with my hon. Friend to support his area.

Representation of the People Bill

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

Report stage & 3rd reading
Wednesday 2nd September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Ms Minns]

I absolutely agree. From my work in the 1997 election I know that Mencap has looked extensively at the issue of accessible information for people with learning disabilities.

In conclusion, I ask the Minister to place on record the Government’s commitment to dealing with this issue once and for all when the Bill moves to the other place, and to ensuring that blind and partially sighted voters are able to make their own choice, mark their own ballot and know that their vote is their own.

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

Public faith in our democratic system has been steadily eroded. My hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Ms Creasy) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) provided some statistics on public opinion, and I will provide a few more. More than half of the public believe that politicians almost always lie, while only one in eight believe that we put the national interest above party advantage. That level of disillusionment did not emerge overnight. Broken promises, diminished opportunity and a growing distance from decision makers have left many people feeling unheard. Money and politics have deepened that divide and fuelled the perception that access to power is available to those who can afford it, creating a suspicion that influence can be bought rather than earned.

This is no longer simply a question of public confidence; it is a question of democratic resilience. Hostile states and malign actors seek to weaken institutions and corrode trust. Disinformation poisons debate, blurs the line between fact and fiction, and encourages citizens to doubt what they see and hear. Every loophole in our political finance system is a potential point of entry for those who wish our democracy harm. Questions are also raised when voters see Members earning substantial sums from outside interests: public duty traded for private gain. Taken together, these issues foster a growing belief that politics is something done to people rather than with or for them. That belief has consequences. Where trust weakens, democracy weakens; where democracy weakens, those who seek to exploit division find opportunity.

I welcome the measures in the Bill that seek to address much of the public concern around many of these issues, but rebuilding democratic legitimacy requires more than just tightening a few rules. It requires us to ask deep questions about whether our institutions still deliver the representation and accountability that people expect, and whether, if so many no longer trust the system, the system itself needs to change. For that reason, I hope that the Government will reconsider and commit to establishing a commission on electoral reform, not to pursue a predetermined outcome but to ask whether our political system is working as well as it should, whether it remains capable of rebuilding public confidence and whether it is worthy of the trust that is placed in it. The cure for public disillusionment is not less democracy; it is better democracy. The answer to distrust is not disengagement; it is accountability. The answer to frustration is not to retreat; it is to reform. That is not optional; it is necessary and urgent, and I urge the Minister to take that into consideration.

[Florence Eshalomi]

I thank all Members who have contributed to today’s debate for their constructive and informed contributions. Madam Deputy Speaker, I do not want to face a telling-off from you, so given the timings, I will not reference each amendment but instead talk broadly about the main themes of the debate. I assure Members, who have asked a number of detailed and serious questions, that I have taken note of many of the questions; I commit to writing to them individually if I do not cover those areas in my closing speech.

Local Government Reorganisation

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

Monday 13th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for the many exchanges we have had. I know that he just wants the best for his constituents, as we all do. It might help the House if I explain the process we go through. We provide Members of Parliament in affected areas with a short briefing before the announcement is made. That is done for all Members of Parliament; it is what has happened to date, and what I anticipate will happen as and when I am able to make the statement. We will be able to talk more openly once that decision is in the public domain.

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

Does the Minister believe, as I do, that if local government reorganisation is done correctly, it has the potential not just to reshape local government so that it is fit for the 21st century, but to help us secure much-needed economic growth?

[Alison McGovern]

I thank my hon. Friend for that really important point. This is not just about constitutional niceties or the importance of councils to government in this country, crucial though they are; it is about having the right-sized authority to grow our towns and cities, and to give young people and everybody else in this country the opportunities they deserve.

Foreign Interference in UK Politics

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

Monday 6th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Samantha Dixon]

Any political party that abides by the rules the Government are introducing will be able to flourish in our political system. Those that do not can expect to be held firmly to account.

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for her statement. I have notified the relevant Member that I am about to name them. Over the weekend, The Telegraph ran a study about the Iranian-born property magnate Sasan Ghandehari pledging to donate millions of pounds to Reform UK. He described the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) as an “honest politician”. Does the Minister agree?

[Samantha Dixon]

I am not going to comment on individual Members without having notified them in advance, but I note my hon. Friend’s comments.

Housing Needs: Young People

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

Thursday 16th April 2026 Westminster Hall

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship today, Ms Butler. When I first stood for election to this place, I did so with a mission to fix Oxfordshire’s broken housing market. I saw the mess that we were in. I saw the lives broken by that market long before I arrived here.

Oxford faces a crisis of unique and crushing proportions. Homes now cost 12 times local earnings—a burden for the city, a burden for the county and a burden that no other part of this country is asked to bear.

For our young people, the situation is transformative in the worst of ways. Those aged 25 to 34 are now the backbone of a private rented sector that has doubled in size since the start of the century. These young people are renters by necessity, renters without equity and renters without a clear path to a home of their own.

In Oxford, nearly a third of households rent privately. As the city’s prices climb, the pressure climbs; as the pressure climbs, people leave. They leave and go to places such as Banbury. They come for the 20-minute commute, but they bring with them the weight of Oxford’s exhaustion. Thus Oxford’s housing problems become Banbury’s housing problems. Demand has surged. Supply has stalled. My inbox swells as the local housing waiting list ticks up and up, quadrupling in a single decade.

This is what I say to the local voices who question why Cherwell district council, which covers Banbury, must contribute to Oxford’s unmet housing need: “It is no longer Oxford’s need. It is our need in Banbury as well. It is our future. It is our children who are being priced out of their own parishes.”

Let us be clear: this is not merely a housing crisis. It is an economic crisis. Oxford does not just grow; it prospers. It does not just work; it innovates. Our high-tech industries generate £23.5 billion in gross value added annually. We are a net contributor to the Exchequer, a global destination for talent and a titan of enterprise. That is why the Chancellor is right to champion the Oxford-Cambridge corridor—it is a vision of growth, infrastructure and national renewal—but that vision will remain a mirage if the workers required to build it cannot afford to live within it.

By failing to build, we are stifling the growth we seek, the talent we nurture and the very future we promised to deliver. I therefore urge the Government to give young people in Banbury and across Oxfordshire the tools, the support and the resolve that we need to help me to keep my promise of helping to fix Oxfordshire’s broken housing market.

Local Government Reorganisation

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

Thursday 22nd January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

As I said in my statement, it is my intention that the elections to the new unitaries will go ahead next year.

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

I have to say that I find the bleating from the Conservative party—which delayed elections in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Somerset, as well as in several other areas named by the Secretary of State—pretty astounding. As welcome as the reforms are, they are taking up considerable time and capacity for local authorities, including Oxfordshire county council. The council is prioritising, among other things, economic growth, which this Government have said is their No. 1 mission. I urge the Secretary of State and his team to look at picking up the pace of these reforms, as welcome as they are, so that local areas and the councils that emerge from them can get on with delivering for their local residents.

[Steve Reed]

I completely agree with the thrust of what my hon. Friend says. We want to go ahead with this reorganisation precisely so that we can improve public services and let councils get on with what they should be doing. Growing local economies and putting more money in the pockets of local people, including his constituents, is our priority.

Oral Answers to Questions

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

Monday 12th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

5. What steps he is taking to build more social and affordable homes in Banbury.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)]

Our manifesto committed us to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable house building in a generation, and we intend to do just that. Our £39 billion social and affordable homes programme will build around 300,000 homes over its 10-year lifetime, of which at least 60% will be social rent, ensuring that communities such as Banbury get the social and affordable homes they so desperately need.

[Mr Speaker]

Do you all represent Banbury? I am trying to find out why they all think they are in Banbury. I thought it had only one MP.

[Sean Woodcock]

Nearly 11,000 homes in Cherwell district have been granted planning permission but remain unbuilt. This causes understandable frustration for local residents and the thousands of people in housing need. Will the Minister set out what action the Government are taking to improve build-out so that much-needed homes are built and delivered?

[Matthew Pennycook]

My hon. Friend is a powerful advocate for the interests of Banbury, and he has rightly and forcefully conveyed the message that the communities he represents expect homes, infrastructure and services that have been promised as part of a planning approval to be delivered as quickly as possible. I am sure he will welcome the fact that the new draft national planning policy framework, on which the Government are currently consulting, proposes to strengthen national policies to ensure that major residential developments are deliverable within a reasonable period. He will also be reassured to know that we intend to take further action to incentivise faster build-out rates, drawing on the two consultations that we undertook last year.

Electoral Resilience

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

Tuesday 16th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

I welcome the hon. Lady’s support for the review. We have now had that support from all sides of the House, and that is appreciated. It is very important that the House of Commons stands united against the potential threats to our democracy from hostile foreign state actors. Our democracy is one of the most precious things we have, and it is important that we all work together across the Chamber to protect it. We are not targeting any particular states or individuals with this review; we are looking to confirm that the safeguards that protect our democracy from inappropriate or malign foreign financial interference are robust enough. I look forward to Philip Rycroft’s findings when we have them towards the end of March.

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

My right hon. Friend will be aware that the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Richard Tice) recently failed to declare on time hospitality in a French villa from the wife of the former Russian deputy Finance Minister. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that the offer and acceptance of gifts and free holidays from Russian oligarchs will be in the scope of the review?

[Steve Reed]

I preface my response by saying that the review is not looking at individual cases, but the broader issue of gifts and hospitality and how they may be used by malign, or potentially malign, foreign agents or state actors will be in scope for the independent review.

National Plan to End Homelessness

Sean Woodcock Excerpts

Thursday 11th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for welcoming the strategy and for joining the cross-party support for our objectives. It is important that we make it clear where we have agreement across the parties. I join him in welcoming the important work of the Shared Health Foundation.

On his final question, there are exemptions to the shared accommodation rate, and I would encourage him to have a look at that part of the strategy. On the local housing allowance, as I said in response to my hon. Friend the Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee a moment ago, it is important that family incomes improve, which is why we took the steps we did in the child poverty strategy. I spoke about the Vagrancy Act in my response to the shadow Minister, but I will happily also send the hon. Gentleman the details about the steps that we are taking.

The hon. Gentleman also mentions the need to increase social housing, and I would recommend to him the detail on this published by the Minister for Housing, my hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Matthew Pennycook). I do not think any of us should have a cap on our ambition for building social and affordable homes, and I encourage all parts of the country to get on with spending the investment the Chancellor has allocated so that we can put a roof over people’s heads.

[Sean Woodcock (Banbury) (Lab)]

I welcome this strategy and pay tribute to the Minister and her predecessors for the work that has gone into it. I also pay tribute to the Banbury Youth Homeless Project in my constituency, which does great work with young people affected by homelessness, and extend an invitation to the Minister to come and visit the organisation at some point. One feature of the current housing crisis is that temporary accommodation is often anything but. The Minister has reiterated the Government’s ambition to build 1.5 million homes during the course of this Parliament, but I would be grateful if she could provide some detail on how the Government plan to accelerate the delivery of homes, particularly in areas like mine, where infrastructure issues are frequently a barrier to the delivery of much-needed affordable homes.

[Alison McGovern]

My hon. Friend knows that I am a fan of Banbury. I am hoping to get there before too long, and would be most grateful to meet that organisation; it sounds like it is doing sterling work, and I am grateful to them for it. It is true, as he says, that temporary accommodation is often anything but. The distinction we are trying to draw in the strategy is one of quality. While good-quality temporary accommodation often cannot help a family get back on the road to stability, we do see some really poor-quality temporary accommodation. To give people a long-term home where they can set down roots, as Members will know, our Planning and Infra- structure Bill has been proceeding through Parliament. That legislation will allow us to speed up the delivery of all housing, including the social housing we so desperately need.