Building Safety

John Bercow Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2019 Commons Chamber

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Again, I appeal for extreme brevity on the part of colleagues; if they do not provide it, they will have to be cut off, I am afraid.

[Robert Neill (Bromley and Chislehurst) (Con)]

I wrote to the Secretary of State on Monday about the position of my constituents in Northpoint in Bromley. I welcome his announcement. Will he confirm that the establishment of the protection board ought to and must be used so that people such as my constituents—who have had to do this—may avoid the rigmarole of commissioning a building survey to prove eligibility for the fund and then applying for funding from the pre-application fund, the portal for which was not live at the beginning of the week? We need to cut through that immediately.

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

I remind the House that I am looking for single-sentence questions without preamble.

[James Brokenshire (Old Bexley and Sidcup) (Con)]

May I support what my right hon. Friend has said in his statement about driving forward cultural change and ensuring that people are safe in their homes? I also encourage him to follow through on the social housing Green Paper to see that tenants have that voice to challenge their landlords and to drive change.

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[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Tim Farron—one sentence.

[Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)]

Given that naming and shaming has been set out by the Secretary of State, could he be more explicit about what sanctions he will be using against the individuals and organisations that fail to comply with making these buildings safe for their residents?