Business of the House Debate

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Department: Leader of the House

Business of the House

Wera Hobhouse Excerpts
Thursday 13th March 2025

(1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lucy Powell Portrait Lucy Powell
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I join my hon. Friend in congratulating Hornsby Travel on its amazing anniversary—there were cheers across the House when he mentioned it, so it sounds like a popular bus provider in his constituency. We have brought forward the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill, currently passing through the other place, to ensure that local communities have the bus services they need.

Wera Hobhouse Portrait Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)
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Rental income from social housing is currently 16% below inflation. Homes for the South West, which includes Curo in my constituency, is under a contractual obligation to do repairs while also building new homes under increasingly stretched grant funding systems. It makes doing both nigh impossible. May we have a debate on how we can protect our tenants to get the repairs they need, while also addressing the social housing crisis?

Lucy Powell Portrait Lucy Powell
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That is exactly what this Government are trying to do, through a range of measures. We have the Renters’ Rights Bill going through Parliament at the moment. We have the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to support developers and those who want to build more housing, especially social and affordable housing. This Government are committed to supporting tenants and getting the new homes built that we need.