Speeches by Cocking.

“What would the Secretary of State say to my constituents in Broxbourne, who never asked for this reorganisation and are concerned that it is just a waste of time and money that will leave them with higher council tax bills and less say over local planning decisions?”

“So it has nothing to do with changes in Government and a new Prime Minister, and you wanting to tell us about your record today?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. It is a huge privilege to wind up the debate on behalf of the official Opposition. I thank the hon. Member for Isle of Wight West (Richard Quigley) for securing this very important debate. I welcome the Minister to her place; this will be the first time we ha…”

“Lewis Cocking, the MP for Broxbourne.”

“But you have sat here this morning and given a number of responses consisting of, “I have spoken to developers. They have asked for this. We have delivered that.” You have not said, “I spoke to councils,” or, “I spoke to local communities and they said what they really want when they get your forced development is more…”

“Thank you for coming this afternoon, Secretary of State. Select Committees usually find it difficult to get Secretaries of State to come along, so it is very unusual that you have offered to come along this afternoon. Why are you here?”

“You changed the date, as you specifically wanted today.”

“Secretary of State, you have mentioned a couple of times that you speak to developers, but not once have you said you speak to councils. Do you actually speak to local communities and councils, or do you just care about what developers want?”

“You say you are building around train stations, or making it easier with a default yes. Will these new train stations that are getting all of this development have extra trains an hour or longer trains? Not everyone who lives in the properties next to the train station will actually use that station.”

“The Minister and I have had many exchanges on this topic, and she knows that I am focused on securing the best outcome for my constituents. We know that reorganisation in Hertfordshire is coming, but the uncertainty is not helping my residents or local councillors, so can the Minister confirm whether an option for Hert…”

“We must reduce immigration to this country and get a grip of our asylum system. Unlike the MPs behind her, I do think the Home Secretary is starting to move in the right direction. But, as she will know, small boat crossings are on the rise since Labour came to power, with an average of 105 illegal migrants crossing th…”

“The Minister is always very generous with his time. He has just explained the boundaries of the development corporation. Cambridge is going through local government reorganisation. How will that affect the order and the boundaries that he has just described?”

“Article 4 cannot cover the whole borough; it can only cover specific areas within that. You need a high threshold—around 20%—of your properties to be HMOs. We are not near that level but you do not need to be near that level for HMOs to cause a problem, so the article 4 direction does not necessarily work. It needs to …”

“Can I implore the Minister to include a section on HMOs in the long-term housing strategy? I know I have raised this before but in my constituency of Broxbourne, HMOs are becoming a real pain in the backside. They do not need planning permission when they have less than five. When they have more than five, their licenc…”

“I want to follow up on a specific question; my local authorities tell me it is not possible to do this, so I want to hear from the Department. If you have a family that is overcrowded in a two-bedroom property and they need a four-bedroom property, are they theoretically allowed to bid for a three-bedroom property? Eve…”

“I am the Member of Parliament for Broxbourne.”

“I want to expand on something Sarah said. The Regulator of Social Housing is useless. I was appalled by them when they came in front of this Committee; they gave me no confidence at all that they could do the job they had set out to do. We know that FirstPort is notorious, and lots of colleagues from across the House a…”

“I commend the hon. Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) for securing this important debate, and for her continued strong and effective leadership of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee. I have spoken several times in this House about the problems with the current leasehold an…”

“I have a follow-up to Will’s question about the regulation of crypto. You were asked when there would be enough regulation to lift your recommended suspension; you gave a long, detailed answer, and I want to make sure that I have understood it correctly. Are you saying that it is not up for you to say when there is eno…”

“Going back to the regulated period and your comments around the fact that you are not sure whether it is fit for purpose, you were just talking about volunteers who help political parties. Lots of candidates are volunteers as well; they have jobs and all the rest of it. If we were to say that the regulated period is no…”