Speeches by Caliskan.

“The hon. Gentleman gives me an opportunity to highlight the fact that my local authority has been building homes far faster than most local authorities across the country. The general slowing in the delivery of housing over the past two years is absolutely to do with the fact that the previous Government crashed the ec…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that open green spaces are not always the most biodiverse, and that we need a more joined-up approach to providing investment in those spaces?”

“My local authority has committed to building homes and it has a good record. One barrier to being able to deliver homes at speed is the fact that we see infrastructure delayed year after year. With the Bill’s proposals to allow CPOs and land assemblies to happen far quicker, we will see homes built at pace in a way tha…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his speech and for highlighting the gaps that exist in local government. I am sure he will recognise that, as the Local Government Association and the National Housing Federation have said, only 80% of local authorities have the capacity at the moment—in fact, it could be far less.[Official R…”

“I declare an interest as the vice-president of the Local Government Association. I support the Bill because we must do everything we can to deliver the building of more housing in this country. As the Member for Barking, I see and hear at first hand the impact of the housing crisis. Every week, I meet constituents who …”

“I thank the Foreign Secretary and his team for what I know are personal diplomatic efforts to play the UK Government’s part in making sure that we can return to a ceasefire. However, in the past few days, hundreds more women and children have been killed in Gaza. We have now had confirmation from the Foreign Secretary …”

“On that very point, our pre-panel members were very clear that the ages between 10 and 20 years old are determining ages. There is a clear linkage between those ages and the stats around violence against women and girls, both as victims and perpetrators. What Ms Owen has talked about, in many ways, is part of that cult…”

“I just wanted to discuss a little more about the cross-working between the Department of Education and local government, because, according to London Councils—I am a Member of Parliament in London, and it is not dissimilar elsewhere—40% of homelessness for women in London is due to domestic violence. The epidemic that …”

“I am, on behalf of the Committee, looking for confidence that the spirit and commitment will translate into cross-departmental working. If I may, Chair, with your permission: every week, like most Members of Parliament, I hold an advice surgery, and more often than not, I have a constituent come to see me with a domest…”

“Ms Payne, is it your understanding that that is what is routinely happening? I promise you it is not.”

“I just wanted to give panellists the opportunity to talk about those two things.”

“That is very helpful. Having the areas of focus on record is really useful, because it allows agencies throughout Government but also local authority partners to reference what senior officials regard as the key aspects and levers that they can utilise to support women and girls with domestic violence. Finally, I just …”

“Finally, there is a real sense that the long-term approach to tackling violence against women and girls is intricately linked to the trust and confidence in institutions in this country. That of course includes Government Departments. It includes important touchpoints such as the NHS, so medical professionals. Cruciall…”

“Can I just thank the panellists and also the members of the pre-panel? It was incredibly helpful. Panellists will recognise that the Home Office has found it challenging to get buy-in from other Government Departments. The oversight group that was established did not meet until a year after the 2021 VAWG strategy was l…”

“You would expect me to say this. I am in favour of the mission, but the mission in itself does not create a change of working within Government Departments. It is very clear from both the National Audit Office report and, indeed, some of the publications from the Home Office itself that the cross-departmental working c…”

“I wanted to give an example of working between the Home Office, the police and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government but, Richard, if you would like to go first, that is fine.”

“I will stop there, but I will just finish by saying that I hope you take good note of what the Local Government Association has said in this space. The duties that you outline are not happening across the country. Local government does not have the capacity to do that. The examples that I have given are in no way unusu…”

“Is it your view that the housing crisis is just such a crisis that the reality is that women who are homeless and find themselves in domestic violence situations are just going to have to accept that it is really difficult because there is a housing crisis? I do not want to put words in your mouth, but there is a pictu…”

“May I ask some questions around staffing numbers? It is true, is it not, that, in recent years, the Department of Health and Social Care, and indeed NHS England, has seen a significant growth in terms of staffing? If you take, for instance, the Department, there are tens of new recruits every month. The very fact that …”

“Yes, in terms of the savings needed.”