Speeches by Reed.

“In 2023-24, housebuilding fell off a cliff. It had been at a more reasonable level up until that point. A combination of factors made housebuilding less viable for developers: the rising costs of energy; the increasing cost of labour; the increasing cost of materials, including steel and cement; and the energy price ri…”

“The reason that the numbers are low is the same reason that the numbers have been low for the last three years.”

“There is more like that that we can do outside Price in Place. As part of our work towards devolution and community empowerment, there is a strong strand of localism, for which local government has been pushing for years but to which Government have not responded. Where we make services directly responsive to the peopl…”

“We are working towards that. We are not doing enough yet. That is the truth of it. One of the good things about Pride in Place is that it is a board of local people who will decide where it is spent, whether on improving public services and public infrastructure, or securing a building that they may need for some purpo…”

“Social and community cohesion are issues that have really come up the political agenda. A lot of people will describe to you that they feel that, over recent years, the country has started pulling apart. There are no hard measures for that, but we know that it is a growing feeling because people will be saying that to …”

“When will we extend Awaab’s law from social to private rented? It is our intention to do that. We will do it as quickly as we can, but we are currently having to consult with all parties to make sure that everyone can understand what the requirements will be and can meet them before they are brought into force.”

“Private tenants?”

“That will be subject to the roadmap as well.”

“We are doing it at pace. We will do it as quickly as we can. As a signal of the fact that we are not dragging our feet, the additional £84 million that we have put into this service shows that we treat this as a priority, as we should.”

“That is right. That is what we are working towards, but, with a new Secretary of State and new Ministers coming into post, we need to take time to look at where we are and make sure that we are happy.”

“Again, that will be in the roadmap when it comes out. It is worth saying that the landlords’ representative organisations were very positive about the Act. The vast majority of landlords are decent businesspeople offering a good service to people who want to buy that service at an affordable price. We know that the pri…”

“We will wait for the evidence, but there is no reason to assume that it is going to be a problem.”

“I am due to chair my first one in a couple of weeks’ time. I hope you saw that it was a good signal that we have injected an additional £84 million since I came into the role.”

“The hon. Gentleman has raised an important point, and I am happy to arrange a meeting with the appropriate Minister so that he can share his concerns and we can come to a resolution.”

“I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss his concerns.”

“I have to say again that the right hon. Gentleman’s devotion to Trussonomics is admirable, particularly given that we have already seen it fail once. We heard from the shadow Chancellor that the Conservatives would put up income tax if they won the general election. They put it up to the highest level since the second …”

“I know that the right hon. Gentleman was a strong supporter of Liz Truss when she stood for leadership of the Conservative party, but surely he cannot have forgotten what she did: she made multibillion pound unfunded spending commitments that crashed the economy, and sent wages down and prices, mortgages and rents skyr…”

“I thank my hon. Friend, the Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, for her work in supporting disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Oldham and her strong support for the Pride in Place programme, which offers a significant amount of long-term flexible funding and support to areas like Oldham. Best of all, it is local peop…”

“My No. 1 priority is to get Britain building again: we will build, baby, build. That means putting Britain on a path to end the moral stain of homelessness and rough sleeping that doubled under the previous Conservative Government; growing our economy with good, secure jobs and rising incomes in every region of Britain…”

“I am sure that it will come as no surprise to my hon. Friend that I wholeheartedly welcome the delivery of 183 new council homes in his constituency. I fully agree that the Lakes estate demonstrates the ambition of Milton Keynes city council to build the homes that its communities want and need. I also value such counc…”