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5.41 pm
Mrs. Jackie Ballard (Taunton): I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Bury, North (Mr. Chaytor), who made a very polished first speech. I am sure that he is now feeling the relief that I hope to feel in a few moments.
I am grateful for the opportunity to make my maiden speech especially in a debate on housing, a subject on which I have campaigned for many years and which is a matter of great concern to my constituents.
I am honoured to represent Taunton--a constituency which is not only varied and attractive, but has been represented by some distinguished Members in the past--perhaps none more distinguished than Sir Edward du Cann, who was the Member for 31 years, a record that I do not expect to achieve.
The House will well remember Sir Edward's many contributions to his party and to the House. He retired in 1987 and was replaced by my immediate predecessor, David Nicholson. I know that Mr. Nicholson will forgive me if I say that he was never quite able to live up to Sir Edward's standards of sartorial elegance. However, he was a strong defender of many of the interests of his constituents and I was pleased to work with him when I was deputy leader of Somerset county council on a successful appeal against the capping of the county's budget two years ago.
I am the first woman to represent my constituency, but not the first Liberal. From 1922 to 1924, it was represented by Sir John Hope Simpson, who sadly was a Member for less than two years--a record which I do expect to beat. He was, however, more successful than Benjamin Disraeli, who is being mentioned for the second time in this debate and who failed to get elected when he stood in Taunton in 1835.
History records that there have been many rebellions in Somerset over the years. The 1497 rising of the Cornish against Henry VII's imposition of taxes to fund war against the Scots was supported by Somerset, and, as a Scot by birth, I am happy to continue that positive link. Somerset supported Parliament in the civil war of 1642 to 1648, and, of course, the part played by the west country in the Monmouth rebellion is well known. I am sure that my party leader will be watching his enlarged west country contingent in the House closely for signs of rebellion.
I am my party's spokesperson on women's issues, and I am pleased to tell hon. Members that the patriotic celebration of the outbreak of peace in 1814 saw the beginning of women's participation in civic processions. Previously, such processions had been made up of men only, led by a John Bull figure, but in Taunton's peace festival there was a Mrs. Bull and many other women in the procession. Many years elapsed, however, between 1814 and the election of the first woman Member for the constituency.
Perhaps we do things more slowly in my constituency. I felt somewhat inadequate when I considered the number of hon. Members who had made their maiden speeches well before me, but when I looked in the Library I found that my predecessor, who was elected in June 1987, made his maiden speech in November that year, and it was also in a debate on housing. Perhaps we wait until we really have something to say.
When hon. Members think of my constituency, they may imagine only the historic county town of Taunton, which is set on the river Tone, with a thriving market and many amenities. It is the home of county cricket and the administrative centre for the county council. However, the constituency also includes the important town of Wellington, whose residents are fortunate to have Liberal Democrat representation at every level of government, from the active and lively town council to the European Parliament. We also have many small villages with evocative names such as Combe Florey, North Curry, Langford Budville and Bishops Lydeard.
My constituency stretches well beyond those villages to Simonsbath on Exmoor. The Exmoor national park has the most varied landscapes--open moorland, sheltered valleys and ancient woodland. Along with the areas of outstanding natural beauty of the Quantocks and the Blackdown hills, Exmoor acts as a magnet for many tourists every year. It is also the home of a special and pure breed of wild pony and of a wonderful red deer herd, of which I am sure hon. Members will hear much more in the coming months.
I have tried to describe something of the beauty and diversity of my constituency, but it is not all roses round the cottage door and supping cider at tea time. We have our problems, too. There are 1,800 people on the Taunton Deane housing register, many people living in substandard or overcrowded houses in multiple
occupation, 269 families in housing priority need, people living temporarily in hostels for homeless families and 30 single people every night in the emergency access accommodation provided by the Taunton Association for the Homeless.
There are even people who sleep rough on the streets of Taunton, a situation made worse by the reduction in housing benefit for young people under the age of 25. I hope that the Government will move quickly to halt the extension of the single room rent regulations to people under 60, as that would only add to the number of homeless people across the country.
There are two local authorities in my constituency--West Somerset district council and Taunton Deane borough council. The major part of the constituency is contained within the Taunton Deane area, and I intend no slight to West Somerset by concentrating on Taunton Deane in my remarks.
Taunton Deane borough council has been an excellent housing authority, both under Conservative administration in the past and under Liberal Democrat administration since 1991. It has a proud record of investment in its own housing stock and of co-operation and partnership with local private landlords, housing associations and the county council on special needs housing. The council has involved its tenants in tenants' forums and actively encourages their input into decisions affecting their homes.
Despite the efficiency and innovation of Taunton Deane borough council, it cannot meet all the local social housing needs. As I have said, there are about 2,000 families in housing need and the council has £17 million set-aside capital receipts from the sale of council housing. The housing problems in my constituency may sound less significant than those in inner cities, but it is only a matter of scale. Housing problems and homelessness are as keenly felt by every individual in the south-west as in any metropolitan area.
The people of my constituency have a right--and I do not use the word without thought: they have a right to shelter, security and a roof over their heads. They want a significantly greater housing capital programme and a return to local authority house building without the necessity to transfer stock to housing companies or housing associations. In Taunton Deane borough council, tenants have an excellent landlord whose rents are reasonable--certainly lower than those in the private sector and lower than those of most housing associations. The landlord is also approachable and democratically accountable.
Ms Beverley Hughes (Stretford and Urmston):
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to speak on a matter that is of the utmost importance to my constituents and to the constituents of many other hon. Members. I congratulate the hon. Member for Taunton (Mrs. Ballard)
I rise to address the House for the first time as the new Member for the new constituency of Stretford and Urmston. Over the past few weeks, I have discovered that many hon. Members are not familiar with the location of my constituency. However, I have also found that as soon as I mention Old Trafford, Manchester United or Lancashire county cricket club, they know immediately that Stretford and Urmston is not to be confused with Stratford-on-Avon, Strangford or Stafford, worthy as those places may be.
Stretford and Urmston is in Greater Manchester and lies wholly within the borough of Trafford, of which I was leader prior to my election to the House. The constituency is just to the west of Manchester city centre and embraces the inner-city areas of Old Trafford and Stretford, the former Lancashire county districts of Urmston and Davyhulme, and Partington and Carrington, a disadvantaged and isolated but very close community whose people have deserved better than they have received in recent years.
As I mentioned, mine is a new constituency which was created from half of each of the former constituencies of Stretford and Davyhulme. Happily, however, this is not so much a shotgun marriage as a welcome reunion because nine of the wards in my constituency were part of a previous Stretford constituency many years ago and are pleased to have come together again. The tenth ward, Partington and Carrington, is glad to be in the new constituency and to have a Labour Member of Parliament. The voters there consistently return Labour councillors in local elections, but have never before had a Labour Member of Parliament.
Mine is a wonderful constituency of which I am very proud. We boast some important attributes. I have mentioned Manchester United and Lancashire county cricket club, two teams of international acclaim. We are also the location for the new Trafford centre, the largest retail shopping centre and regional sports complex in Europe. Once the Secretary of State for the Environment made his decision on the go-ahead for the centre, which took nine years, we welcomed the opportunities that it would provide. We must ensure, however, that the opportunities for employment go to our local unemployed people and that we protect our existing town centres.
Our area is also to be the home of the prestigious Imperial War Museum of the North, having won the bid in partnership with the Manchester Ship Canal Company and with the support of other local authorities and private sector partners. The museum is to be on the Trafford side of the Manchester ship canal, opposite the Lowry centre to which my hon. Friend the Member for Salford (Ms Blears) referred in her maiden speech. It is very much part of a strategy by the local authorities and local business to revitalise the city region economy and the economy of the north-west, an objective of great importance and some urgency to us.
Both the Trafford centre and the Imperial War Museum of the North are located in Trafford Park which, as I am sure many hon. Members will know, was once the world's
largest manufacturing park. It is still a significant contributor to the regional and national economy, and it is home to many international companies and many medium and small indigenous businesses.
My constituency is well blessed. It is at the hub of the sub-regional and regional economy and it has enormous potential--not least in the warmth, diligence and commitment of its people, whom I thank for their overwhelming support during the general election campaign and for many years before. They know, I hope, that I will represent their interests to the best of my ability.
In so saying, I hope that I can emulate the standard set by my predecessor, now Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Central (Mr. Lloyd). He is regarded with enormous warmth and affection by his former constituents because of his unstinting work on their behalf in the best tradition of public service, which I know he supports. I have known him personally for many years and know at first hand of his diligence and commitment, and his support for his constituents through some very lean times.
My other predecessor was Winston Churchill who, as hon. Members will know, has not returned to the House. Although I cannot speak from personal experience of his work, I place on record the appreciation of his former constituents for his many years as Member of Parliament for Davyhulme. I wish him well for the future, as I am sure the House would wish.
I have enormous pride in my constituency. I live there and I have served there in local government for many years. It has enormous strengths and potential, but, like many parts of the country--perhaps especially the north-west--it has problems, of which housing is one. As leader of Trafford council, I took over a local authority in which the previous long-standing Conservative administration had presided over under-investment and a neglect of need that were little short of scandalous. I am interested in the remarks of Conservative Members and in their failure to comment on the record of the few remaining Conservative councils, especially in relation to housing.
The Conservative approach to housing produced in my constituency, which is the area of greatest need in the borough, a legacy of substandard housing and insufficient stock. The record of the local Conservative council was compounded by that of the then central Government. Investment in the provision and repair of housing declined to an all-time low of £2.1 billion last year, compared with a peak of more than £12 billion in the mid-1970s. At the same time as Government grants and credit approvals to local authorities, through the housing investment programme, were declining--they were reduced especially drastically over the past two years--local authorities were prevented from using the set-aside capital receipts from the sale of council houses to refurbish and replenish their stock. As the House knows, that is the problem with which the Bill deals.
The argument was that such receipts should be used to redeem debt. Hon. Members who are familiar with the complex local government finance arrangements will know that there is a range of views on how far it is fair for such receipts to be used to reduce borrowing, as measured by the public sector borrowing requirement, without taking into account the revenue lost through the
sale of assets such as council housing--a point that Conservative Members, again, have consistently failed to mention.
What is important in the debate is, however, the consequence of the previous Government's policy and the impact on thousands of ordinary people. As other hon. Members have done, I could give many human stories about the tragic impact on the lives of families, older people, disabled people and young single people. The consequence has been a dramatic reduction in the availability and standard of affordable public and private sector housing. The impact on those people has been real pain and suffering--a blight on their lives which has had serious effects on health, physical and mental well-being and achievement. We know that poor housing can create those problems.
The Bill is designed to promote long-term investment in housing and in people. I am perplexed by the difficulty that Conservative Members have in understanding the mechanics of the Bill. By linking the use of set-aside capital receipts with the supplementary credit approval mechanism, it will begin to address the enormous housing deficit and chronic housing need and will target investment where the need is greatest.
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