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Grant Shapps: I imagine that the Minister might be the one apologising—to the Prime Minister, for what he has just said about targets. Can he confirm that 3 million homes by 2020 is no longer a Government target?
Mr. Wright: This is an important point. There has been a gross imbalance between the demand for and supply of housing. Kate Barker said in her review that 223,000 new households were formed each year. The target of 3 million homes by 2020 is backed by empirical evidence. It is not a figure that has been plucked from the air but as the result of long-term social demographics. People are living longer, thanks to the recovery of the NHS under this Government. More people are living on their own and need to be housed. I suggest that rather than be fixated on the figures, we should consider the underlying causes. I shall come later to rough sleeping, in which I know the hon. Gentleman has a particular interest.
Robert Key (Salisbury) (Con) rose—
Mr. Wright: I will give way, but I am conscious of time and have a lot of points to cover. Given that the hon. Gentleman was not here for the rest of the debate, I hope that he will be very brief.
Robert Key: I am grateful to the Minister. He knows that I am very fond of him and of Hartlepool, and that when I was a Minister, we spent a great deal of money on Hartlepool. One problem that we had when I was a Housing Minister was that the councils in the north-east of England, which were all run by Labour, did not know who were the tenants in a quarter of their council houses. People could go to Nigeria and buy the key to a council flat in the north-east.
Mr. Wright: I expected better of a distinguished Member. The fact remains that, as my right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing said, we inherited a backlog of repairs and maintenance estimated at £19 billion. Half a million more dwellings were classed as unfit between 1991 and 1996—a symptom of neglect, decay and a lack of care. Britain became the object of shame throughout the world as the number of people living on the streets and in doorways in the capital and elsewhere rose by thousands. As the hon. Lady said, we all have to start somewhere, and that was where we started. That was our inheritance, and we had to deal with it.
The Government have invested more than £29 billion since 1997, having taken a definite and correct decision to rebuild the fabric of our appallingly maintained housing stock, with a target of bringing all social housing up to a decent standard. More than £40 billion will have been invested by the end of 2010. I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich and others who have participated in that process.
My hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd’s Bush (Mr. Slaughter) made what I thought was a measured speech. He is a real champion of affordable housing, and he made an important point about the rigour of housing waiting lists, saying that we should not be fixated on them. There is undoubtedly a housing problem that we need to do something about, and this Government are investing substantial and unprecedented resources to do that. However, I could
go on to a housing waiting list in Hammersmith and Fulham and one in Hartlepool, so there can be an element of duplication. My hon. Friend rightly said that we needed to focus on temporary accommodation and homelessness acceptances to tackle urgent need. We have achieved genuine success with that.
The number of households in temporary accommodation stabilised in September 2004 and has been reducing since the fourth quarter of 2005. Current statistics show a reduction of 13 per cent. in September 2008 compared with the same date the previous year, and figures have fallen below 75,000 for the first time.
Homelessness acceptances have reduced steadily since late 2003, following the effective homelessness prevention work that housing authorities and their delivery partners have undertaken. That is a key point. The hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield was kind enough to mention the rough sleeping strategy that I launched in November. It has three Ps. First, we need partnership working— working together to ensure that we do something to end the scandal of rough sleeping. Secondly, we need prevention—we must put resources up front so that we do not have to deal reactively with rough sleeping. Thirdly, we need personalised services—we must tailor services to the needs of the individual rather than having a blanket, one-size-fits-all system.
I know that the hon. Gentleman is worried about rough sleeper counts, which he has mentioned on several occasions. I hope that he will join me in celebrating the enormous success of the rough sleeping strategy in the past 10 years. We have never professed that rough sleeper counts provided a bed for everyone who sleeps rough on a specific night. However, they provide a snapshot, and I am keen to make it clear in the new rough sleeping strategy that annual figures are not estimates of all those who sleep rough in the country. I want to focus resources on the street need audit because I want the rough sleeper count to be perceived as the beginning, not the end of the process, and not only to offer an opportunity to identify need, but, more important, to act as a call to arms.
The hon. Member for Brent, East (Sarah Teather) made a witty and perceptive speech. She mentioned the slashing of the Housing Corporation’s budget and the catalogue of disrepair under the previous Administration. She is right about both points. I agree with much of what she said, but I temper that by saying that I would like more consistency from her party. Her warm words in the Chamber were welcome, and we should celebrate them. However, as my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe said, when Liberal Democrats run things, it is a different story. Durham city is ably represented here by my hon. Friend the Member for City of Durham (Dr. Blackman-Woods), but the Liberal Democrats there were shambolic. Good, honest people were let down by Liberal Democrat councils in the City of Durham and elsewhere. I should therefore like more consistency from the Liberal Democrats.
The hon. Member for Colchester (Bob Russell) made an entertaining contribution, in which he mentioned the role of councils—a theme that has run throughout this afternoon’s debate. Local authorities have always had a key role in assessing the housing needs of their area. We want to increase that so that, as well as playing
an important strategic role, they have a direct delivery role. The Prime Minister has been firm about the matter. We want to remove some of the disincentives that have been established in the past 30 years so that we can provide a direct delivery role. I therefore hope that hon. Members from all parties will work with us to achieve that. The consultation paper about allowing councils to build was issued on 21 January and I urge hon. Members to look at it.
The key theme of the debate is the alternatives that the Opposition propose. I have waited throughout our discussion for a credible alternative from Conservative Members. The hon. Lady and my hon. Friends suggested alternatives. I wanted to hear from the Conservative party a substantial policy that moved away from party political point scoring and towards addressing the concerns of the people of this country. How will Conservative Members deal with the housing waiting lists? How will they tackle the long-standing imbalance between supply and demand for housing? How will they stimulate the construction industry and help the economy by building the homes we desperately need? How will they address the worldwide lack of credit and subsequent drying up of mortgages? How will they improve the quality and design of the housing stock? How will they make the housing stock greener by ensuring that existing homes are made energy efficient and that new homes minimise damage to the environment?
We had it confirmed in today’s debate that the Tories’ housing policy is this and this alone: they will provide incentives. What an astounding abdication of responsible opposition. What planet are they on? Who do they purport to represent? It is certainly not the decent and hard-working young families of this country who are concerned about housing and who want high-quality, affordable and well-designed homes and communities in which to bring up their children.
The Opposition seem removed from the concerns of real life. The Conservatives have no credible alternative and they will do nothing. In contrast, we are providing unprecedented sums of investment and we are working night and day to address the concerns of families in these difficult times. We will continue to provide real help now—
Mr. Patrick McLoughlin (West Derbyshire) (Con) claimed to move the closure (Standing Order No. 36).
Question put forthwith, That the Question be now put.
Question put accordingly (Standing Order No. 31(2)), That the original words stand part of the Question.
The House divided: Ayes 229, Noes 311.
AYES
Ainsworth, Mr. Peter
Alexander, Danny
Atkinson, Mr. Peter
Bacon, Mr. Richard
Baker, Norman
Baldry, Tony
Barker, Gregory
Baron, Mr. John
Beith, rh Sir Alan
Bellingham, Mr. Henry
Bercow, John
Beresford, Sir Paul
Binley, Mr. Brian
Blunt, Mr. Crispin
Bone, Mr. Peter
Boswell, Mr. Tim
Brady, Mr. Graham
Brake, Tom
Brazier, Mr. Julian
Breed, Mr. Colin
Brokenshire, James
Brooke, Annette
Browne, Mr. Jeremy
Browning, Angela
Bruce, rh Malcolm
Burns, Mr. Simon
Burrowes, Mr. David
Burstow, Mr. Paul
Burt, Alistair
Burt, Lorely
Butterfill, Sir John
Cable, Dr. Vincent
Cameron, rh Mr. David
Campbell, rh Sir Menzies
Carmichael, Mr. Alistair
Carswell, Mr. Douglas
Cash, Mr. William
Chope, Mr. Christopher
Clappison, Mr. James
Clark, Greg
Clarke, rh Mr. Kenneth
Clifton-Brown, Mr. Geoffrey
Cormack, Sir Patrick
Cox, Mr. Geoffrey
Curry, rh Mr. David
Davey, Mr. Edward
Davies, David T.C. (Monmouth)
Davies, Philip
Djanogly, Mr. Jonathan
Dodds, Mr. Nigel
Donaldson, rh Mr. Jeffrey M.
Dorrell, rh Mr. Stephen
Dorries, Nadine
Duddridge, James
Duncan, Alan
Duncan Smith, rh Mr. Iain
Dunne, Mr. Philip
Ellwood, Mr. Tobias
Evans, Mr. Nigel
Fabricant, Michael
Fallon, Mr. Michael
Farron, Tim
Featherstone, Lynne
Field, Mr. Mark
Foster, Mr. Don
Fox, Dr. Liam
Francois, Mr. Mark
Fraser, Christopher
Garnier, Mr. Edward
Gauke, Mr. David
George, Andrew
Gibb, Mr. Nick
Gidley, Sandra
Gillan, Mrs. Cheryl
Goldsworthy, Julia
Goodman, Mr. Paul
Goodwill, Mr. Robert
Gove, Michael
Grayling, Chris
Green, Damian
Greening, Justine
Greenway, Mr. John
Grieve, Mr. Dominic
Gummer, rh Mr. John
Hague, rh Mr. William
Hammond, Mr. Philip
Hammond, Stephen
Hancock, Mr. Mike
Hands, Mr. Greg
Harper, Mr. Mark
Harris, Dr. Evan
Heald, Mr. Oliver
Heath, Mr. David
Heathcoat-Amory, rh Mr. David
Hemming, John
Hendry, Charles
Herbert, Nick
Hermon, Lady
Hoban, Mr. Mark
Hollobone, Mr. Philip
Holmes, Paul
Horam, Mr. John
Horwood, Martin
Howard, rh Mr. Michael
Howarth, David
Howarth, Mr. Gerald
Howell, John
Hughes, Simon
Huhne, Chris
Hunt, Mr. Jeremy
Hunter, Mark
Jack, rh Mr. Michael
Jackson, Mr. Stewart
Jenkin, Mr. Bernard
Jones, Mr. David
Kawczynski, Daniel
Keetch, Mr. Paul
Key, Robert
Kirkbride, Miss Julie
Knight, rh Mr. Greg
Kramer, Susan
Laing, Mrs. Eleanor
Lait, Mrs. Jacqui
Lamb, Norman
Lancaster, Mr. Mark
Laws, Mr. David
Leech, Mr. John
Leigh, Mr. Edward
Letwin, rh Mr. Oliver
Liddell-Grainger, Mr. Ian
Lidington, Mr. David
Lilley, rh Mr. Peter
Llwyd, Mr. Elfyn
Loughton, Tim
Luff, Peter
Mackay, rh Mr. Andrew
Maclean, rh David
Main, Anne
Malins, Mr. Humfrey
Maples, Mr. John
McIntosh, Miss Anne
McLoughlin, rh Mr. Patrick
Mercer, Patrick
Miller, Mrs. Maria
Milton, Anne
Mitchell, Mr. Andrew
Moore, Mr. Michael
Moss, Mr. Malcolm
Mulholland, Greg
Murrison, Dr. Andrew
Neill, Robert
Newmark, Mr. Brooks
Oaten, Mr. Mark
Öpik, Lembit
Osborne, Mr. George
Ottaway, Richard
Paice, Mr. James
Paisley, rh Rev. Ian
Paterson, Mr. Owen
Pelling, Mr. Andrew
Penning, Mike
Penrose, John
Pickles, Mr. Eric
Prisk, Mr. Mark
Pritchard, Mark
Pugh, Dr. John
Randall, Mr. John
Reid, Mr. Alan
Rennie, Willie
Rifkind, rh Sir Malcolm
Robinson, Mrs. Iris
Rogerson, Dan
Rosindell, Andrew
Rowen, Paul
Ruffley, Mr. David
Russell, Bob
Sanders, Mr. Adrian
Scott, Mr. Lee
Selous, Andrew
Shapps, Grant
Shepherd, Mr. Richard
Simmonds, Mark
Simpson, David
Simpson, Mr. Keith
Smith, Sir Robert
Soames, Mr. Nicholas
Spelman, Mrs. Caroline
Spicer, Sir Michael
Spink, Bob
Spring, Mr. Richard
Stanley, rh Sir John
Steen, Mr. Anthony
Streeter, Mr. Gary
Stuart, Mr. Graham
Stunell, Andrew
Swayne, Mr. Desmond
Swinson, Jo
Swire, Mr. Hugo
Syms, Mr. Robert
Tapsell, Sir Peter
Taylor, Mr. Ian
Taylor, Matthew
Teather, Sarah
Thurso, John
Timpson, Mr. Edward
Tredinnick, David
Turner, Mr. Andrew
Tyrie, Mr. Andrew
Vaizey, Mr. Edward
Vara, Mr. Shailesh
Viggers, Sir Peter
Villiers, Mrs. Theresa
Walker, Mr. Charles
Wallace, Mr. Ben
Watkinson, Angela
Webb, Steve
Whittingdale, Mr. John
Williams, Hywel
Williams, Mark
Williams, Mr. Roger
Williams, Stephen
Willis, Mr. Phil
Willott, Jenny
Wilson, Mr. Rob
Wilson, Sammy
Winterton, Ann
Winterton, Sir Nicholas
Wright, Jeremy
Young, rh Sir George
Tellers for the Ayes:
Bill Wiggin and
Mr. Stephen Crabb
NOES
Ainger, Nick
Ainsworth, rh Mr. Bob
Alexander, rh Mr. Douglas
Allen, Mr. Graham
Anderson, Mr. David
Anderson, Janet
Armstrong, rh Hilary
Atkins, Charlotte
Austin, Mr. Ian
Austin, John
Bailey, Mr. Adrian
Baird, Vera
Balls, rh Ed
Banks, Gordon
Barlow, Ms Celia
Barron, rh Mr. Kevin
Bayley, Hugh
Beckett, rh Margaret
Begg, Miss Anne
Bell, Sir Stuart
Benn, rh Hilary
Berry, Roger
Betts, Mr. Clive
Blackman, Liz
Blackman-Woods, Dr. Roberta
Blears, rh Hazel
Blunkett, rh Mr. David
Bradshaw, Mr. Ben
Brennan, Kevin
Brown, Lyn
Brown, rh Mr. Nicholas
Brown, Mr. Russell
Browne, rh Des
Bryant, Chris
Buck, Ms Karen
Burden, Richard
Burgon, Colin
Burnham, rh Andy
Butler, Ms Dawn
Byers, rh Mr. Stephen
Byrne, rh Mr. Liam
Caborn, rh Mr. Richard
Campbell, Mr. Alan
Caton, Mr. Martin
Challen, Colin
Chapman, Ben
Chaytor, Mr. David
Clapham, Mr. Michael
Clark, Ms Katy
Clark, Paul
Clarke, rh Mr. Charles
Clelland, Mr. David
Clwyd, rh Ann
Coaker, Mr. Vernon
Coffey, Ann
Cohen, Harry
Connarty, Michael
Cook, Frank
Cooper, Rosie
Cooper, rh Yvette
Corbyn, Jeremy
Cousins, Jim
Creagh, Mary
Cruddas, Jon
Cryer, Mrs. Ann
Cummings, John
Cunningham, Mr. Jim
Cunningham, Tony
Curtis-Thomas, Mrs. Claire
David, Mr. Wayne
Davidson, Mr. Ian
Davies, Mr. Dai
Davies, Mr. Quentin
Dean, Mrs. Janet
Denham, rh Mr. John
Devine, Mr. Jim
Dhanda, Mr. Parmjit
Dismore, Mr. Andrew
Dobbin, Jim
Donohoe, Mr. Brian H.
Doran, Mr. Frank
Dowd, Jim
Drew, Mr. David
Eagle, Angela
Eagle, Maria
Efford, Clive
Ellman, Mrs. Louise
Engel, Natascha
Ennis, Jeff
Etherington, Bill
Farrelly, Paul
Field, rh Mr. Frank
Fisher, Mark
Fitzpatrick, Jim
Flello, Mr. Robert
Flint, rh Caroline
Flynn, Paul
Follett, Barbara
Foster, Mr. Michael (Worcester)
Foster, Michael Jabez (Hastings and Rye)
Francis, Dr. Hywel
Gapes, Mike
George, rh Mr. Bruce
Gerrard, Mr. Neil
Gibson, Dr. Ian
Gilroy, Linda
Goggins, Paul
Goodman, Helen
Griffith, Nia
Griffiths, Nigel
Grogan, Mr. John
Gwynne, Andrew
Hain, rh Mr. Peter
Hall, Mr. Mike
Hall, Patrick
Hamilton, Mr. David
Hamilton, Mr. Fabian
Hanson, rh Mr. David
Harman, rh Ms Harriet
Harris, Mr. Tom
Havard, Mr. Dai
Healey, rh John
Henderson, Mr. Doug
Hendrick, Mr. Mark
Hepburn, Mr. Stephen
Heppell, Mr. John
Hesford, Stephen
Hewitt, rh Ms Patricia
Heyes, David
Hill, rh Keith
Hillier, Meg
Hodgson, Mrs. Sharon
Hood, Mr. Jim
Hoon, rh Mr. Geoffrey
Hope, Phil
Hopkins, Kelvin
Howarth, rh Mr. George
Hoyle, Mr. Lindsay
Hughes, rh Beverley
Humble, Mrs. Joan
Hutton, rh Mr. John
Iddon, Dr. Brian
Illsley, Mr. Eric
Ingram, rh Mr. Adam
Irranca-Davies, Huw
James, Mrs. Siân C.
Johnson, rh Alan
Johnson, Ms Diana R.
Jones, Mr. Kevan
Jones, Lynne
Jowell, rh Tessa
Kaufman, rh Sir Gerald
Keeble, Ms Sally
Keeley, Barbara
Keen, Alan
Keen, Ann
Kelly, rh Ruth
Kennedy, rh Jane
Khan, Mr. Sadiq
Kidney, Mr. David
Kilfoyle, Mr. Peter
Knight, rh Jim
Kumar, Dr. Ashok
Ladyman, Dr. Stephen
Lammy, rh Mr. David
Lazarowicz, Mark
Lepper, David
Levitt, Tom
Lewis, Mr. Ivan
Linton, Martin
Lloyd, Tony
Lucas, Ian
Mackinlay, Andrew
MacShane, rh Mr. Denis
Mactaggart, Fiona
Malik, Mr. Shahid
Mallaber, Judy
Mann, John
Marris, Rob
Marsden, Mr. Gordon
Martlew, Mr. Eric
McAvoy, rh Mr. Thomas
McCabe, Steve
McCarthy, Kerry
McCarthy-Fry, Sarah
McDonagh, Siobhain
McDonnell, Dr. Alasdair
McDonnell, John
McFadden, rh Mr. Pat
McFall, rh John
McGovern, Mr. Jim
McGuire, rh Mrs. Anne
McIsaac, Shona
McKechin, Ann
McKenna, Rosemary
McNulty, rh Mr. Tony
Meale, Mr. Alan
Merron, Gillian
Michael, rh Alun
Milburn, rh Mr. Alan
Miliband, rh David
Miliband, rh Edward
Miller, Andrew
Mitchell, Mr. Austin
Moffat, Anne
Moffatt, Laura
Mole, Chris
Moon, Mrs. Madeleine
Moran, Margaret
Morgan, Julie
Morley, rh Mr. Elliot
Mudie, Mr. George
Mullin, Mr. Chris
Munn, Meg
Murphy, Mr. Denis
Murphy, rh Mr. Jim
Murphy, rh Mr. Paul
Naysmith, Dr. Doug
Norris, Dan
O'Brien, Mr. Mike
O'Hara, Mr. Edward
Olner, Mr. Bill
Osborne, Sandra
Owen, Albert
Palmer, Dr. Nick
Pearson, Ian
Plaskitt, Mr. James
Pope, Mr. Greg
Pound, Stephen
Prentice, Bridget
Prentice, Mr. Gordon
Prescott, rh Mr. John
Primarolo, rh Dawn
Prosser, Gwyn
Purchase, Mr. Ken
Purnell, rh James
Rammell, Bill
Raynsford, rh Mr. Nick
Reed, Mr. Andy
Reed, Mr. Jamie
Reid, rh John
Riordan, Mrs. Linda
Robertson, John
Robinson, Mr. Geoffrey
Rooney, Mr. Terry
Roy, Mr. Frank
Roy, Lindsay
Ruane, Chris
Ruddock, Joan
Russell, Christine
Ryan, rh Joan
Sarwar, Mr. Mohammad
Seabeck, Alison
Sharma, Mr. Virendra
Sheerman, Mr. Barry
Sheridan, Jim
Simon, Mr. Siôn
Simpson, Alan
Singh, Mr. Marsha
Skinner, Mr. Dennis
Slaughter, Mr. Andy
Smith, rh Mr. Andrew
Smith, Ms Angela C. (Sheffield, Hillsborough)
Smith, Angela E. (Basildon)
Smith, Geraldine
Snelgrove, Anne
Soulsby, Sir Peter
Southworth, Helen
Spellar, rh Mr. John
Starkey, Dr. Phyllis
Stewart, Ian
Stoate, Dr. Howard
Strang, rh Dr. Gavin
Straw, rh Mr. Jack
Stringer, Graham
Stuart, Ms Gisela
Sutcliffe, Mr. Gerry
Taylor, Ms Dari
Taylor, David
Taylor, Dr. Richard
Thomas, Mr. Gareth
Timms, rh Mr. Stephen
Tipping, Paddy
Todd, Mr. Mark
Touhig, rh Mr. Don
Trickett, Jon
Truswell, Mr. Paul
Turner, Dr. Desmond
Turner, Mr. Neil
Twigg, Derek
Ussher, Kitty
Vaz, rh Keith
Vis, Dr. Rudi
Walley, Joan
Ward, Claire
Wareing, Mr. Robert N.
Watson, Mr. Tom
Watts, Mr. Dave
Whitehead, Dr. Alan
Wicks, rh Malcolm
Williams, rh Mr. Alan
Williams, Mrs. Betty
Wills, rh Mr. Michael
Wilson, Phil
Winterton, rh Ms Rosie
Wood, Mike
Woolas, Mr. Phil
Wright, Mr. Anthony
Wright, Mr. Iain
Wright, Dr. Tony
Wyatt, Derek
Tellers for the Noes:
Mark Tami and
Helen Jones
Question accordingly negatived.
Question put forthwith (Standing Order No. 31(2)), That the proposed words be there added.
The Deputy Speaker declared the main Question, as amended, to be agreed to (Standing Order No. 31(2)).
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