argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Exiting the European Union — House of Lords, 2016-09-05
Topic: Other
James Bridges (Conservative, Centre-right): I cannot answer the noble and learned Lord—who speaks, as he does so often, with incisiveness and complete clarity—on those two specific points, although I can certainly write to him. As I said, a lot of work is going on in relation to the whole area that was raised earlier. We will continue to engage with the noble and learned Lord and others right across the House to ensure that we come up with the best outcome.
Exiting the European Union — House of Lords, 2016-09-05
Topic: Other
James Bridges (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I cannot comment in detail on whether we will adopt the vehicle and the approach that the noble Lord sets out, but obviously I will take away that point and discuss it. I simply repeat that we will keep Parliament fully informed and engaged as we go along.
Exiting the European Union — House of Lords, 2016-09-05
Topic: Other
Michael Nicholson Lord (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, if the Minister is having difficulty with the foot-dragging that is going on and the criticism of government policy, I simply say to him that a large number of Members of your Lordships’ House believe that any project, however difficult, is best supported by wholehearted enthusiasm for getting on with it. I am one of those people. I believe that many in your Lordships’ House agree with what he is doing and wish the Government well in this project.
Junior Doctors: Industrial Action — House of Lords, 2016-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I agree with my noble friend. I think there is a huge opportunity here—actually, a necessity—for senior leaders in the profession, in the royal colleges, to play a really serious leadership role. Rather than standing on the touchline, if you like, they need to get on the pitch. There is a role for them. To some extent, they were instrumental in getting the two sides back to work again back in May. They were successful in doing that. Certainly, I know the Secretary of State would be very happy to listen to any thoughts that they have.
Investigatory Powers Bill — House of Lords, 2016-09-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Frederick Richard Penn Curzon (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, in the House of Commons, in response to the chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee—my right honourable friend Dominic Grieve MP—the Government agreed that the ISC could refer matters to the Investigatory Powers Commissioner but that it would be entirely at the discretion of the IPC as to whether or not he or she undertook further investigation. On Report my right honourable friend suggested that this was unsatisfactory as previously he had written to the Interception of Communications Commissioner and had not received a response. Accordingly, we have now drafted government Amendment 193, which places a duty on the IPC to respond to the ISC with his or her decision on whether or not he or she is going to undertake any work on the issue that the ISC has referred. I hope that the Committee will welcome this proposed change. I beg to move.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-05-04
Topic: Housing
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken to this group of amendments. I welcome the debate on the starter homes amendments and rural issues; I hope it has been productive. I am trying telepathically to understand what the Minister in the other place meant last night by "proportionate" discount. As I understand it, as the discount is a percentage rather than a cash sum, it is proportionate to the total cost rather than fixed, which is probably fairer. That is my understanding of what he meant On Amendment 10B, proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Kerslake, I understand why it seems attractive to allow local authorities to meet their starter homes requirement with other products. However, in reality, the requirement for starter homes would become something entirely different. This change to the requirement would again undermine the Government’s ability to meet our manifesto commitment to 200,000 starter homes. We have been very clear on why we want a requirement for starter homes. This is a new product, designed to address a specific gap in the market for young, first-time buyers, as we have discussed on many occasions during the passage of the Bill. Starter homes will give young people the chance of full home ownership, allowing them to move onwards and upwards over time. We have a clear manifesto mandate to deliver this product, and that is why we are legislating for starter homes alone The starter home requirement will be straightforward and developers will understand it from the outset. It does not remove councils’ ability to deliver other affordable housing and home ownership products alongside starter homes, and we fully expect them to do so. Nor does it remove their local plan policy. The Government believe that shared ownership and other affordable home ownership products have an important role to play as part of a diverse and thriving housing market. They will help those who aspire to home ownership but cannot afford outright discounted purchase The spending review has committed £8 billion to deliver a further 400,000 new affordable housing starts. We have published a prospectus that invites housing associations and other providers such as developers to bid for £4.1 billion to deliver 135,000 shared ownership homes and £200 million to deliver 10,000 rent-to-buy homes. However, our legislation focuses on starter homes to ensure that it has the necessary attention to secure delivery I have listened carefully to the debate, and I hope that the amendments I have set out mean that there is no need to divide your Lordships’ House. With these reassurances, I ask that the amendment to the Motion be withdrawn.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-05-04
Topic: Housing
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, we now turn to vacant higher-value local authority housing. The manifesto was clear: "We will fund the replacement of properties sold under the extended Right to Buy by requiring local authorities to manage their housing assets more efficiently, with the most expensive properties sold off and replaced as they fall vacant." That is what the Bill will deliver. It will increase housing supply through the delivery of affordable homes and will extend home ownership by funding the discounts for the ground-breaking voluntary right-to-buy agreement Following your Lordships’ scrutiny, there have been improvements to the way that the policy will be implemented. For example, building one new home for each higher-value dwelling we expect to be sold is now in the Bill, as is making the regulations in respect of the definition of higher value subject to affirmative resolution and excluding housing in national parks and AONBs when calculating the payments. However, the other place has voted emphatically, by 288 to 172, to disagree with other changes made in your Lordships’ House. It cited financial privilege, recognising that it is a manifesto commitment. I understand that point and I have to say that I agree Amendments 37 and 184, originally proposed by the noble Lords, Lord Lisvane, Lord Kerslake and Lord Beecham, would have put the determination of payments into regulations. This would have led to considerable delay in receiving payments from local authorities in respect of their higher-value vacant housing, and would have delayed the delivery of our manifesto commitments I agree with the other place that a determination is the most appropriate way of setting out the information about the payment that a local authority will be expected to make. The nature and amount of information to be contained in the determination means that it is appropriate to use a determination rather than a statutory instrument I am pleased that the other place has recognised the case made by noble Lords, and has proposed in Amendment 184A that the definition of higher value should be subject to the affirmative procedure. Recognising the will of the other place, I urge noble Lords to accept Commons reasons at 37A, and to agree Amendment 184A The other place has also considered Amendment 47, proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Kerslake, and has again cited financial privilege. This amendment would have been extremely restrictive, taking discretion from the Government to ensure that new housing will be delivered through agreement The noble Lord, Lord Kerslake, has tabled Amendments 47B and 47C, which are very similar, and therefore I will save the rest of my remarks for my response to our debate. However, as we discussed at Third Reading, Amendment 47 would not be suitable and therefore, recognising the will of the other place, I urge noble Lords not to insist on these amendments. I beg to move.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-05-04
Topic: Housing
Gary Porter (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I rise to speak against Motion D1. Again, that is very difficult to do given that the sentiment that is supposed to be behind it is something I am trying to support, but it is written in a way that I cannot. I refer noble Lords to my interests in the register, which have not changed since I last referred to them I seek the Minister’s confirmation that the Government intend to stick to their manifesto commitment. To avoid any doubts about what the manifesto commitment was, this time I am going to read it, because nobody else has referred to it, just to make sure that we are all talking about the same thing. The intention behind it was that we would retain sufficient high-value asset sale receipts to replace the units sold. That was confirmed by the Prime Minister, who said: "As the most expensive council properties fall vacant, we are going to require councils to sell them off ", which is fine as stock management, "and we’ll replace them with new affordable housing in the same area" That should deal with it being affordable, which just leaves us with the argument about what "affordable" is.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-05-04
Topic: Housing
Andrew Lansley (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, I will just briefly add to what my noble friends have said. In the first instance, it is always important to remember that when the Commons sends us its reasons for disagreeing with your Lordships on an amendment, and financial privilege is invoked, as I understand it they are obliged not to add any other reason. That does not mean there is no other reason; it just means they are obliged only to state financial privilege. In truth, I think there were other reasons. Not only is financial privilege involved; there is a strong sense that the original amendment which was sent to the Commons, Amendment 47, considerably fettered the Secretary of State’s discretion in relation to the nature of the agreement that the Secretary of State would enter into with local authorities in terms of reducing the payment to support the replacement of the high-value housing sold with new affordable homes What I find very strange now is that what is being suggested to your Lordships in the first limb—that there must be "a new affordable home"—seems to add absolutely nothing new to what was sent to the other place from this House and has already been accepted in Amendment 44. Your Lordships will recall what Amendment 44 said about the agreement with the Secretary of State: "Where the agreement is with a local housing authority outside Greater London, it must include terms and conditions requiring the authority to ensure that at least one new affordable home is provided for each old dwelling" That is therefore already accepted and established, so it seems to me that the first limb of the amendment to the Motion—Amendment 47B—is redundant, as its provisions are already incorporated This is really about Amendment 47C, which goes back to the point of fettering the Secretary of State’s discretion and requiring closely linked, like-for-like replacement as opposed to arrangements being made between the Secretary of State and the local authority. This stuff about demonstrating to the Secretary of State does not really change that—if it means anything, it means the Secretary of State may enter into an agreement and may not. That power is in the Bill already, so why would we need to change the Bill to make that happen I will also just add to what my noble and learned friend was just saying. This matter relates exclusively to England, and in the other place they voted to reject Amendment 47—this point itself—by 279 to 158, which is a very substantial majority indeed.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-05-04
Topic: Housing
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): I will come to that question in a few seconds The noble Lord, Lord Shipley, talked about this resulting in fewer socially rented homes. We need more homes, full stop, across all tenures and across the country. At the heart of the policy is the building of more homes, funded in part by receipts from the sale of vacant high-value council housing Before I move on to the question asked by the noble Lords, Lord Kerslake and Lord Beecham, about the Shelter report, the noble Lord, Lord Kerslake, talked about the PAC saying that there are key questions that need answering. It is regrettable that the PAC has chosen to publish its latest report part-way through the parliamentary process. We have always said that further detail regarding the sale of higher-value council housing will be developed and shared. The regulations defining "higher value" will be subject to the affirmative procedure. Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise this in more detail The noble Lords, Lord Kerslake and Lord Beecham, referred to the Shelter report that HVAs would raise £4.5 billion each year. We are in that process. I know that noble Lords will be sighing with exasperation, but we are in the process of analysing more than 16 million pieces of information about the housing stock of local authorities in England. We have collected these data as we want to ensure that the policy is informed by current information, and it would not be prudent for the Government to pre-empt what the data will tell us The noble Lord, Lord Kerslake, talked about the increased pressure on council housing and the increase in homelessness. We are committed to supporting the most vulnerable in society to have a decent place to live. Since 2010, we have invested more than half a billion pounds to help local authorities to prevent more than 935,000 households becoming homeless. Time spent in temporary accommodation ensures that no family is without a roof over their heads. Households leaving temporary accommodation now spend on average less time in it than they did in 2010. We need new homes to be built in this country and Amendments 47B and 47C would limit the ability of central and local government to ensure that the right mix of housing is delivered as quickly and efficiently as possible. I therefore urge noble Lords to respect the will of the other House, and I urge the noble Lord, Lord Kerslake, not to press his amendments Motion C agreed. Motion D
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-05-04
Topic: Housing
Susan Williams (Conservative, Centre-right): I hope the noble Baroness will indulge me, because the Government have come to this policy position within the past 12 to 24 hours. I do not know whether she is worried that too little may go to the Exchequer—I doubt that—but I expect that those figures will be worked out in due course and I am sure they will be shared with your Lordships’ House The noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, talked about people who have not been hit by the policy and suddenly might be hit, in terms of housing benefit. In the scenario to which he referred, the tenant would be taken out of this policy. Whenever housing benefit comes in, the tenant is taken out, as the result of the policy would otherwise be perverse I hope I have addressed the few points that were made. I thank noble Lords who have worked with me, with the Secretary of State and with the Housing Minister in the other place, and I ask that the amendments not be pressed.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-05-04
Topic: Housing
Natalie Evans (Conservative, Centre-right): I think that the noble Lord is right but I might get clarification and come back to that before I sit down. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, and the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, for this further short debate. I think that we all want communities to be better engaged with the planning system and we all want communities to have more of a say about the future of their areas. That is why we all support neighbourhood planning We know that the quality of local planning decisions remains high. In 2015, only 1% of applications where development was refused were overturned on appeal. Our planning system is geared to delivering sustainable development, not development at any cost. We trust that elected councillors will deliver sustainable and appropriate development. The government proposal before your Lordships requires a local planning authority to set out in any report to a planning committee that recommends granting planning permission any conflict with the neighbourhood plan and how the neighbourhood plan has been considered The noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, said that this would not change anything but it will. It will improve the clarity and transparency of committee reports to ensure that planning decisions are made in full knowledge of any conflict with a neighbourhood plan. This may be covered presently, but our amendment will make it a requirement. It will require them to demonstrate that they have considered the neighbourhood plan and that they have identified any conflict between the recommendation and the plan. The amendment complements the existing right that communities have to request that the Secretary of State call in applications for his own decision. All requests to call-in are considered carefully, and the Secretary of State does not hesitate to intervene where necessary. For example, over the past 12 months, seven cases involving a neighbourhood plan have been called in. With the existing right to request call-in, the new requirement on planning reports to ensure neighbourhood plans are properly considered and respected, and the Government’s £22.5 million support programme to help communities through every stage of the neighbourhood planning process, I am confident that neighbourhood planning will continue to go from strength to strength In response to the question by the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, this is a precedent for third party rights of appeal; it does not exist elsewhere in the planning system. I hope that what I have set out will reassure the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, and I ask her to withdraw her amendment.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-05-04
Topic: Housing
James Younger (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, it should be noted that there was very strong support in the other place to reject Amendment 108, with a vote of 286 in favour of rejection, compared to 163 against Amendment 108 raises an important issue about the energy performance of new homes but I repeat what we have said previously in the House on this matter: new homes built to the current standards are already very energy efficient. The standards were strengthened by 30% over the last Parliament and it is recognised that these changes have pushed the fabric energy performance of homes to the point where further increases may result in only marginal energy-efficiency returns However, the Government do not want to rest on their laurels. We recognise that costs and industry’s understanding of energy measures improve over time. The Government recognise the feeling of this House that the energy standards for new homes should be improved where this is feasible and cost effective. The cost effectiveness of any changes is integral to this debate and to the electorate, who agreed with our manifesto commitment to meet our climate change commitments, "as cost-effectively as possible" We need to understand what is cost effective and feasible for a minimum mandatory standard that will apply to all new homes in England, no matter how viable an area is for development, and to all sizes of homebuilder. We need evidence to do this The Government have said throughout the passage of the Bill that we will be reviewing the energy-performance standards for new homes in the coming months. Some noble Lords have said that a review is not needed because the work has already been done on the standard on which this House voted. But the carbon compliance levels proposed in the Lords amendment date back to work undertaken by the Zero Carbon Hub in 2010-11. Things have moved on in the industry since then. It is right that we look again at what makes sense for the industry Although the industry was involved in the work done in 2010-11, the coalition Government did not adopt the standard formally and there was no formal consultation, no draft legislation and no impact assessment produced on the standard, as your Lordships would rightly expect when new building regulations are brought forward. Furthermore, the Zero Carbon Hub’s work did not cover all types of development, particularly high-rise flats. If noble Lords look across the river they will note how much of new housing development is in high-rise blocks. The Zero Carbon Hub recognised that more work was needed to develop levels appropriate for this kind of development Consider the impact of prescribing a standard without up-to-date analysis or consultation with those who have to implement it. If we get it wrong, potentially we bring new development to a stop. That is a heavy burden of responsibility on this House. I beg to move Motion K1 (as an amendment to Motion K)
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-05-04
Topic: Housing
James Younger (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, this House can rightly press the Government to strengthen energy standards where it is possible and cost-effective to do so. I note the well-intentioned comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, and the noble Lords, Lord Kennedy and Lord Krebs, but it is right that we first do a full and comprehensive review of the evidence. That is our firm intention. Simply imposing standards without such a review risks making homes unviable in some parts of the country and raising construction costs to a point where they may simply be unaffordable for small homebuilders. The Federation of Master Builders, which represents 13,000 small and medium-sized builders, said last week in response to Amendment 108 that the Lords is showing, "a reckless lack of realism and concern for consequences of heavy-handed regulation" Let us show the Federation of Master Builders that this House is not reckless and that any future changes to standards will be based on a full review of evidence and be cost-effective I would like to pick up on a point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, about the cumulative cost—that is, the £3,000 figure per household. The cost of meeting the level proposed for a semi-detached home is around £3,000, as has been said, but if that is scaled up for all home types over a year—flats are less costly but detached homes cost more—it would result in a cumulative cost of around £200 million per annum to the homebuilding industry. That reinforces our argument for a full review and with that in mind, I hope that the noble Baroness will withdraw her Motion.
Housing and Planning Bill — House of Lords, 2016-05-04
Topic: Housing
James Younger (Conservative, Centre-right): I deliberately use the Federation of Master Builders because it is prominent in the industry. I could quote other organisations and would be very happy to provide the noble Lord with a list of them. There is certainly a mood to ensure that there is not this chilling effect, particularly on small builders. We need to build more houses.