Prime Minister's question asked in the House of Commons, by Meg Hillier (Labour). It was answered on Wednesday, 12 October 2005 on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Engagements

Question: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the Government's record investment in affordable housing is transforming the lives of thousands of people? However, too many families in Hackney are still unable to move into family sized accommodation. Recent research by Shelter shows that eight out of 10 of those families are concerned about the impact that that has on their children's education. Does he agree that we need to build more family homes for those families that are trapped in small flats?

Answer: Yes, I do. It is why the London Housing Board is putting more of its £1.7 billion affordable housing budget into building homes of three bedrooms or more. My hon. Friend is right that it is a real problem, especially for people in London and the south-east. Again, it is only if we are prepared to take the measures both on building more homes and on supporting affordable homes that we will resolve the problem. [Interruption.] It is all very well for the Opposition to shout that they are concerned about this, but they oppose the development of extra housing, which is a necessary part of dealing with the problem in London and the south-east. We should debate the terrorist law on a sensible basis. We know that people in our country and around the world want to commit serious terrorist offences here, and we had a serious terrorist attack in the centre of London. Therefore, it is not surprising that we are debating how we protect our citizens better. All I am saying is let us have that debate based on the facts. We should at least take account of the fact that the senior police officer in charge of anti-terrorist activity says that our law is defective and has made what I think are reasonable proposals to change it. Let us debate those on a sensible basis.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 437 c290
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Housing Families Investment Low incomes South East Housing occupancy Hackney
Link: View this Prime Minister's question on www.publications.parliament.uk