My Lords, I will address the fundamental change that the Bill makes, which is to Section 21 evictions. Although there is a difference between the two sides of the House on this issue in terms of what will happen, and Ministers have rightly been asked what their timescale is, the...

My Lords, I will address the fundamental change that the Bill makes, which is to Section 21 evictions. Although there is a difference between the two sides of the House on this issue in terms of what will happen, and Ministers have rightly been asked what their timescale is, the...

My Lords, I follow the noble Lords, Lord Moylan and Lord Young, in pressing the Minister further on this vexed issue of ground rents. The history of the proposals on ground rents is of a kind of mirage on the horizon, which the Government are constantly hoping to attain, and...

My Lords, I follow the noble Lords, Lord Moylan and Lord Young, in pressing the Minister further on this vexed issue of ground rents. The history of the proposals on ground rents is of a kind of mirage on the horizon, which the Government are constantly hoping to attain, and...

So that is for buildings of 11 metres that are social housing. There are two questions that arise from that. First, if it is in respect of social housing alone, what about non-social housing blocks? What is the equivalent figure there? The second, stark issue raised, given that, as the...

So that is for buildings of 11 metres that are social housing. There are two questions that arise from that. First, if it is in respect of social housing alone, what about non-social housing blocks? What is the equivalent figure there? The second, stark issue raised, given that, as the...

I want to press further on the business of insurance premiums. Did the Minister say that there was an agreement with the Association of British Insurers that, once remediation work had been completed, there would not be any net increase in insurance premiums? That does not appear to be happening...

I want to press further on the business of insurance premiums. Did the Minister say that there was an agreement with the Association of British Insurers that, once remediation work had been completed, there would not be any net increase in insurance premiums? That does not appear to be happening...

My Lords, did I hear the Minister say that, in respect of buildings higher than 11 metres, 87% had a remediation plan that would be delivered by 2028? Could she clarify what she said?

My Lords, did I hear the Minister say that, in respect of buildings higher than 11 metres, 87% had a remediation plan that would be delivered by 2028? Could she clarify what she said?

My Lords, the wider problem, of course, is that there are far too few new homes, either leasehold or freehold. Is the noble Baroness aware that France, with a population of about the same size as ours, now has 12 million more homes than Britain, and has built more than twice as many new homes as we have over the last 13 years? There has been a net addition of 2 million homes, a high proportion for social lease. I know that Ministers are not talking to their European counterparts at the moment, but does she not think that learning something from our European partners could be valuable in tackling the housing crisis?

My Lords, the wider problem, of course, is that there are far too few new homes, either leasehold or freehold. Is the noble Baroness aware that France, with a population of about the same size as ours, now has 12 million more homes than Britain, and has built more than twice as many new homes as we have over the last 13 years? There has been a net addition of 2 million homes, a high proportion for social lease. I know that Ministers are not talking to their European counterparts at the moment, but does she not think that learning something from our European partners could be valuable in tackling the housing crisis?

My Lords, will the noble Baroness tell the House how much damage to levelling up is being done by the cancellation of HS2 to Manchester? Is she aware that, once HS2 is built to Birmingham but not to Manchester, it will take 40 minutes from Euston to Birmingham but 2 hours and 10 minutes from

Euston to Manchester? What does she think that will do to business investment decisions over the next generation, and does she not see that this will decimate the economic prospects of the north of England?

My Lords, will the noble Baroness tell the House how much damage to levelling up is being done by the cancellation of HS2 to Manchester? Is she aware that, once HS2 is built to Birmingham but not to Manchester, it will take 40 minutes from Euston to Birmingham but 2 hours and 10 minutes from

Euston to Manchester? What does she think that will do to business investment decisions over the next generation, and does she not see that this will decimate the economic prospects of the north of England?

My Lords, it is a pleasure to welcome the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, to the House, and I congratulate him on his brilliant maiden speech. As a fan of all his biographies, the one I most enjoyed and that is most relevant to this House is his magisterial biography of...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to welcome the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, to the House, and I congratulate him on his brilliant maiden speech. As a fan of all his biographies, the one I most enjoyed and that is most relevant to this House is his magisterial biography of...

My Lords, I follow on immediately from the brilliant speech by the noble Lord, Lord Young, on the subject of housing.

The single biggest failure of local governance—as opposed to local government; and therefore incorporating the role of central government in local administration—in the last 50 years has been the failure...

My Lords, I follow on immediately from the brilliant speech by the noble Lord, Lord Young, on the subject of housing.

The single biggest failure of local governance—as opposed to local government; and therefore incorporating the role of central government in local administration—in the last 50 years has been the failure...

My Lords, I reinforce the cross-party unity on the issue of Ukraine. Might this be an appropriate time to congratulate all our fellow citizens who have been giving personal support to Ukrainians by hosting them in their own homes? This is now going into a second year and is a...

My Lords, I reinforce the cross-party unity on the issue of Ukraine. Might this be an appropriate time to congratulate all our fellow citizens who have been giving personal support to Ukrainians by hosting them in their own homes? This is now going into a second year and is a...

My Lords, the Ukrainian Prime Minister has said that the Ukrainians need and could deploy more than 100 tanks. We are providing 14 Challenger 2 tanks. The Minister said that there are 227. Could we not do rather better than 14?

My Lords, the Ukrainian Prime Minister has said that the Ukrainians need and could deploy more than 100 tanks. We are providing 14 Challenger 2 tanks. The Minister said that there are 227. Could we not do rather better than 14?

My Lords, how many new nuclear reactors do the Government think they might be able to get operational in the next 20 years with their new planning framework and Great British Nuclear? Will the Minister also indicate, to whet our appetite, if the Government were to allow a more liberal...

My Lords, how many new nuclear reactors do the Government think they might be able to get operational in the next 20 years with their new planning framework and Great British Nuclear? Will the Minister also indicate, to whet our appetite, if the Government were to allow a more liberal...

The noble Lord is making his case, but the school in which it was piloted in Liverpool, the Belvedere School, has since joined the state system as a state academy and does not have selective admissions or fees any more. Might there not be a lesson from this that if...

The noble Lord is making his case, but the school in which it was piloted in Liverpool, the Belvedere School, has since joined the state system as a state academy and does not have selective admissions or fees any more. Might there not be a lesson from this that if...

Are there any other national security investigations of this kind under way?

Are there any other national security investigations of this kind under way?

My Lords, the noble Lord did not answer my noble friend Lady Smith’s question directly as to whether a trade deal with the United States was raised in the meeting with President Biden. Will he confirm that it was not raised?

On the Ukraine issue, where we all stand in solidarity...

My Lords, the noble Lord did not answer my noble friend Lady Smith’s question directly as to whether a trade deal with the United States was raised in the meeting with President Biden. Will he confirm that it was not raised?

On the Ukraine issue, where we all stand in solidarity...

My Lords, if I followed the earlier debate correctly, we have now had six months without a free speech director. I believe that that is correct, based on my noble friend’s earlier amendment probing when the appointment was going to be made. If it were so vitally important that this...

My Lords, if I followed the earlier debate correctly, we have now had six months without a free speech director. I believe that that is correct, based on my noble friend’s earlier amendment probing when the appointment was going to be made. If it were so vitally important that this...

The issue of ground rents that the noble Baroness has just raised is fundamentally different from the issue of social rents. As the Government themselves recognise, it is totally unjustified to be charging exorbitant ground rents, for which landlords offer no services whatever, because they have been illegal with respect to new leases since the end of June. It is not just increases related to RPI—in some cases there are doubling clauses in contracts every 10 years, which leads to totally unsustainable increases for leaseholders. I strongly encourage the noble Baroness to take up this issue with the new Secretary of State.

The issue of ground rents that the noble Baroness has just raised is fundamentally different from the issue of social rents. As the Government themselves recognise, it is totally unjustified to be charging exorbitant ground rents, for which landlords offer no services whatever, because they have been illegal with respect to new leases since the end of June. It is not just increases related to RPI—in some cases there are doubling clauses in contracts every 10 years, which leads to totally unsustainable increases for leaseholders. I strongly encourage the noble Baroness to take up this issue with the new Secretary of State.

Since the noble Lord has raised the issue of Clause 3 standing part of the Bill, I wonder whether I might add a few remarks in the form of a question to the Minister. Unusually, the debates on this Bill in your Lordships’ House appear to be attracting the attention...

Since the noble Lord has raised the issue of Clause 3 standing part of the Bill, I wonder whether I might add a few remarks in the form of a question to the Minister. Unusually, the debates on this Bill in your Lordships’ House appear to be attracting the attention...

My Lords, I intervene briefly. In listening to and reflecting on this debate, the bad news is that this Bill gives excessive powers to the Secretary of State. There seems to be consensus on that across the Committee. The good news is that there is no indication that the Secretary...

My Lords, I intervene briefly. In listening to and reflecting on this debate, the bad news is that this Bill gives excessive powers to the Secretary of State. There seems to be consensus on that across the Committee. The good news is that there is no indication that the Secretary...

My Lords, as a contribution to levelling up, does the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, have any proposals to relocate his department and the noble Lord the Minister to Stoke? Does he not think that this might be a constructive suggestion and, in particular, enable him to practise what he preaches?

My Lords, as a contribution to levelling up, does the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, have any proposals to relocate his department and the noble Lord the Minister to Stoke? Does he not think that this might be a constructive suggestion and, in particular, enable him to practise what he preaches?