Mr Gareth Thomas (Harrow West, Labour)

Thank you for calling me to make my maiden speech, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I am privileged to stand here on behalf of the people of Harrow, West, where I have lived all my life. I am particularly proud to be their first Labour Member.

I pay tribute to my predecessor, Robert Hughes, who represented the seat for 10 years, serving for a time as a junior Minister responsible for science and public service. His private Member's Bill and work with the National Playing Fields Association resulted in tougher guidelines for play equipment and the safer surfacing of children's playgrounds. I also acknowledge his enlightened support, against the advice of his party, for the Dunblane parents' campaign to ban all handguns.

In his maiden speech in 1987, my predecessor referred to Sir John Betjeman's description of the constituency as metroland at its best, containing the serried avenues of Harrow's garden villages". Many parts of the constituency retain a village community feel—perhaps none more than Pinner, where the successful annual fair, granted under royal charter by Henry III in 1336, took place a few weeks ago. The many active residents associations work hard to continue that sense of community, striving to protect local landmarks such as Headstone manor, where Thomas à Beckett stayed on his last, ill-fated trip to Canterbury. As we speak, the Roxborne residents are striving—rightly—to protect their local park, Field End recreation ground, from development.

Harrow, West is a diverse constituency. The gourmet will find Hatch End a delight, with its many excellent restaurants. Sports fanatics will enjoy the good standard of football to be found at Harrow Borough football club in south Harrow. The famous Harrow school also lies in my constituency. Being of Welsh origin, I am always encouraged to see the delightful Welsh chapel at the foot of the beautiful and historic Harrow-on-the-Hill.

My constituency is particularly noted for the quality of its comprehensive schooling, with the strong partnership between staff, parents and pupils responsible for consistently high standards of education. That partnership has persisted despite cuts in school budgets pushed through by local Liberal Democrat and Independent Resident councillors. Schools in my constituency will therefore be delighted with the extra money coming their way as a result of the phased abolition of the assisted places scheme.

The sense of community in my constituency is further enhanced by the dynamic voluntary sector, ably led by the Harrow Association of Voluntary Service and Harrow Council for Racial Equality.

Over the past 18 years, however, the prosperous image of my constituency has begun to slip. Businesses in the key shopping areas are under considerable pressure and more than 14,000 crimes were committed in Harrow last year, with just 22 per cent. cleared up. At the same time, the under-investment in patient care that characterised the previous Government's attitude to the national health service has pushed up waiting lists and left dedicated local general practitioners and the staff at Northwick Park and Mount Vernon hospitals ever more hard pressed.

That august publication, "The Almanac of British Politics", in suggesting that there was nothing on the horizon to challenge the Tory hegemony in Harrow, West, inevitably ignored—or perhaps failed to notice—the rising homelessness. Almost 800 families are now in temporary accommodation. It certainly failed to recognise the growth of poverty in my constituency, with the number of those on low incomes doubling between 1983 and 1995.

On 1 May, Labour was given a mandate to tackle the growth in the gap between rich and poor, to confront the problem of a high incidence of families with no one in work and to challenge the sense of despair and alienation that homelessness and unemployment engender. The Bill is a fundamental part of a programme of measures that will do just that.

There is no more basic a right than the right to a decent home. Every major public health report in the past 20 years has recognised the link between bad housing—and, indeed, no housing—and ill health. There is no more powerful evidence of the Opposition's contempt for the aspirations of thousands of people trapped in temporary or unsuitable accommodation than their appalling record on investment in social housing. According to Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions figures, there has been a fall in total capital expenditure on housing of almost one third since 1991–92. Local authority housing investment is now one twelfth of the heights achieved under the previous Labour Government. My own local authority saw its housing investment programme allocation slashed by more than 40 per cent. last year.

The insecurity that bad or temporary housing produces destabilises communities, hindering children's development at school, gnawing away at family relationships and fostering social tensions. In my constituency, the Rayners Lane estate is in desperate need of refurbishment and modernisation. Such has been the paucity of funds from the previous Government for social housing that since 1988 all bids for funding to redevelop the estate have ended in failure. The Bill holds out hope to the residents of that estate that their aspirations for modernised, refurbished family homes will at last be achieved.

In supporting the Bill, I should like to draw attention to the particular need for investment in high-quality special needs housing. The shift away from institutional care to looking after people in the community and in their own homes requires the availability of good housing. For many of the most vulnerable members of our community, often facing appalling crises in their lives, good housing is an essential prerequisite for effective care packages and the often crucial links with local GPs and social care providers. Adapted or purpose-built housing is essential if disabled people and their carers are to play a full role in society.

I hope that we shall reinforce to local housing authorities the importance of the need to consult and work with special needs agencies and social services as they draw up proposals for the use of capital receipts.

The Bill is a crucial part of Labour's programme to tackle social exclusion. It will deliver long-term investment in our housing stock and new long-term employment prospects for many. I look forward to supporting it in its progress through the House.

See this speech in context