Homes Bill
2:30 pm
Mr Nigel Waterson (Eastbourne, Conservative)
On a point of order, Mr. Gale. You were not here this morning, but during this morning's debates, the Minister accused me of quoting figures that were misleading and inaccurate. The Minister normally chooses his words carefully, so I took some time during the adjournment to check the figures that I quoted. I have them in front of me. They come from a table produced on 12 September by his Department and available on his Department's website, which I commend to him.
There is also a press release, again from his Department--unless somebody is going around with a John Bull printing press claiming to be the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions--which also sets out some statistics that show that homelessness is rising. I shall not quote it in extenso, because this is just a point of order. What it states, roughly, is that the increases are getting less, rather than that homelessness is decreasing. It might help the good-natured debate that the Committee has become used to if the Minister were to withdraw what he said this morning.