Results 1-20 of 7,820 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:John Healey

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Council House Building (27 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: All local housing authorities in England are eligible to bid for the programme. Last month, I announced grants for 49 successful councils that, in this financial year, will start the biggest council house building programme in this country for nearly two decades.

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Council House Building (27 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: Like my hon. Friend, I was disappointed that Liverpool did not bid. I was disappointed that it chose not to see the chance to build new council homes for people in the city as a priority, and that, like other flagship Liberal councils in Hull and Newcastle, it did not bid. I am, however, able to ensure that other parts of the housing investment programme mean that, whatever stance the council...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Affordable Housing (27 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: We expect local authorities to assess the demand for housing as part of their strategic role. As part of trying to encourage the building of the homes that we need, and of getting the country through the recession, I was able to put together an extra £1.5 billion over this year and next to build the affordable homes that we need in this country. I am happy to say to my hon. Friend that...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Affordable Housing (27 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: The £63 million that I have been able to release since June for affordable homes in Yorkshire and the Humber will lead to 6,000 extra affordable homes, and I hope that there will be more to come. The housing need there, as in other regions across the country, requires the Government to play their part alongside the private sector, if we are to see the affordable homes that we need being...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Affordable Housing (27 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: I am amazed that the hon. Gentleman can stand up in this House and suggest that there are no young couples, no families and no elderly people in his constituency who need homes. That is why we are ready to invest in this programme, not only in his constituency but right across the country, and it is why the Government must play a leading part in it.

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Housing Pledge (Apprenticeships) (27 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: Last month, I announced that all future rounds of funding for house building in this country—under the new housing pledge and the affordable housing programme—will require those taking the Government grant to have in place apprenticeship schemes. This means that, over this year and next, we will be able to create an additional 3,000 apprenticeship places across the country.

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Housing Pledge (Apprenticeships) (27 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: If my hon. Friend wants to take a message directly to her own local authority, it should be this. It should bid for the funds we are making available for building; it should drive a harder bargain with its private developers; it should encourage housing associations in the area to build more homes; and it should be ready to give the go-ahead to sensible developments that will lead to the sort...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Topical Questions (27 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: All local housing authorities, including Slough's, are eligible to bid for the new programme that is in place for council house building. I have to say that Slough's authority has done a magnificent job, particularly in the past couple of years, in finding the scope within the town to build homes that people in the area badly need. Where the national Government can support the authority, we...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Topical Questions (27 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: I never refuse a meeting with a Member of this House, and I shall not refuse the hon. Gentleman. I have made it clear to the House that the Government are totally committed to completing the Decent Homes programme, but the judicial review that his authority is pursuing at the moment is getting in the way of our being able to have the sort of discussions that he wants to encourage us to have.

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Topical Questions (27 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: The short answer is that the impact could be very serious, because the new homes are badly needed in my hon. Friend's region. Moreover, the investment in them helps to create the jobs that keep in people in work, and the apprenticeship schemes that will give people the skills needed in the future.

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Topical Questions (27 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: What I have launched is not a review of the housing revenue account system but a plan to dismantle the system that has been in place for more than 20 years. That system has held councils back from being able to build and maintain homes at a decent standard. It is not just that there will be enough money in the system to ensure that all councils can maintain all their homes to a decent...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Topical Questions (27 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: I have said how disappointed I was that Liverpool city council is not taking advantage of the central Government support that we are prepared to give to deal with some of the very serious housing problems in that city. I will continue to do what I can to assist, but it would help if the council started to play its full part and do some of the heavy lifting that it should be doing already.

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Topical Questions (27 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: We are doing just that. We are working with our colleagues in the DWP at present.

Parliamentary Elections (Recall and Primaries): New Clause 6 — Purposes of regional development agencies (13 Oct 2009) has video

John Healey: We've been over this.

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Social Housing (7 Jul 2009) has video

John Healey: Before the end of the month.

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Social Housing (7 Jul 2009) has video

John Healey: I am aware of the commitment that my hon. Friend's council in Durham has to helping people through this tough period of recession. I am also aware of its long-term plans to lift the county and its residents. He asked me what more the council could do. I suggest that it look at the announcement that we made last week of £1.5 billion extra in order that we can build this year and next year...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Social Housing (7 Jul 2009) has video

John Healey: No—exactly the opposite. As a distinguished former Housing Minister the right hon. Gentleman will recognise that we need new homes and we need to build homes that people can afford to rent. He will also know that there is a perception that the system for allocating council and housing association homes can be unfair, inflexible and can stop people who need to move in order to take up or...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Social Housing (7 Jul 2009) has video

John Healey: I hope that we can move beyond this argument about immigration. I am not proposing to change the rules about who can apply so that foreign migrants do not have a right to go on to council housing lists. I want to give councils greater freedom and greater scope to be able to make judgments about whom to give preference after they have housed those who are in the most serious housing need. The...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Social Housing (7 Jul 2009) has video

John Healey: I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her comments. She might have missed my statement last week, which set out my aim to dismantle the housing revenue account and the announcement that, from last week, councils that build new homes will be able to keep in full all rents and any capital receipts from them. It is a first step in making wholesale reforms, which are long overdue, and a part of...

Oral Answers to Questions — Communities and Local Government: Social Housing (7 Jul 2009) has video

John Healey: I am looking at this matter very carefully, and will take into account the views of the residents in Ormskirk that my hon. Friend has reported to the House. I shall also take her views into account, and I am looking to make decisions on this matter pretty shortly.