Results 1-20 of 2,169 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Matthew Taylor

Points of Order (17 Mar 2009) has video

Matthew Taylor: On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I should say that the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Prisk) is aware that I have sought to raise this point of order on behalf of a number of Members, and in the long-term interests of all of us in the House. Mr. Speaker, you will be aware that you and successive Speakers have underlined the fact that MPs who take up local casework and local...

Business of the House: Regional Select Committees (Membership) (3 Mar 2009) has video

Matthew Taylor: The Deputy Leader of the House understands that I oppose the principle of Committees that reflect the make-up of the House rather than the democratic will of the region on behalf of which they are meant to act. However, on the specific motions, his response about Parliamentary Private Secretaries was inadequate. Under the proposed system, one PPS in our regional Select Committee will be...

[Mr. Eric Illsley in the Chair] — Community Land Trusts (4 Feb 2009)

Matthew Taylor: I am sure that the Minister is right on that, but I think that he will also accept that, if the planning officers see themselves as gamekeepers whose job is to say no to much of this development, to apply very strict criteria or to say that a community is already unsustainable, and they will not allow anything to happen there, what ought to be quite quick and simple loses its certainty and...

[Mr. Eric Illsley in the Chair] — Community Land Trusts (4 Feb 2009)

Matthew Taylor: I welcome the comments of everyone who has spoken, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Linda Gilroy) on initiating the debate. I am glad to have a few minutes to address the issues. My principal concern is about rural communities. If the papers are to be believed, there will be a formal response to my report relatively soon. If so, the debate is well timed on two...

[Mr. Eric Illsley in the Chair] — Community Land Trusts (4 Feb 2009)

Matthew Taylor: I agree, and I do not want to take anything away from the urban problems, because they exist, too. We worry about an ageing population and how it will be supported if there are not enough people in work to provide facilities, but we are experimenting that situation in our rural villages right now, because it is already happening there, not because there are no young people, but because they...

[Mr. Eric Illsley in the Chair] — Community Land Trusts (4 Feb 2009)

Matthew Taylor: My report was obviously about rural areas, where exception sites can, in principle, allow the bringing forward of land at low value because that is the only use it might have. In the urban setting, particularly where there is a form of public sector land, I wonder whether there might not be a reverse exception process whereby the exception is that the land is only available for certain kinds...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Housing (12 Nov 2008)

Matthew Taylor: There is a massive crisis in CABs—at least in rural communities, although I cannot speak for urban areas—especially in recruitment and funding. I hope that Ministers will consider that, because at the time when CABs are most needed, they are most threatened.

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Housing (12 Nov 2008)

Matthew Taylor: I shall concentrate on specific measures that could help to resolve the problems that have been so well set out by those who have already spoken. As the Minister knows, I was asked to report to the Government on rural housing need. The report was produced in July, and I am glad to say that it received a lot of support from the Government. We now await a response. I will not go through the 48...

[Mrs. Janet Dean in the Chair] — Housing (12 Nov 2008)

Matthew Taylor: There is room for buying some. I simply sound a note of caution about how far that policy is taken. There was another point in the hon. Gentleman's comments, to which I shall return at the end, about how more flexible approaches might be taken. It is important that the estates we build are mixed. The lessons of the past are that, in the long run, large rented estates create problems of their...

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Economic Crisis (10 Nov 2008) has video

Matthew Taylor: Will the Minister confirm that the inter-bank lending guarantee has failed to deliver the intended solution—to bring down LIBOR to the rate that existed before the banking crisis?

Opposition Day — [20th Allotted Day]: Economic Crisis (10 Nov 2008)

Matthew Taylor: There are serious shortages of affordable housing, and fewer houses are being built at the moment. Government policy instructs local councils to reduce the leasing of private properties in order to house people in housing need, on the basis that that is a temporary solution. Right now, a temporary solution of that sort would help to meet not only the housing needs of a large number of people,...

Affordable Housing (8 Oct 2008)

Matthew Taylor: Just before coming to the debate I spoke at the same conference, where people have been in break-out meetings during the day. Key to the points that my hon. Friend the Member for St. Ives (Andrew George) has made is the fact that, as my report reflects, there is consensus that Government leadership is needed on the issues addressed. That consensus exists among people at the conference and...

Affordable Housing (8 Oct 2008)

Matthew Taylor: The financial crisis has, of course, made home buying less affordable, because deposit requirements have gone up as, effectively, have interest rates, particularly for first-time buyers, notwithstanding today's announcement. The new Homes and Communities Agency will have substantial funds, but it has a huge job in delivering the Government's affordable homes targets because of the fall in...

Regional Spatial Strategy (South West) (7 Oct 2008)

Matthew Taylor: The points that my hon. Friend made about capacity design and infrastructure are also a lesson on the need to move away from estate-by-estate, developer-led investment, which provides houses but not the work spaces and community infrastructure that create a living, working community. Do we not need investors and councils to shape communities that work? That way, we would not have everybody...

Planning and Housing Estimates (25 Jun 2008)

Matthew Taylor: Does my hon. Friend agree that another myth is that the present fall in the housing market will resolve the affordable housing problem in areas such as ours? Even with very extreme falls in house prices, which are not currently predicted by most people, prices would still not be affordable. In fact, in the present market mortgages are more expensive and larger deposits are required, which is...

[Mrs. Joan Humble in the Chair] — Water Strategy (18 Mar 2008)

Matthew Taylor: I take the Minister's point. It is clear that the Government's position, as suggested in "Future Water", is that Ofwat ought to be taking a positive approach to the water companies engaging with landowners, farmers and others to deliver benefits. Ofwat should not take the narrow view that, because land does not belong to water companies, improving the way in which it is managed is no business...

[Mrs. Joan Humble in the Chair] — Water Strategy (18 Mar 2008)

Matthew Taylor: I completely share the hon. Lady's view on that point, which is why, if we go down the route of the rising block tariff, it is important that information be shared with the water companies so that support can be given as automatically as possible, rather than claimed, as Ofwat says it must be. All the evidence shows that when it must be claimed, the most vulnerable rarely get it.

[Mrs. Joan Humble in the Chair] — Water Strategy (18 Mar 2008)

Matthew Taylor: I am very pleased to have the opportunity to initiate this debate, although I would probably be more pleased if I had not initiated rather a lot of similar debates over the past 20-odd years. In a sense, this feels like a return to old ground, but as I speak I think that it will become clear that I am not looking simply to repeat what has been said before. There are some immediate issues to...

[Mrs. Joan Humble in the Chair] — Water Strategy (18 Mar 2008)

Matthew Taylor: My hon. Friend is spot on. To give an example, the average bill of a south-west pensioner on a meter suggests that they will spend almost 10 per cent. of their pension on water bills. For those who are unmetered, the average bill implies that they will spend 15 per cent. People in my area have the lowest incomes in the country, so the impact is felt much more broadly. In London, where wages...

[Mrs. Joan Humble in the Chair] — Water Strategy (18 Mar 2008)

Matthew Taylor: There is a real concern that there has been precious little progress on this subject over 10 years of Labour government. As I say, there is an opportunity for substantial change, and that is what I am looking for. There has been some effort at mitigation, as my hon. Friend knows, and I shall talk about that in a moment. Nevertheless, more fundamental change is needed.