Results 1-20 of 1,927 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Sarah Teather

Business of the House: Social Care Green Paper (29 Oct 2009) has video

Sarah Teather: The hon. Gentleman is making a point that I wanted to make, and the same point has been made by my local Mencap organisation. The Green Paper does not acknowledge that as well as the likely increase in the number of elderly people, the numbers of the people with learning disabilities is likely to increase because of increased survival rates. The Green Paper does not recognise that or have any...

Business of the House: Social Care Green Paper (29 Oct 2009) has video

Sarah Teather: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Business of the House: Social Care Green Paper (29 Oct 2009) has video

Sarah Teather: I am struck by the hon. Gentleman's comments and my reading of a section of the Green Paper reminds me of some important issues raised by a local Age Concern group in my constituency. It pointed out that prevention is not just about the practical issues, as it is often about emotional support. That is what allows people to live independently. Depression is often unreported in elderly people....

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

Sarah Teather: Does the Secretary of State accept that if his Government go ahead and scrap the £15 excess payments of local housing allowance, all that will result is rent inflation and no savings to the public purse? Will he agree to work with his colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions to rethink the proposal?

[Mr. Clive Betts in the Chair] — Private Landlords (Local Regulation) (21 Oct 2009)

Sarah Teather: I want to begin by congratulating the hon. Member for Manchester, Blackley (Graham Stringer) on securing this debate. I am surprised that it is not better attended, because issues relating to the management of private sector housing are important to every right hon. and hon. Member in the House. I think that it would be a struggle to find a Member of Parliament who had not discovered that a...

[Mr. Bill Olner in the Chair] — Wardens (Sheltered Housing) (20 Oct 2009)

Sarah Teather: Thank you, Mr. Olner. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the first time. I congratulate the hon. and learned Member for Torridge and West Devon (Mr. Cox) on securing the debate. This issue is of extreme interest to many people up and down the country. I congratulate him on the tone with which he opened the debate. He was careful to ensure that we understood that he was...

[Mr. Bill Olner in the Chair] — Wardens (Sheltered Housing) (20 Oct 2009)

Sarah Teather: I agree. My hon. Friend makes an excellent point—I was actually going to make it myself—about the nature of consultation and the importance of good practice. I am always a little cynical when central Government lecture either local councils or housing associations on what qualifies as good-quality consultation because they are often just as poor at producing decent consultation,...

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: International Criminal Jurisdiction (21 Jul 2009) has video

Sarah Teather: What recent representations he has received on the jurisdiction of UK courts over cases involving crimes under international law committed in other countries.

Oral Answers to Questions — Justice: International Criminal Jurisdiction (21 Jul 2009) has video

Sarah Teather: Does the Minister believe that someone such as Felicien Kabuga, a major financier of the Rwandan genocide, should be brought to justice for his crimes? If so, why has she been unwilling to bring non-residents into the legislation on genocide and war crimes? Surely, if such war criminals are present in the UK, they should not be given sanctuary, regardless of whether they are resident.

[Joan Walley in the Chair] — Housing and the Credit Crunch (16 Jul 2009)

Sarah Teather: I am concerned that the consultation will be published after the House rises. If there are issues in our boroughs that are raised with us as constituency MPs, not Front-Benchers, will we be able to raise them with the Minister before the close of the consultation? Will the consultation close before the House returns in October? I am concerned about that, and I am also concerned that, frankly,...

[Joan Walley in the Chair] — Housing and the Credit Crunch (16 Jul 2009)

Sarah Teather: The report is most useful, and I congratulate the Select Committee on a timely and interesting contribution to the debate. The Committee made a number of recommendations and conclusions, most particularly on the need to continue building social housing and affordable housing to rent, a point made by the hon. Members for Islington, South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry) and for Sheffield,...

[Joan Walley in the Chair] — Housing and the Credit Crunch (16 Jul 2009)

Sarah Teather: We all want to ensure that housing is built, and that we have as much affordable housing as possible, but the means of achieving it is a matter for debate. The Government's insistence on particular targets for various local authorities does not seem to have worked. They have been unable to deliver. Whether we will be able to deliver more through negotiation I do not know. I like to think that...

[Joan Walley in the Chair] — Housing and the Credit Crunch (16 Jul 2009)

Sarah Teather: Unfortunately, the Minister left part way through the suggestion made by the Chair of the Select Committee, so we will not know—

[Joan Walley in the Chair] — Housing and the Credit Crunch (16 Jul 2009)

Sarah Teather: The hon. Lady's intervention was helpful. I hope that the Government will bring forward proposals that are agreeable to all councils. The devil will be in the detail. My council, like many London councils, is in receipt of subsidy; the question is what will happen to it. We have argued that that subsidy should be paid out of general taxation. It is untenable for poor council tenants in areas...

[Joan Walley in the Chair] — Housing and the Credit Crunch (16 Jul 2009)

Sarah Teather: The right hon. Gentleman has not been in quite as many housing debates in this place as I have in the past three or four months.

[Joan Walley in the Chair] — Housing and the Credit Crunch (16 Jul 2009)

Sarah Teather: The right hon. Gentleman has in the past 10 or 15 years, but not in the past three months. If he had been in any of the debates in which I have spoken, he would have heard me give credit to the Government for making significant advances, particularly on income support for mortgage interest, which I have welcomed regularly and which have helped many people. My point is not to say that the...

[Joan Walley in the Chair] — Housing and the Credit Crunch (16 Jul 2009)

Sarah Teather: I am listening to the right hon. Gentleman's speech with interest. Will he acknowledge that the CML said that it downgraded its forecast partly because of the Government's intervention, but also because interest rates are very low, which has prevented some of the repossessions that might otherwise have happened?

[Joan Walley in the Chair] — Housing and the Credit Crunch (16 Jul 2009)

Sarah Teather: Does the right hon. Gentleman recognise that many economists have been saying that although the figures may have come down in the short term, there is a worry that the long fuse of unemployment may result in repossessions later? The former chief economist of HSBC has said that there may be 100,000 repossessions come 2011 or 2012. I am afraid that the story is not over, and it would be...

[Joan Walley in the Chair] — Housing and the Credit Crunch (16 Jul 2009)

Sarah Teather: This issue is often characterised by saying that we can achieve a sustainable mix by having homes for ownership, and affordable social houses for rent next door to one another, or within the same estate. However, we could also have lots of different types of housing for rent. I wish that we could think more flexibly about that, especially at a time when it is difficult to get mortgages for...