Lord Barwell: My Lords, I support the regulations, although it gives me no pleasure to do so. I concede that the lockdown will damage our economy and people’s mental health and will restrict our freedoms —all the arguments that my noble friend Lord Forsyth so eloquently spelled out. I do so because the lesson from the first wave is very clear: that the consequences of not acting are worse. The...
Lord Barwell: My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, and the noble Lord, Lord Sarfraz, on their maiden speeches and for their extreme skill in staying uncontroversial on this most controversial of topics. I find myself in a curious position today, wanting to defend a withdrawal agreement, parts of which I strongly disagree with. Those of your Lordships who know my background will know...
Lord Barwell: I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to a daily press conference. It is vital over the difficult weeks and months ahead that people hear directly from him and from the Chief Medical Officer what the Government’s position is. If large numbers of people are either going to have to self-isolate because one of their family is symptomatic or going to have to effectively withdraw from...
Lord Barwell: My Lords, I thank the members of the committee for producing such a thorough report in short order. It is right that the Government of this country should determine our strategy for the negotiations, and it is right that Parliament should scrutinise that strategy. I also congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Kerr, on an outstanding speech. I find myself, as I all too often have on this issue,...
Lord Barwell: My Lords, I had not planned to take part in this debate, but I wish to make three brief points. First, in response to my noble friend Lord Bowness, it is very clear what the Government seek to negotiate in this next phase of the negotiations; it is set out in the political declaration. For example, in relation to level playing field provisions, the political declaration goes into quite some...
Lord Barwell: It is not for me to speak for the Government, not least because I do not sit on the Government Front Bench. Indeed, noble Lords who have followed the debate closely will know that I do not entirely agree with the position that the Chancellor set out; the previous Government believed that there was a case for aligning with certain EU rules and regulations. But, having said those things, I do...
Lord Barwell: I do not intend to get into this debate in detail; I wished to speak briefly. All I will say is that that approach has been clear for some time, and the Government got a clear endorsement for it in the general election. I say that as someone who had a different view. I conclude my remarks by simply saying this. There is a case in some circumstances for the Government seeking approval for...
Lord Barwell: My Lords, it is an honour to follow the right reverend Prelate and to make my maiden speech in this place. I thank the staff of the House for their warm welcome and my supporters, my noble friends Lord Young of Cookham and Lord Gilbert of Panteg, who between them have been an almost constant companion during my career. I also thank my former boss, Theresa May. I had the honour of serving...
Gavin Barwell: Social letting agencies can support vulnerable people and people on low incomes to access and sustain tenancies in the private rented sector. There are a number of different models of social letting agencies and in the Housing White Paper we set out our interest in exploring the relative effectiveness of these different models with the aim of securing more housing for households who would...
Gavin Barwell: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Gavin Barwell: I will ask the Chief Executive of the Homes and Communities Agency to write to the hon. Member with this information.
Gavin Barwell: In March we published a Government Review: Making Commercial Terms of Government Land Disposals More Transparent. The report committed to publish details of Government land sales annually, with the first publication in summer 2017. The report will include all sales in 2015/16 and 2016/17. Progress towards meeting the housing ambition is set out in Table 3 of the Public Land for Housing...
Gavin Barwell: Such estimates can be calculated using publically available HM Land Registry Price Paid Data but it is a complex exercise that would not be completed before Parliament prorogues.
Gavin Barwell: Affordable Rent is defined in Regulation 19 of the Social Housing Rents (Exceptions and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2016. The Government committed in the Housing White Paper to set, a rent policy for social housing landlords to help them to borrow against future income.
Gavin Barwell: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Gavin Barwell: It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Gavin Barwell: Statistics on the private rental market in England and in each local authority district including the London Borough of Southwark are published by the Valuation Office Agency and are available at the following link. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/private-rental-mark et-summary-statistics-october-2015-to-september-2016 The Valuation Office Agency advises that because the composition...
Gavin Barwell: In 2016/17 South Gloucestershire Council submitted an application for Garden Villages capacity funding and an application for Large Sites and Housing Zones capacity funding in Thornbury and Yate constituency. These were unsuccessful. South Gloucestershire Council also submitted a joint application for Large Sites and Housing Zones capacity funding in 2016/17 with Bath and North East Somerset...
Gavin Barwell: South Gloucestershire Council put in an application for Large Sites and Housing Zones capacity funding 2016/17 for Buckover garden village. This was unsuccessful.
Gavin Barwell: There are different types of schemes through which housing association tenants can buy their own home through Right to Buy. Since 1997, over 101,000 tenants have bought under these schemes.