Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Baroness Whitaker Excerpts

Committee stage
Thursday 11th September 2025 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Baroness Whitaker]

145: Clause 52, page 73, line 21, at end insert—
“(5A) For the purposes of subsection (5), an amount or distribution of housing or affordable housing must include Gypsy and Traveller sites, whether provided privately, or by local authorities, or by other registered social landlords.” Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment would include Gypsy and Traveller sites in the strategically important housing identified in spatial development strategies.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, I am pleased to open the sixth day of Committee on this hugely important Bill with a set of amendments which may appear rather niche to some, but which I suggest are fundamental to our national values.

I speak to Amendments 145, 173, 174, 175 and 176 in my name and those of the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester, who regrets he cannot be here, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, for Amendment 145, together with the noble Lord, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, who have joined me for the others. I am very grateful for their support. I am also very grateful to Friends, Families and Travellers for its advice, and to the Public Bill Office for its heroic efforts to get our requirements within the scope of this Bill.

All these amendments address a gap in our understanding of the population of the United Kingdom: the centuries-old existence of a small number of fellow citizens, some Gypsies and Travellers, whose traditional way of life and culture is to live in their communities on caravan sites. The fact that they may reside in a different pattern from the majority does not lessen the validity of their citizenship, as the law has attested. Their rentals of caravans and associated amenities on a site as their permanent residence thus means that they should be entitled to standards of provision just as much as those who live in bricks and mortar on a street. But the omission of general acknowledgment of their way of life has meant that there is a significant shortage of sites and that the conditions that they are obliged to live in can easily be—and are—markedly inferior, insecure, dangerous, polluted and the cause of multiple disadvantage, to say nothing of the damage all this does to social cohesion.

These amendments are the way to close that gap. Amendment 145 would make it clear that Gypsy and Traveller sites must be considered within the strategically important housing sites identified in spatial development strategies. Amendment 173 would firm up the current obligation on local authorities to assess the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers so that plans and planning strategies, including the all-important new spatial development strategies, never omit the need for sites again. Thus, local authorities could not ignore the excellent guidance so far produced by this Government and must observe any further guidance. It is of particular importance to put an end to the inconsistent approaches and methodologies of assessment of need which have resulted in such marked inequality of provision. Amendment 174 would clarify the role of government in revising or developing guidance, so that Parliament has a proper opportunity to debate what is best.

Amendment 175 would create a similar framework for local authorities to ensure that they meet the assessed need for sites in their area in their role in planning, development and infrastructure. Here it is essential that needs for both private and socially rented pitches, transit as well as permanent, are taken account of.

Finally, Amendment 176 addresses the failure to date of many local authorities to meet the assessed need for Gypsy and Traveller sites by giving the Secretary of State the power to make them do it when they are carrying out their functions in relation to planning, development and infrastructure.

In conclusion, these amendments together would at last recognise the validity of that small Gypsy and Traveller population that follow their traditional way of life as full citizens. They would go far to eliminate the neighbourhood friction that comes of their having to live on unauthorised sites. Perhaps most poignantly of all, they would enable proper education for the children who suffer so markedly and in so many ways from the insecurity of constantly being evicted. It would remove a very long-standing injustice to adopt these amendments. I very much hope that my noble friend will do that, or devise amendments that would achieve the same end.

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Whitaker, who has long been the House’s champion in these areas and provides us with great leadership. I was pleased to attach my name to Amendment 145, also supported by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester and the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell. I would have attached my name to all the others if there had been time.

I will put the context of this issue. Noble Lords who follow the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography will know that, at the weekend, the biography it focused on was a woman called Elizabeth Canning who was one of the most celebrated criminal cases of the 18th century. She was a maidservant who disappeared for a month and said that she had been kidnapped. A woman identified at that time as an “Egyptian”—what we would now describe as a Gypsy—was then convicted of being responsible for that. if you read the account now, it is very obvious that this was simply a case of 18th-century prejudice.

I reference that case because it focuses on how long Gypsies in particular, but also Traveller people generally, have been part of our communities and lives, and how long the prejudice has gone on. In the 21st century, these amendments seek to make sure that we end some of that prejudice, at least in the structure of our law. We cannot always in your Lordships’ House address people’s attitudes, but we can address the law and make sure that there is provision for the housing needs that are so crucial.

The noble Baroness, Lady Whitaker, has set out most of the technical points. I will make one additional point. This aims to ensure that we have a level of accommodation needs provision for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people across the country that is to the same standards. Some noble Lords might suggest that I am often talking about the need for local devolution and decision-making, but we also want a basic level of standard across the country, which these amendments would provide. That does not mean that a local authority could not do better than the basic standard; this is saying that there have to be standards and there has to be provision. That has to be the crucial starting point.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)]

My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 145, 173, 174, 175 and 176, tabled by my noble friend Lady Whitaker, who is a passionate advocate for the provision of Gypsy and Traveller sites. I was very happy to discuss this with her yesterday during the debate on Awaab’s law. We have had many meetings on the subject, which I welcome.

I completely agree with the need to ensure sufficient provision of sites for Gypsies and Travellers. The noble Lord, Lord Lansley, was right to make the distinction between show people and Gypsies, Roma and Travellers. I believe that local authorities can already make a distinction in planning terms between the two. If that is not right, I will correct that in writing. Therefore, local authorities have the ability to do that.

Amendment 145 requires the spatial development strategy to specify an amount or distribution of Traveller sites. However, under new Section 12D(5), the Bill would already allow for spatial development strategies to specify or describe housing needs for Gypsies and Travellers, provided that the strategic planning authority considers the issue to be of strategic importance to the strategy area. The new clause refers to

“any other kind of housing”

the provision of which the strategic planning authority considers to be part of its strategic consideration.

Amendments 173, 174, 175 and 176 seek to introduce measures into the Bill that would require an assessment of Gypsy and Traveller accommodation needs to inform local plans and development strategies. The amendment is unnecessary as there is an existing duty, in Section 8 of the Housing Act 1985, on local authorities to assess the accommodation needs of those people residing in, or resorting to, districts with respect to the provision of caravan sites or houseboats. This provision covers Gypsies and Travellers.

Furthermore, planning policy is already clear that local planning authorities should use a robust evidence base to establish Gypsy and Traveller accommodation needs and to inform the preparation of local plans and planning decisions. In doing so, they should pay particular attention to early and effective community engagement with both settled and Traveller communities and should work collaboratively with neighbouring planning authorities.

We have also committed to a further review of planning policy for Traveller sites this year, as part of which any further changes, including the need for guidance on the assessment of needs, will be considered. I assure the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, that we will not be sleepwalking into these; they will be evidence based after clear consultation with all relevant bodies, including the communities themselves. As housing legislation, planning policy and the Bill already adequately support the provision of Traveller sites, I therefore ask my noble friend not to press her amendments.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, for her support, as well as for the support given by my noble friend Lady Warwick of Undercliffe to an amendment covering the principles of this group that was taken very late at night on a previous day in Committee.

I commend the actions taken by the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, in his own local authority, but, sadly, the evidence I have seen does not confirm what he says about assessment of needs and accommodation provision working well over the whole country.

I also thank the noble Earl, Lord Russell, for stepping up for the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, to express the support of the Liberal Democrat Benches. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, for his welcome reminder of the very similar position of show people.

My noble friend the Minister has shown her usual welcome sympathy for the problems that we have been debating. I am grateful for her comprehensive answers and the glimmer of hope she extends to finding solutions. I know that she knows that I intend to pursue those solutions. I look forward to our further meetings. In the meantime, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

Amendment 145 withdrawn.

Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025

Baroness Whitaker Excerpts

Wednesday 10th September 2025 Grand Committee

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)]

My Lords, before I begin on the instrument, I need to declare an interest for this piece of business. My daughter works for Settle housing association.

I pay tribute to the work of the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, on this issue. I know she cared about it as much as I do and worked very hard in the department when she was there to make sure that this piece of work came forward. I would like to express my thanks to her for that.

In speaking to the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, known as Awaab’s law, I will also speak to the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) (Amendment) (Extension to the Social Rented Sector) Regulations 2025. The Government are clear that homes must be safe. We are determined to drive a transformational and lasting change in the quality of social housing, making sure that tenants feel safe and that landlords have clarity on requirements. These regulations are an important step.

I begin with Awaab’s law. Awaab Ishak was just two when he died in December 2020 due to prolonged mould exposure in his family home. Awaab’s death was tragic. There is nothing more painful than losing a child. How much more pain his parents must have knowing that, if they had been listened to and their social landlord had acted responsibly, their son’s death could have been avoided. Awaab’s parents repeatedly raised concerns, and their social landlord failed to act. His parents have campaigned tirelessly since then, and I want to thank them sincerely. Awaab’s law will make sure that tenants’ complaints are taken seriously and that landlords respond in a timely manner with empathy, dignity and respect. It is my sincere hope that it will build trust between landlords and tenants. For too long, tenants’ complaints about damp and mould have been treated at best with delay and failure to act and, at worst, by pushing the blame back at tenants, often using the term “lifestyle issues”—a term I banned at my council. We must do better.

The regulations imply terms into tenancy agreements requiring social landlords to investigate and remedy significant damp and mould and emergency hazards within set timeframes. Significant hazards must be investigated within 10 working days, with written summaries sent to tenants in three days and action taken in five. Emergency hazards must be made safe within 24 hours. If these timescales cannot be met, landlords must provide suitable alternative accommodation until it is safe to return. Additional works to prevent hazards from recurring must begin as quickly as possible, with a 12-week backstop from investigation, and completed within a reasonable timeframe. Once the regulations are in force, landlords must comply, and tenants can take legal action for breach of contract if they do not. The regulations take into account genuine uncontrollable circumstances preventing compliance or if landlords can prove they used all reasonable endeavours to comply with requirements.

These initial regulations focus on damp and mould, emergency hazards. I will return in 2026 and 2027 with further regulations to extend the law to additional hazards. This allows us to act now, tackling the 7% of socially rented homes in England suffering from damp while testing this first phase with tenants and landlords to make sure we get things right before moving to subsequent phases. This phased approach does not reduce landlords’ existing duties to ensure that their properties are free from dangerous hazards. We will monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and impact of Awaab’s law, adding future phases to deliver the best outcomes.

I now move on to the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) (Amendment) (Extension to the Social Rented Sector) Regulations 2025. Private landlords are already required to check the electrics in their properties. We must now ensure that social housing tenants have the same protections.

Electrical faults in homes can be extremely dangerous. This reform will mean that tenants will know their electrics are safe. It will drive up standards and reduce deaths and injuries caused by electrical faults. The new requirements will come into force for new tenancies in November and for existing tenancies next year. All landlords will have to test the electrical installations in their properties at least every five years, to make sure that safety standards are met and repairs carried out. The regulations also go further, requiring landlords to check electrical equipment they provide. Local councils will have the power to require remedial works, if necessary, and can arrange the works themselves if action is not taken by the landlord. Additionally, these regulations raise the maximum financial penalty to £40,000 for landlords, private or social, who do not comply.

I wish to draw the attention of the Committee to the fact that a correction slip has been issued for this statutory instrument. Regulation 11 stated that it inserts a Regulation 12B in the 2020 regulations. It should read “12A”.

To summarise, these new requirements are not an additional burden to the many landlords we know already take a proactive approach to keeping homes safe. Clear standards and requirements of social landlords, and timelines to meet them, eliminate uncertainty for everyone and help make sure that tenants can live in the safe homes they deserve.

Both these sets of regulations have received consistent support from across the House and the sector. I am confident that I bring robust regulations to the House, strengthened by consultation. Subject to the approval of Parliament, Awaab’s law is due to come into effect from October this year and electrical safety requirements for social tenancies from November. I commend these draft regulations to the Committee.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, these are excellent regulations, sorely needed, and I commend our Government for bringing them forward. There is one problem that concerns me. They do not cover all social renters and, therefore, there is an element of discrimination. I should declare an interest as an officeholder in various Gypsy and Traveller organisations, so my noble friend the Minister will not be surprised at what I am about to say. Indeed, I asked her a Question about this very thing because Gypsies and Travellers are not covered. Although they rent their houses from social landlords, their houses are, in fact, caravans—permanent caravans—and they have amenity blocks on the sites for the use of water.

The problem is that the law does not correspond to reality. So, as I said, Gypsies and Travellers have their homes rented from social landlords on caravan sites with amenity blocks for the use of water. But my noble friend answered on 14 July:

“As caravans are not buildings according to the definitions set out in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 or the Housing Act 2004, it is the government’s position that Awaab’s Law will not extend to Gypsies and Travellers living permanently in caravans on sites with amenity blocks that are rented from social landlords”.


Usually, local authority-owned sites may be reasonably maintained. The problem there is that there are simply not enough of them. In other social landlords’ sites, the standards are simply so low as to affect health, safety and well-being.

There are different ways of framing laws so that they relate to what actually is the case. I submit that that is what the law ought to be doing. I think it is our job here in your Lordships’ House to ensure that laws fit the circumstances and values that now obtain, rather than outmoded concepts. To continue to let the law express these outmoded and unjust ideas would amount, I think, to a dereliction of our task. So I hope my noble friend can come up with some way to include these citizens who have fewer rights than other citizens.

[Baroness Pinnock (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for bringing forward these important regulations in Grand Committee. The first concern I have is that the tragic death of Awaab occurred at the end of 2020. It then took nearly three years for the law in his name to be passed, and another two years to introduce the regulations that put the Act into effect. I get dismayed sometimes at the length of time it takes to make changes when the initial reaction is that this is a situation that requires urgent emergency attention.

I am not pointing the finger of blame at anybody; sometimes it is everybody’s and nobody’s responsibility. But if the Minister could explain why it has taken so long, it would help me to understand why we are just getting the regulations now, two years on. But I am pleased that they will be enacted next month, as I think she said.

One of the concerns I have about the regulations is the tenant’s recourse when action is not taken. They complain and say, “You’ve got to get something done”, but nothing gets done. In my experience as a councillor dealing with lots of social housing, the issue is often that tenants for whom English is perhaps not their main language, or who have moved around a lot and do not know the ins and outs of how things should work, miss out when it comes to issues such as this. Which is, of course, what happened in the tragic incident with Awaab in the first place—talking but not being heard. Again, I wonder whether the Minister could just try to close that circle for me and say that there will be somebody who will say, “If you make a complaint, we’re going to make sure something happens”.

The last point I make about these regulations is that they have come about because either current or former local authority housing—the better-quality housing—has gone under right to buy. Consequently, when councils are fulfilling their duty to house homeless families, often what is left is poor-quality housing. There is an awful circle of deprivation that we cannot seem to break out of—I know that this is an attempt to do so—where homeless families go into the poorest quality housing. Often, they are families who will have to move again and again, where English is not their first language, or they may have learning difficulties. When they try to complain, nobody listens, because they do not have the clout that others have. And so it goes on. I know that this is an attempt to break that cycle; we just need to do a bit more. But I am pleased it is coming.

I turn to the second SI, on electrical safety. Of course, it was a faulty fridge that caused the fire in Grenfell Tower. That is not covered by this, but I hope that, as with statutory gas inspections of social housing, this will encourage tenants to understand that electrical safety is as important as gas safety—that it will raise understanding a bit if they get a knock on the door to check whether the electrical equipment put in by their landlord is safe. It is interesting, if I am right, that private landlords have to test other electrical equipment in their homes; PAT testing of major electrical items seems to happen.

With those comments, I think these are two good sets of regulations, but I worry about the timeliness.

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Baroness Whitaker Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 25th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, it is very interesting to follow the noble Lord, Lord Banner, but I shall take a different perspective.

The Bill’s commitment to practical measures, to get the houses we need built and long-neglected infrastructure developed, is going to change millions of lives for the better. I am also reassured by its pathways to clean and reliable energy in the context of nature restoration, and to bringing down the cost of living.

I declare an interest as an honorary fellow of the RIBA. It is, of course, essential that the reforms create well-designed places where healthy, prosperous and enjoyable lives can flourish, and which cover all of our diverse population, of all ages and abilities. My noble friend the Minister will not be surprised that I am in particular concerned about our long-established Gypsy and Traveller communities, who for so long have been left out of our concepts of homes, as the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester and the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, who is not in her place, said so powerfully earlier.

I declare that I am co-chair of the All-Party Group for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, and president of Friends, Families and Travellers and of the Advisory Council for the Education of Romany and other Travellers. Despite their centuries of contribution to our cultural fabric, our policies and legislation have consistently failed to protect the nomadic way of life of these communities, which is defined in law and has been central to their identities, even when many have been forced into bricks and mortar, to the detriment of their well-being and often their mental health.

I am proud that our Government have begun to make the planning system fairer to Gypsies and Travellers in their revision of planning policy last December. I know my noble friend will understand that there is still quite a way to go, not least in the training of local authority planners. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill provides this opportunity.

We must clarify the definition of “social housing”. The founding definition in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 has, by omission, made a loophole for ignoring the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers, and that has been the pattern. The 6,441 caravans recorded in the July 2024 caravan count, on 267 socially rented sites owned by local authorities and registered providers, are clearly low-cost rental accommodation, as defined under Sections 68 and 69 of the Housing and Regeneration Act, yet they are not explicitly recognised as social housing. The duty on the strategic planning authorities’ spatial development strategy—most interesting provisions—and the obligations on landlords need to have a basis for including them.

The Gypsy and Traveller accommodation needs assessments system—GTANA—is also not working. There is now no duty to conduct GTANAs and guidance on how they must be conducted was withdrawn in 2016, causing distressing disparities across the country. In fact, there has been a dramatic decline in the provision of local authority sites since the repeal of the statutory duty to provide them in 1994, resulting in neighbourhood friction over unauthorised sites, with no local authority rubbish collection or mains drainage, constant eviction and starkly inferior living standards.

I hope my noble friend has a copy of the Kicking the Can Down the Road report by Dr Simon Ruston and Friends, Families and Travellers, which reveals that, among the 100 local authorities that informed the research, 119 of the 149 socially provided Gypsy and Travellers sites were built before 1994, with only 30 more developed in the three decades since, across all local authorities in England. That is paralysis. Planning legislation must address that chronic damaging shortage of lawful stopping places and end legislative ambiguity to ensure that Gypsy and Traveller communities are no longer left in the margins of our planning system.

Renters’ Rights Bill

Baroness Whitaker Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Tope (LD)]

My Lords, I shall speak particularly to Amendment 251 in my name. I wholeheartedly agree with all that was said by the right reverend Prelate, and if we were able to his agree to his amendment now—the Minister could nod her head if that is about to happen—then we could bring an end both to what I am going to say and, dare I say, to some speakers on the next two amendments as well. The right reverend Prelate’s amendment would cover it all.

In the, I hope, unlikely event that that does not happen, I will speak to Amendment 251, which seeks to extend the decent homes standard to include asylum accommodation. In doing so, because I am going to speak with particular reference to the situation in London, I must again declare my interest as co-president of London Councils, the body that represents all 32 London boroughs and the City of London, and as a vice-president of the Local Government Association.

I spoke at Second Reading of the extensive evidence from London borough councils about the poor standards of asylum accommodation, particularly in London but by no means exclusively there. Many of the things that I said then and will say again today apply to too many other parts of the country. London boroughs have reported issues of low-grade temporary accommodation properties, with multiple category 1 hazards, leaving the private rented market and being procured by Home Office accommodation providers.

The Minister has received a letter from London Councils, signed by the lead spokespeople of all three parties on that body and the chief executive officer of the Chartered Institute of Housing, asking that the Government consider how the Bill can ensure inclusion of Home Office accommodation within its provisions to ensure that asylum seekers and refugees benefit from the same protections that all private and social renters receive. In her response, the Minister agreed to discuss these issues with the Home Office. I am grateful to her, as is London Councils, for arranging a meeting between officials and London Councils to discuss this in more depth. I understand that that meeting has now taken place, so I look forward to hearing from the Minister what conclusions she has drawn from those discussions and, more particularly, what action is now to be taken.

Extensive feedback from London local authorities has consistently highlighted evidence of poor standards across asylum accommodation. As we know, enforcement action is slow and all too often ineffective. There is also widespread concern, not just from London Councils and not just in London, that not including Home Office accommodation will inevitably result in a two-tier system in which a small minority of rogue landlords may be incentivised to procure poor-quality accommodation for use as asylum accommodation.

In Committee in the other place, the Government argued that extending the provisions of the Bill to asylum accommodation is unnecessary. I hope and believe that we have come a long way from that now, and that the Minister is convinced by all the evidence she has had from those working in the system that all is far from well. Clearly, there are practical difficulties of implementation to be resolved, but if there is a will then there is a way to do so. Including asylum accommodation in the provision of the Bill would be a strong incentive; not doing so would inevitably have the opposite effect. I look forward to hearing the Minister’s positive response.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, I support all the amendments in this group and will speak to Amendment 252 in my name and those from the noble Lord, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Manchester, for whose support I am most grateful. The right reverend Prelate’s observations, drawn from experience, were extremely valuable. I also thank my noble friend Lady Warwick of Undercliffe for her earlier support for this amendment.

This amendment simply brings the homes that caravan dwellers rent within the scope of the Bill and is surely uncontentious. It is still not generally realised that, for the Romani Gypsies and Irish Travellers, who keep to their traditional—and legally recognised—way of life, a caravan which is their residence is as much a residence as any other dwelling and should be eligible for the same legal protection. The owners of such caravans should respect the decent homes standard as much as for any other rented dwelling, and, in many cases, this is sorely needed.

I know of a case where a new Gypsy and Traveller site, built only four years ago, was from the day the family moved in infested by rats, frequently flooded and subject to damp, mould, slugs, trip hazards, faulty electrics, a broken boiler and sewage back-up across the site. This had terrible effects on the family’s physical and mental health. Childhood asthma returned and medical treatment was needed. I remind the Committee that Gypsies and Travellers have the worst health outcomes of any minority ethnic group, and this example shows one reason why.

All these health and safety hazards were the result of structural issues in the rented amenity block and site as a whole, for which the site owner was responsible. The family contacted the site owner in over 50 emails over the years and went through the formal complaints process. When they contacted the Housing Ombudsman, they were told that cases concerning the management of Gypsy and Traveller sites were not investigated. Does that not make it clear that there is a lack of effective protection for families living on Gypsy and Traveller sites? Why should they not have equal protection and equal status with other renters? I know my noble friend the Minister understands this and I hope she will accept the amendment.

[Baroness Coffey (Con)]

My Lords, I have tabled Amendment 252A. I guess I am still learning about this Committee, because all the speakers have been exceptionally generous, saying that they support all the amendments in this group—perhaps they have not read my amendment, which excludes a certain number of properties from the decent homes standard. I think it is also fair to say that the only other amendment in this group that I actively support is that proposed by the noble Baroness, Lady Grender.

On Armed Forces accommodation, I ran some surgeries, because I was pretty appalled at the state and operations of the property arm of the Ministry of Defence, which contracted two different suppliers but did not seem to have a grip on what was going on. The change that happened nearly 30 years ago is, in hindsight, regrettable. It is why the previous Administration initiated the process, which I congratulate the Government on completing. One of the strategic changes that should help families in the Armed Forces is the move towards lifetime basing. This applies to the majority of our Armed Forces, although not specialist regiments like 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment—based just outside Woodbridge—which necessitate quite a number of people in rotation. Our Armed Forces, of course, deserve the best. There is nothing more concerning than somebody who is abroad thinking not only about the key strategic or tactical role they are playing but also the state of their loved ones’ housing back at home.

My Amendment 252A is driven by my concern about how, in effect, the policy of requiring EPC level C certificates for all private rented property risks removing many homes from the private rented sector across the country, particularly in rural areas. On applying the decent homes standard, EPC legislation, or the required minimum standards on energy efficiency, does not legally apply to social housing; instead, there is a target that is set which is expected to be met. We are now seeing a situation where the decent homes standard, which currently only applies to social housing, is going to be applied to the private sector. That is in a broad sense a good thing, but I am particularly concerned about aspects of it that will drive landlords out of the market and the effect on rural communities.

According to a survey conducted by MHCLG last summer, there are about 2.6 million homes that do not meet EPC level C and have a rating of D or lower. That is 60% of the private rented sector, so this is concerning. I completely understand the need to address fuel poverty; in the other House I founded the APPG on fuel poverty. I was particularly focused on off-gas grid, which of course covers a lot of rural communities, but also inner cities such as Manchester, Salford and the other areas represented by the right reverend Prelate.

We should bear in mind that the MHCLG currently estimates that 10% of those properties cannot in any way be upgraded to reach EPC level C. That still leaves 90%, but the challenge now is the variation in what is going on to upgrade those homes, some of which could require significant investment. Where it is reasonable—and by that I mean the amount of investment needed to make the adjustment—we should of course try to ensure that these properties are suitably warm. That would be helped if pensioners still had the winter fuel allowance and did not have to worry about whether they heat or eat. We must look at how we can address that without losing the housing capacity that is available.

Under the current regulations, there is a £3,500 cap on required investment to make the changes to get to the current minimum level E. As I say, I support the ambition to head that way, but now the proposed policy being consulted on is for a £15,000 cap on required investment, below which there would be no exemption. Let us get practical. I appreciate that the Minister may not be prepared for my question, but it should be considered by her department: what rural assessment has been conducted on this? It is standard government policy to undertake what is often known as rural-proofing when considering policies that will impact rural communities. I am genuinely concerned about that and about the possibility that the proposals for changing the methodology on ascertaining the EPC level will have a significantly detrimental effect on rural communities right across the country.

Renters’ Rights Bill

Baroness Whitaker Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Cashman (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, I apologise for racing here like a 15 year-old. I was under the impression that there was another Urgent Question, but there is no excuse.

Your Lordships will be pleased to hear that this is my first contribution in Committee, although I raised this issue at Second Reading. In moving Amendment 206A, I shall also speak to Amendments 262 and 271. While this is my first intervention, I am all too aware of the complexity of the Bill, so it is right that I give my gratitude to the clerks of your Lordships’ House who have advised me on how to proceed from the very beginning. Initially, it was my intention to bring forward one amendment to address the absence of rights and protections for permanent houseboat residents, those people who live permanently on houseboats along the rivers and inland waterways of the United Kingdom. After further advice, we have three amendments.

I am also grateful for the help I have received from Abbie North and Caroline Hunter from the University of York, Pamela Smith of the National Bargee Travellers Association and houseboat residents around the country. I am also particularly grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Young of Cookham and Lord Best, and the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, for their support and for adding their names to my amendments.

I believe that the amendments are straightforward in what they request, but I recognise that they could be complicated in their implementation. Amendment 262, calling for a review from the Secretary of State, I consider to be entirely reasonable, and I will consider returning to it at a later stage if there is no movement from the Government or commitment to it or its principles. I thank the Minister and her team and officials for requesting to meet me when I had, interestingly, just one amendment tabled. It was a frank, good-humoured discussion, and I am aware of the good faith concern that exists, but I was deeply disappointed to learn that such a reasonable amendment calling for a review could not be accepted and would, it was said, drain resources cross-departmentally. Amendment 262 is a perfectly reasonable ask, specifically since this issue has been shunted into the sidings by successive Governments since 2005, despite frequently being raised in another place and in your Lordships’ House.

These amendments address a series of wrongs that need to be righted. Relying solely on the Financial Conduct Authority and the tenuous protections of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 is an insult to houseboat residents and just does not work. They need security of tenure and basic rights, hence the amendments.

The need for legislative action is becoming urgent. The rights and protections afforded by this Bill and other Acts of Parliament should apply to residential houseboat residents because they have tenancies and agreements for their moorings, a mooring fixed to a pier or the riverbank. They have to abide by all the obligations of residents within their local environment; additionally, they pay council tax, energy bills, water bills and insurance, but they are missing statutory rights and protections. They have even fewer protections when the owners of moorings propose increases to mooring fees, develop the site or, in some cases, refuse to renew licences.

The problem is growing. It is happening across the country, from Vauxhall to Chelsea to the Isle of Wight, in Manchester and Brentford and along the rivers and canals of the United Kingdom. Indeed, it is happening in Southwark. One solicitor specialising in this area said the calls are increasing monthly. We need these amendments. The calls are from people now facing not only eviction from their moorings but having to physically move their homes. They must take their homes with them or abandon them. She told me that these calls are often coming from vulnerable people, including disabled people who pay council tax and have leased residential moorings.

I am grateful of the South Dock Marina Berth Holders’ Association in Southwark for bringing its plight to my attention. Currently, plans are before the council that could force out residents, businesses and community hubs and demolish the entire site, a site providing marine facilities to more than 200 boats and more than 300 marina residents, which is further proof of the need for government action. I quote SDMBHA:

“Boaters have no legislative protection from exorbitant rises in mooring fees. Boaters have no security of tenure and are increasingly facing existential threats to their way of life which means that these communities and increasingly Boat communities across the entire country are experiencing huge existential threats”.


Southwark Council, which owns the site, has decided to look again, but the development threat hangs over yet another community of boat dwellers.

Time and again, I believe that Governments have dismissed these overlooked and often forgotten people. The excuse was that more evidence was needed. Well, it is there. I have outlined some of the evidence. The problem is growing and, as I said, will not be wished away. As homes become more difficult to rent and impossible to buy, people will turn to alternative sources, as we have seen with mobile homes and boats. People need places where they can live. The right to a home, a place in which to rest one’s head is a basic human right. Perhaps those who cannot afford to buy a place in London but may have some money will be tempted by one of the adverts at Limehouse Marina and elsewhere that encourage people to buy their floating home from £250,000 upwards, with flexible moorings, without security of tenure.

I have gone on longer than I intended. I know that the Minister, is sympathetic, but now is the time for action. The time for commitment is now. Therefore, I say to the Minister, if not now, when? There must be no attempt to kick this into the long grass again. Let us not say that we cannot do it because a mixture of different departments needs to deal with it or there are not enough resources. If the resources are not there now, when will they be? Meanwhile, evictions and homelessness among these communities will continue to increase. This needs political will and intention. I urge the Government, at the very least, to commit, within the legislation, to bring forward the review that I request from the Secretary of State. We can compromise on the length of time, but let us have a commitment to get it done. Let us deal with and recognise the needs of these people before these shameful situations turn into a national scandal. I beg to move.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, I apologise for not being able to speak at Second Reading of this very welcome Bill, which will return that most valuable public good—security in one’s home—to so many people. I support all the amendments in this group and will speak to Amendments 206B and 275A, in my name and that of the noble Lord, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, whom I thank for his support. I thank Friends Families & Travellers and Garden Court Chambers for their expect advice, and declare various positions in relevant organisations, as set out in the register. I am also most grateful to the Public Bill Office for sorting out some last-minute corrections so rapidly.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Earl of Lytton (CB)]

My Lords, I welcome this group of amendments as a point of discussion and commend the noble Lord, Lord Cashman, on his introduction of it. As somebody who has spent 50 years in the property business, I am absolutely unsurprised that the noble Lord may have received a less than enthusiastic welcome from members of the Bill team, because his amendment raises a fundamental principle around what we are actually looking at: that is, whether we are looking at the use of land or the use of a water body, which we used to refer to as “land covered by water”.

It seems to me that the principles relating to those two are rather different. A fixed pitch for a caravan is fundamentally different in qualitative and quantitative terms from a mooring, which is, in essence, a connection to the shore but with the vessel fundamentally sitting over water. It is not just houseboats that are involved here. This is also about moorings in marinas, where the water body may be a tidal area, which one would assume might be in the possession of the Crown.

A fundamental difference here is that, where you have a house as a piece of real estate—in other words, land with bricks and mortar—it is fundamentally fixed and has a degree of permanence in law, unlike something that can be sailed away. To take another analogy, if somebody wishes to have a motor home and park it permanently at one location, does the same apply? Because that could be driven away; it is not in the nature of a permanent feature.

I do not have any particular problems with the provisions of this Bill applying more widely, if that policy decision is made here, but I do see a problem in terms of its application. This gets a little more complicated when you consider that the item occupied for this particular purpose may be something that somebody rents as an entirety—in other words, a boat and a piece of mooring and the water in which it floats—or may be something quite different, in terms of its nature, because the person who occupies the thing may actually own the boat and bring it there.

On the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Whitaker, Awaab’s law might apply to the former instance, where the boat and the pitch are a complete package, rented as one element. However, it would not apply to an occupier of their own houseboat. However leaky the bucket may be, it is their responsibility and not the responsibility of the person from whom they are renting the mooring.

So I can see that there are a number of different ways in which this rather difficult cake gets cut, and I rise to clarify some of the points as a matter of land law rather than to pass judgment on whether, as a matter of policy, there should be the protections afforded under this Bill in whole or in part.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

I have the greatest respect for the noble Earl’s expertise in this area. However, I suggest that the key aspect which the Renters’ Rights Bill deals with is not essentially the physical structure of the home but the fact that it is somebody’s permanent home and they are the residents and rent it. Even if it were a balloon in the sky, if it were a permanent rented home, that is the criterion that should apply equal rights to the residential person. I will probably defer to the noble Earl’s expertise, but it does seem to me that renting your home is what matters, not what the home consists of.

[The Earl of Lytton (CB)]

I am grateful to noble Baroness, who has great wisdom in this area. I am a humble technician on these matters.

There is an issue of permanence: whether the item is in some way permanently fixed or adhering to the surface—or, if it was a house on stilts, glued to the bottom of whatever water body there is—or whether it is actually capable of being removed. Permanence is a bit of a problem, I agree. I dare say that the average static caravan might have a life expectancy of perhaps 20 years before it is effectively scrap. I do not know how long a houseboat lasts, because I have never asked anybody. I do know that, every now and again, they have to be hauled out of the water and taken away to some yard to have plates welded on the bottom, anti-fouling paint added and all sorts of other things done to make them fit for purpose. Therefore, they do not have that permanence of being permanently affixed to a site from which they cannot be removed without total demolition.

I see that as rather different from something that can be sailed away, driven away or lifted out of the water. It is a different nature of animal from what we understand as real estate. The real estate here would be the land covered by water or, in the case of a mooring in a marina, that bit of tidal water. For something that might be on wheels, the permanent bit is the pitch and not the device or box in which the living takes place. That is the break point that we are dealing with here. As I say, I make no policy judgment on this. I just say that there is a technical difficulty in real estate terms in trying to pin it down, which is why the noble Lord, Lord Cashman, got the reception that he described earlier.

Community Engagement Principles and Extremism Definition

Baroness Whitaker Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Lord makes an excellent point about making sure that there is an integrated approach. I do not want to pre-empt the conclusion of the rapid sprint, which the Home Secretary has not completed yet, although there were some initial findings in December. The Deputy Prime Minister has made sure that community cohesion, community relations and working with communities come within MHCLG and the Home Office takes responsibility for counter-extremism. I know that was the situation when the noble Lord was in post, but when I came into post it was not the situation. Clarity has now been found. That work is important and the Home Secretary is leading on it.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, on a point of clarification, because Hansard is a journal of record, will my noble friend the Minister confirm, in answer to the noble Lord, Lord Robathan, that Gerry Adams was never a member of the Provisional IRA—as he would himself say—but was a leader of the IRA which took, of course, a significant part in the Good Friday agreement? He was not in the Provos.

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

I say to my noble friend that I am not in a position to comment on that. I think it is a conversation that the noble Baroness needs to have with the noble Lord and settle it outside.

Traveller Site Fund

Baroness Whitaker Excerpts

Wednesday 15th May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

What is being delivered are 10 pitches on one new transit site, 225 pitch refurbishments over 14 sites, and 14 pitch refurbishments and an extension to one permanent site. Those projects are already in development according to their plans.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, given the continued shortage of enough local authority sites, will the Government consider allocating further rounds and higher amounts of the Traveller site fund? Otherwise very many children are going to be moved away from their schools, people are going to be evicted—and they are usually considered homeless when they are—and friction arises when they find somewhere to live, because there are not enough sites.

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

We do not intend at this time to put any more money in as we did with the £10 million. However, local authorities can go to the affordable homes programme, which has £11.5 billion. That fund is being used by local authorities to provide pitches where they need them.

Homelessness: Homewards Initiative

Baroness Whitaker Excerpts

Tuesday 4th July 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

The noble Baroness is right, which is why, in the Government’s strategy Ending Rough Sleeping for Good, which was backed by £2 billion last year, we recognise the particular challenges facing young people with regard to homelessness. We have a single homelessness accommodation programme, which will have delivered nearly 2,500 homes by March 2025. There is also the £2.4 million for rough sleeping initiatives going towards youth services in local areas that have an issue with youth homelessness.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, there is a very high proportion of hidden homelessness—hidden but none the less very real—among Gypsies and Travellers, who do not have enough authorised sites to camp on. What are the Government doing about encouraging local authorities to fulfil their obligations to assess the lack of sites and to act on that to provide enough?

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness for that—I know her passion for that particularly vulnerable community. Local authorities do have a responsibility to find those sites; we will continue to ensure that they do so. However, I will look at the latest figures and let the noble Baroness have them, and will let her know what we are doing extra to make sure that they are being delivered.

People of African Descent in the United Kingdom

Baroness Whitaker Excerpts

Monday 17th April 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

I am afraid that I cannot say to my noble friend when the Bill will come through; I understand that it depends on parliamentary time. However, I can say that the Government and NHS England are already taking forward non-legislative work to address racial disparities in mental health, including piloting services which explore approaches to identifying, supporting and advocating for the specific cultural needs of people from ethnic-minority backgrounds.

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness disputes the United Nations report. How, then, does she assess our own British report, recently published, from the University of St Andrews and backed by the Economic and Social Research Council which sets out searing disparities between many ethnicities, not least those white minority-ethnic groups—Gypsies, Travellers and Roma—who suffer the worst discrimination of all? This has gone on for years; what are the Government going to do about it?

[Baroness Scott of Bybrook (Con)]

As I have already said, the Government believe that this country is open and welcoming, but obviously we are not complacent. We will continue to look at all those reports being written by eminent people; we will look at the recommendations and, if necessary, we will act.

International Holocaust Memorial Day

Baroness Whitaker Excerpts

Thursday 19th January 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Whitaker (Lab)]

My Lords, we should all be grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Pickles, for his long-standing and assiduous work on Holocaust issues and for this debate. I want to focus on what the Holocaust was a symptom of.

The primary focus has always been on the 6 million Jews who perished. I would be the last to say that this should not be mourned, remembered and understood—none of my grandfather’s family who remained in Poland survived it. But it was not only Jewish people who were the victims. It was people who were different—different from a concocted so-called norm of what a nation essentially was. The noble Lord, Lord Pickles, and others referred to some: people who were gay; people with disabilities; people with learning difficulties and mental illness; and, in great numbers, the Roma and Sinti population of eastern and central Europe. As the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, so eloquently described, all were thought of as to be eliminated. Usually only a passing mention is made of these groups, when they feature at all in the accounts. We nevertheless find this kind of discrimination repugnant now—or do we?

Many countries have passed legislation outlawing discrimination and successive Governments are to be commended for that. Discrimination in jobs, for instance, against some groups is decreasing. But that is not the same as no longer considering those who are different as inferior. Homophobic and racist bullying continues; children with learning difficulties or physical disabilities have a much worse time in school than others; and, as a recent television programme by David Baddiel and the play by Jonathan Freedland have shown, hate speech against, or derogatory stereotyping of, white minority ethnic people is not regarded as anything out of the ordinary. Those two thoughtful events concerned Jews, but they are also intensely applicable to Gypsies, Travellers and Roma people, whose life chances are so severely damaged by prejudice. I declare my unremunerated interests in various posts as set out in the register.

White minority ethnic groups are very small populations, but you can still hear words such as “plague”, “swamped”, “taking over power”, “conspiracy” and so on. Of course, we are very far from ethnic cleansing in this country. But prejudice is a spectrum and toleration of hate speech and stereotyping opens a door in the climate of opinion that can lead, especially through international social media, to which my noble friend Lord Kestenbaum referred, to much more violent action. It is as if people need a “them” to be confident of being “us”.

I do not doubt that this has been a feature of human societies ever since they emerged, but there are some communities that do not appear to need to “other” groups or to dehumanise or demonise them. I think that we should study that and work on defining nations not by some alleged ethnic character but by their values. It is time that we welcomed difference, because that is how we adapt, innovate and grow creatively, as well as finding our common humanity. That would be the best way to respond to the past terror of the Holocaust and the present terrors of persecution and annihilation still poisoning our world. I ask the Minister whether His Majesty’s Government are doing any work on how societies that embrace difference conduct themselves, or how we can, through education, particularly in history, move our culture on to be truly inclusive.