Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alok Sharma and Robert Courts

Monday 7th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

The Secretary of State has set out the position very clearly. Of course we will be bringing forward any potential new regulations. The hon. Gentleman and his colleagues talk a lot about supporting vulnerable people, but they voted against the £1.5 billion of support last year and against the £4.5 billion of support introduced in the Budget. He should be supporting those policies, not talking them down.

[Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)]

6. What assessment the Government have made of the effectiveness of universal credit in helping people into work.

Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry

Debate between Alok Sharma and Robert Courts

Wednesday 12th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)]

I am very grateful to the Minister for his comments about high-rise buildings. Will he clarify whether the testing and the regulation-reviewing that the Government are undertaking also extend to other buildings that may be affected, such as schools and hospitals?

[Alok Sharma]

Yes, I can. That work is ongoing.

There was a discussion about the independent recovery taskforce, which was appointed by the Secretary of State. Let me point out that if we had gone down the road of appointing commissioners, that would have been a statutory intervention, which would have taken longer. Our view is that we need to get people in there now and to focus particularly on housing regeneration and community engagement. People from that taskforce will report directly to the Secretary of State.

Grenfell Rehousing

Debate between Alok Sharma and Robert Courts

Wednesday 5th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

I have already acknowledged that there has been a lack of trust, and Ministers must ensure that we work to restore that trust.

[Robert Courts (Witney) (Con)]

I thank the Minister for his statement. He referred to several leaseholders in the flats, so will he outline what steps he is taking to ensure the security of those leases?

[Alok Sharma]

I am happy to do that. I met a number of the leaseholders yesterday, and we have asked them to provide us with further information on their leases. We expect to start having individual discussions from next week.