The Government's Housing team and the Labour Housing team pictured together to show their joint backing of the Bill.

I was pleased to be in Parliament today to support the Second Reading of the Homelessness Reduction Bill. It was good that it got cross party support and the backing of both the Government’s Housing team and the Labour Housing team pictured together and thus passed its Second Reading.

I think this Bill is a really positive step forward to reducing homelessness, but there is so much more that the Government needs to do to tackle homelessness and the housing crisis. As Shadow Minister for Housing and Local Government, I will keep up pressure on the Government to ensure they take the measures necessary not only to build the homes we so desperately need but to provide the range of services that we need to tackle homelessness.

As you may be aware, I, along with Labour colleagues, have been campaigning to prevent the Government’s ill –thought out plan to privatise the land registry and so I really welcome the news that they have decided not to press ahead with it.

This plan would have had negative impacts on the vital service that the registry provides and led to potential job losses across the UK, including in Durham. This was a short sighted move by the Government to sell off a public asset to the highest bidder, instead of taking real measures to engage with the country’s housing crisis through a serious national building project.

Together with PCS union, we delivered a petition against this privatisation signed by over 250,000 people to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and I’m pleased that we were able to help make those voices heard.

This is the third time I have campaigned against Tory plans to privatise of the Land Registry, and I will continue to oppose any attempt at the privatisation of this service that the Government may bring forward in the future.

I’m sure you all have heard that BHS went into administration on the 25^th April after having been sold by Sir Philip Green in March 2015 for £1. Most stores have already closed, marking the end of its tenure as a well-known fixture of British high streets, including Durham. The jobs of the 11,000 employees of BHS have been lost and 20,000 current and future pensioners have been facing substantial cuts to their entitlements. Meanwhile, Sir Philip Green and many others involved in the decisions that, in my opinion, led to the failure of BHS seem to have been able to walk away freely.

I think that the failure of BHS can in part be attributed to bad business decisions and personal greed and those involved should face serious action for what they have done.

Over the years of Sir Philip’s ownership, it seems as though significantly more money left the company than was invested in it. Despite the pension deficit of £571m, Philip Green and his family reportedly collected £586m in dividends, rental payments and interest on loans during their 15 year ownership. As the pension deficit grew, there seems to have been limited efforts to resolve it. Personally, I think that the failure to make the contributions necessary to maintain the pension scheme means that Sir Philip and his directors now have the responsibility to fill the current pension gap.

BHS was sold to Dominic Chappell in March 2015. It appears that his team could offer no equity and had no means of raising funds on a long term basis. In my opinion, it seems obvious that he was a wholly unsuitable purchaser and that his shortcomings were overlooked during the sale. For this, I feel they should also be held accountable.

Sir Philip keeps insisting that other people are to blame and does not seem to be accepting responsibility for his actions. The tragedy of the whole situation is that it is the ordinary employees who are losing out.

I want you all to know that I will be speaking out against the actions of the current and former owners of BHS and will be calling for further action to be taken against them. I also fully support my colleague Frank Field in his work as chair of the Department of Work & Pensions Committee.

If you have been affected by the situation, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me with your opinions and concerns.

To mark the 50^th anniversary of the film “Cathy Come Home”, Roberta Blackman- Woods MP, Shadow Minister for Local Government and Housing took part in an event to discuss the film’s impact with director Ken Loach and key stakeholders in the homelessness sector.

Of the event Roberta said:

“It was fantastic to be able to discuss Ken Loach’s seminal film on homelessness with the director himself, and to hear how much it influenced so many people who work with homeless people today.

The parallels between the film and the situation today were not lost on anybody and it shows how despite several pieces of legislation being passed regarding homelessness, more needs to be done to get to grips with the issue.

We need to be building more public sector housing so that families are not trapped on waiting lists or stuck in temporary accommodation for months on end. There needs to be more good quality, genuinely affordable housing available of all types and enabling local authorities to build is the best way to deliver that”.

Roberta has today heard from Durham County Council that DASH have withdrawn their application for conversion of the Last Orders pub in Gilesgate to offices and flats for young people.

Responding to this news, Roberta said “I hope that the fact that the application has been withdrawn means that time will be available to allow discussion to take place locally to identify a more suitable site for the DASH development.

I would also like to have the opportunity to work with DASH, residents and relevant partners to secure a more suitable development for the former Last Orders pub and look at where accommodation for young people which is very much needed in Durham could be more appropriately located.”

Roberta Blackman-Woods MP today paid tribute to the large number of WASPI campaigners who attended the Town Hall today to form a Durham branch of national WASPI campaign (Women Against State Pension Inequality).

Roberta said,

“WASPI is a great campaign that seeks to fight the injustice done to women born in the 1950s (on or after 6 April 1951) regarding the changes to their state pension age.

“The 1995 Conservative Government’s Pension Act included plans to increase women’s SPA (State Pension Age) to 65, the same as men’s. I know that WASPI agrees with equalisation but I am pleased it does not agree with the unfair way the changes were implemented – with little/no personal notice of the implications of the 1995 and 2011 Pension Acts, with faster action than promised (2011 Pension Act), and no time to make alternative plans. I know that many constituents’ Retirement plans have been shattered as a consequence of this.

“Roberta said, it’s important that as many people as possible back the aim of the campaign which is - to achieve fair transitional state pension arrangements for women born in the 1950’s (born on or after 6 April 1951).

The MP continued,

“I am delighted that a branch of WASPI is to be set up in Durham and I look forward to working with them to develop a plan of action over the coming months. I am very grateful to Mary, Maria and Sylvia for agreeing to coordinate the group. In the meantime, I shall be writing to the Secretary of State of DWP, The Rt Hon Damien Green MP to ask that the Government put better transitional arrangements in place for this group of women.”

ENDS