Paula Barker
MP for Liverpool Wavertree · Labour · United Kingdom
“They have fought for a Hillsborough law worthy of the memory of the 97, but not just for them, which shows their decency, resilience, and wider sense of public spirit.”
“In the 2017 Manchester Arena attack, MI5 was found by a public inquiry not to have given an accurate picture of the key intelligence that it held on the suicide bomber who carried out the attack. New clause 6 would mandate that the duty of candour and assistance applies to the intelligence services as it does to other public authorities.”
“The death of a child seems to violate the natural order of things, leaving parents shocked, grieving and in unimaginable pain. The charity Love, Jasmine in my constituency was founded by Rob and Kathy Lapsley in 2016 after the death of their daughter Jasmine to support other bereaved parents on Merseyside through counselling, support grou…”
“Friend the Member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham), who introduced the first Hillsborough law Bill in 2017, after addressing the 20th anniversary in 2009 when he was Culture Secretary.”
“The passage of the Bill has been too long delayed, and we have finally reached this point only because of the strength and bravery of the families of the 97 who died as a result of what happened on 15 April 1989.”
“I rise to support new clauses 5 and 6, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith and Chiswick (Andy Slaughter). I welcome the Prime Minister’s remarks, and I am relieved that the Government have listened, so that the duty of candour will apply in full to members of the security services, and the Bill will finally reach the statu…”
The complete record
Every one of 602 lines we hold for Paula Barker, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 4 of 13.
“The former Israeli Defence Minister, the late Moshe Dayan, famously once said: “Our American friends offer us money, arms and advice. We take the money, we take the arms, and we decline the advice.” Regrettably, the same could now be said of Britain. I have every reason to believe that the Foreign Secretary is making a strong case for peace, but it seems to me and millions of others that the relationship with the Israeli Government is entirely one way. When will the Government start using robust leverage above and beyond what has already been done to ensure that Israel acts on British advice, as well as the advice of other international partners?”
“I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Does my right hon. Friend agree that care workers are often the Cinderella service? They are low paid, but certainly not low skilled. It is time we got to grips with hostile employers who do not pay travel time.”
“The shadow Minister has just said that shamefully there is only one person on our Front Bench who has run a business. How many of his Front-Bench team are trade union members?”
“Intermediate care for people facing homelessness, which is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, can reduce rough sleeping by around 70%. That is life-changing for people who have been sleeping rough and it plays a significant role in relieving pressure on hospitals. A recent evaluation of intermediate care for people facing homelessness in one county in England found a 56% reduction in A&E visits and a 67% reduction in emergency admissions. What exists currently is a postcode lottery. How can we embed the NICE approach in every integrated care system across England?”
“I know that he has a steely determination to see the Bill through. I hope that Members across the House will back him in doing so.”
“I also raise a small but significant absence in the Bill: reform of the deposit system, which is routinely abused in too many instances. I will look to work with the Minister on a constructive amendment in that regard. The national database is a game changer with the potential to properly regulate the sector across the piece. I would like to see more information available on the national database, including information on letting agents managing tenancies being tagged to properties. As we move into this new phase to protect the millions living in the private rented sector, education and information being readily available is crucial to tenants knowing and understanding their rights. Maybe we could use the national database as a portal for resources available to tenants. I end by once again paying tribute to my hon. Friend the Minister.”
“This is hardly a sign of a functioning market.” Not only in London but in our great northern cities, including Liverpool and Manchester, the private rented sector has lost all sense of proportion as a cabal of landlords and letting agents has sought to jack up rents again and again. Young adults are particularly affected. Remaining on rents, the Government must go further. I urge them to look at rent stabilisation methods, including tagging rents to the lowest of local wage growth or inflation to guard against further hardship being faced by our communities. On enforcement of the decent homes standard, I urge the Government to resource local authorities adequately to ensure that that work is carried through effectively.”
“The Government will no doubt face stiff resistance from the usual suspects, who will endeavour to pick away at key aspects of the legislation, not least the four-month notice period that the homelessness sector and charities such as Crisis have welcomed. I urge the Government to stand firm, knowing that they are on the right side of history. Since 1980, the private rented sector has more than doubled in size, overtaking social housing to become Britain’s second-largest form of housing tenure. The PRS is the most expensive of all forms of housing tenure, and rents are increasing. In 2023 the Centre for Policy Studies noted: “Since 2010, the cost of renting has gone up by 44.5% according to the Halifax. During this period, wages have risen by 30.4% and inflation has risen by 24%.”
“Let me start by congratulating the Minister for Housing and Planning, my hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Matthew Pennycook), for working relentlessly on these matters in opposition and carrying that momentum into Government. This far-reaching Bill will end section 21 no-fault evictions, which for too long have been a major factor in driving up homelessness. It gives real protections to those who have been left to the whims of the market and have borne the brunt of the housing crisis and a protected period at the beginning of the tenancy, brings an end to discrimination faced by those in receipt of social security, brings an end to the bidding wars, and rolls out the decent homes standard across the private rented sector.”
“T5. Age UK reports that there are around 1 million pensioners who just miss out on the winter fuel payment. These are people living on modest incomes, within £50 of the poverty line, who will miss out due to a tiny occupational pension, and they include many in Liverpool Wavertree. We have heard about the campaign to take up pension credit, but can my right hon. Friend tell us specifically whether that pension credit will be backdated?”
“May I associate myself with your remarks, Mr Speaker, about John the Doorkeeper? Who knew that we had the same love of ’70s disco? I thank my right hon. Friend for his reply. I must press him further on Government recognition of a Palestinian state. That should have been a starting point 30 years ago. I believe that recognition would level the playing field and kick-start the peace process, as has been recognised by so many of our European counterparts. Recognition should not come at the conclusion. What will the Government do if Israel refuses to entertain any moves towards a two-state solution, which it has persistently and vocally rejected?”
“T5. The destruction and loss of life in Bangladesh are of grave concern to me and a great number of my constituents. I welcome the conversations that the Minister has already had with Bangladeshi counterparts, urging calm. What measures are being taken to support British nationals in Bangladesh? Will she join me in thanking the Bangladeshi community in my constituency of Liverpool Wavertree, who contribute so much to our city?”
“I congratulate my right hon. Friend on making a superb statement. She knows that she will have strong support on the Labour Benches for building the homes that we need in Liverpool to tackle homelessness, rising costs and the huge waiting list for social housing, but councils will be reluctant to build if they know that houses will simply end up in the hands of private landlords who exploit the right to buy. I welcome her review into the higher discounts imposed by the last Government. Can she assure me that it will be a rapid review? Given the mess that she has inherited, there is no time to waste in clearing this up.”
“I wonder if that is why the shadow Under-Secretary of State has hotfooted it from Crewe and Nantwich to his current seat in Bexhill and Battle. Avanti is an absolute professional in failing the public and its dedicated staff. I understand from the Secretary of State’s letter to hon. Members that she has not yet decided on the timing of each transfer, but I would be surprised if Avanti was able to make it until October 2026 when its core term expires. I know that she will be keeping a close eye on that failed operator in the coming period. Avanti still had the temerity to pay out over £11 million in dividends last year alone, having had the second-worst record for cancellations across the entire UK in the last quarter. Enough is enough. I am excited by this piece of legislation, because I know that it will make a genuine difference.”
“Saving talk on infrastructure for another day, the sheer lack of capacity on the west coast main line and between our great northern cities has led my part of the world to be consistently failed. My constituents in Liverpool Wavertree and the wider city of Liverpool have come to have low expectations in respect of the service on offer from our railway operators when they decide not to plonk their car on the M62 or the M6. TransPennine Express—the main carrier between Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Hull and Newcastle—was nothing short of a disgrace as a private entity, with as many as one in six of its services cancelled in March 2023, two months before the Government intervened. Moving on, north-west, north Wales, west midlands and many Scottish MPs will have experienced the utter chaos of Avanti West Coast.”
“The railways have become symbolic of rip-off Britain where the public pay more and get less, the gains are privatised and the losses are picked up by the taxpayer. Members of the Opposition will accuse us of being ideological with the Bill. It was their Government in 1994 who embarked on a ruthless privatisation of yet another natural monopoly, laying the foundations for a system where public subsidy in effect gets paid out to shareholders as dividends. Perhaps it is only the Opposition Members—and, of course, Michael Portillo—who still hold on to the belief that franchising has worked. How embarrassing is it that the Conservative party’s legacy has already given my right hon. Friend a helping hand, with one in four passenger services already being run by the state owing to their failures in office?”
“I congratulate you on your elevation, Madam Deputy Speaker. I congratulate all hon. Members from all parts of the House who have made maiden speeches today. I refer the House to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a proud trade union member. I begin by paying tribute to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for getting us to this point. She has moved swiftly, with tenacity and vigour, in doing what is right for the country and the travelling public. I know that the Secretary of State will see this task through to the very end. I also pay tribute to the train drivers from ASLEF union who were outside today showing their support for this Bill and our rail workers in the RMT and Transport Salaried Staffs Association unions. Railway privatisation has failed. Franchising has failed.”
“Congratulations on your re-election, Mr Speaker. I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House; I know she will do an amazing job. In February 2022, MPs and peers passed an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824. However, the last Government failed to set out a commencement date for repeal, while trying to criminalise rough sleepers through the Criminal Justice Bill, which did not pass. I am aware that many homelessness organisations have written to my right hon. Friend, so can she give the House clarity on when the Labour Government will commence the section to repeal that Act, since it is already law? Surely, 200 years on, it is time to consign the Vagrancy Act to the dustbin, where it belongs.”
“I welcome the Lord Chancellor to her place. She has certainly hit the ground running in a very difficult backdrop from the previous Government. We know only too well that, often, prisoners are released on Friday afternoon, with little or no access to statutory services, and they become homeless. What assurances can she give the House that this has been thought through, and the unintended consequence of this decision will not be extending the homelessness crisis?”
“That shows what tenacity can deliver. We have heard much this evening about cross-party work, and it would be remiss of me not to also place on record my thanks to the former right hon. Member for Maidenhead, who will go to the other place, Theresa May. She was pivotal in the Hillsborough inquiry as well, and for that I place my thanks on record. Like so many Scousers, I had family and friends at Hillsborough on that fateful day in April 1989; fortunately, they all came home, but 97 innocent men, women and children did not. This law is a valuable step in obtaining justice for the 97.”
“As someone who was privileged to be a trade union official before entering this place, and who is still a very proud trade union member—I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests—I am delighted with our plans for workers’ rights and a new deal for working people that is long overdue. As a proud Liverpool MP, I also want to say how delighted I am that a Labour Government will deliver the long-awaited Hillsborough law. I pay tribute to the resilience of the families who lost loved ones, the survivors and my city as a whole; they have never given up their fight for truth, justice and accountability. Of course, I also pay tribute to my neighbour and right hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Garston (Maria Eagle), who has spent decades in this place fighting to get that law on to the statute books.”
“The report led by Councillor Cowan, the leader of Hammersmith and Fulham council, should provide the basis of our plans: a national landlords register to enforce standards, rent stabilisation measures, and a holistic approach that prevents landlords from moving to short-term holiday lets or making a mint from the provision of temporary accommodation. All this will not be easy. The Prime Minister has long talked of smashing the class ceiling, and I very much look forward to supporting him and the Deputy Prime Minister in ensuring that we deliver the bold measures that are required to address the housing and homelessness crisis, and so much more.”
“However, the last Conservative Administration shamelessly caved in to the landlord lobby on their own Benches, so it falls to this Labour Government to make it happen. The private rented sector has lost all sense of proportion. Section 21 evictions must be ended: they pile greater pressure on local councils, and I know through my office’s casework that no-fault evictions are worsening the homelessness emergency. I will be urging my colleagues on the Front Bench to make our renters reform Bill as comprehensive a package as possible for a beleaguered generation of renters who have lived the consequences of the cost of living crisis as much as any.”
“I ask the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to work with our councils to better regulate the proliferation of houses in multiple occupation in concentrated areas across our cities and towns, particularly in the north of England, where it is common- place for whole communities to be disrupted. In my own constituency of Liverpool Wavertree, some streets have over 50% of houses as HMOs. With that come environmental issues, such as rubbish and noise, and it has ripped the heart out of communities while landlords—the majority not from the city—make massive profits. Year after year during the last Parliament, we heard repeated promises from the previous Government to bring in their Renters (Reform) Bill.”
“It is right for any serious Government to be ambitious in that regard. I welcome the Chancellor’s commitment in her first speech to setting up a taskforce to tackle stalled housing schemes across the country, beginning with a focus on Liverpool central docks. That is a positive sign of things to come. Solving the housing crisis demands that we be bold. Over 14,000 people are on the housing waiting list in Liverpool, so it is imperative that we push the agenda for social and council housing. Homes for social rent must be front and centre of our plans to give every household—every family—the dignity of a home that they can call their own. That would provide a long-term vision to address the burgeoning numbers of households languishing in temporary accommodation, which at the last count shamefully included over 145,000 children.”
“In responding to the Gracious Speech, I will focus on just a couple of issues. I welcome all new hon. Members to the House. It can be a lonely place at times, but there is always someone on hand to help, so please reach out, and remember: it is a marathon, not a sprint. Since I was elected in 2019, I have called for far-reaching measures to address the housing crisis and the worsening homelessness emergency. It will reassure the communities that I represent that they now have a Government who understand the scale of that endemic problem and, crucially, are willing to take action to remedy it. I wholeheartedly applaud the commitment to planning reform that will get Britain building again—building the homes that we need now, and on which future generations will rely to get on in life.”
“My hon. Friend, who is undoubtedly a doughty champion for those in temporary accommodation in constituencies up and down the country, is making a powerful and moving speech. The Secretary of State has expressed his regret about the number of children living in temporary accommodation, even though he has sat on the Government Benches throughout. The figures that my hon. Friend outlines make for very grim reading indeed, and it is clear that we cannot go on like that. Does she agree that a future Labour Government will have to work at pace across all Government Departments, rather than in silos, to get those numbers down, just as we did last time we were in office?”
“7. If he will make an estimate of the number of in-work universal credit claimants that have had payments stopped due to errors made by his Department in the last 12 months.”
“My constituent Georgina Mitchell is a single mum to three children, two of whom have additional needs. She works as a nurse and is in receipt of universal credit. The Minister says that work pays, but since October, Georgina has had her benefits stopped intermittently because the DWP has falsely recorded her earnings as £19,000 one month, £12,000 the next, and so on and so forth. She cannot pay her social landlord, and her ability to pay for childcare is severely impacted. I have raised the matter with local officials, but despite assurances, it keeps happening. She cannot sort this, and despite my interventions, I cannot seem to sort it. Will the Secretary of State or the Minister investigate the matter urgently, and advise me on why these mistakes keep happening and on what will be done to ensure that they do not happen again?”
“I would also very much welcome a commitment to looking at removing the elements relating to homelessness from the Criminal Justice Bill, which is an issue that I have consistently raised in this place.”
“All our young people are struggling, across the board, but care leavers, those who cannot access mental health support and those who have suffered family breakdown, have untold trauma and then fall on the wrong side of a homeless emergency—who will speak up for them? The third sector does an absolutely amazing job, but we cannot absolve ourselves of our responsibilities in this place and across Whitehall. This has been going on for far too long. The state has a much more active role to play. It falls to all of us in this place to speak up for our young people who experience homelessness and, crucially, to make change happen. I hope that the Minister can agree today to changing how data is collected and commit to implementing a youth homelessness strategy.”
“He is still staying in hostel accommodation and is waiting until he can afford a room of his own in the private rented sector. Zephyr’s dream is to become a youth worker to help other young people in situations like his own. There are at least 136,000 more stories like Zephyr’s, and for every Zephyr there is someone like him who may not have a New Horizon Youth Centre to support them. Never mind the economic cost: if a person fails to get angry when contemplating the possible waste of human potential through youth homelessness, I would argue that they are simply not human. Zephyr needs hope, but more importantly he deserves a future. Surely that is why we all entered politics. Austerity economics, the cost of living crisis, low wages and a housing crisis that is out of control have led us to this place.”
“During that time, Zephyr came across New Horizon Youth Centre outreach workers, who invited him into the day centre where he received food and was able to shower. He was given emergency accommodation for a week. After at least three weeks of waiting, he was accepted into a medium-stay hostel where he was able to volunteer. Being off the streets and in stable accommodation allowed Zephyr to focus on his future. However, he was developing severe issues with his mental health as a result of being homeless and of his financial situation, so he had to drop out of university. Through mental health support, jobs education and training support from New Horizon, he is now in full-time employment as a support assistant for a housing association in London.”
“Behind the headline figures and the policies are human stories of desperation and frustration—stories of untapped potential and young people not being able to fulfil their hopes, dreams and aspirations. I have witnessed first-hand the fantastic work of local charities such as the Whitechapel Centre in Liverpool, the Mustard Tree in Manchester and the New Horizon Youth Centre in north London. New Horizon’s chief executive, Phil Kerry, head of policy, Polly, and their whole team told me the story of Zephyr. At 20 years old, university student Zephyr suddenly had to leave his family home in east London after a family breakdown last summer. He had nowhere else to go, so he spent over a week on the streets of London, which he says was awful. He struggled to find food, so spent much of the week starving.”
“A national cross-departmental youth homelessness strategy could look at extending priority need to all care leavers up to age 25, as well as exempting them from council tax payments. A national strategy could work with colleagues at the Department for Work and Pensions to look at taper rates for those young people in supported housing who are disincentivised from taking on extra hours at work, and as a result cannot move on to independent living. In hotspot areas, a national strategy could see councils adopting localised youth homelessness strategies, with dedicated youth homelessness teams. It could also look at repurposing a small part of the single homelessness accommodation programme to include youth-specific provision. We need a plan for the 136,000. A national strategy could do that and so much more much besides.”
“I just mentioned the poor outcomes for young people who approach their local council for support. In my city of Liverpool, 1,849 young people approached the council as homeless, but only 332 were assessed by the local authority. A total of 1,743 people were not supported into housing after approaching Liverpool City Council. I do not blame my council; I blame this Government. Resources are scarce and the council is stretched to absolute breaking point. Young people often bear the brunt of local government austerity more than most. Liverpool City Council is projected to see temporary accommodation costs rise from £250,000 in 2019 to £25 million by the end of this financial year, which is a rise of 10,000%. What could a national strategy achieve?”
“They told me that they were not taken seriously or believed when they were presented at a council, and many local authorities fail to provide a proper homelessness assessment. Some young people are asked to return home when that may not be safe. Furthermore, they may not know what support is available beyond the family home that they need to leave. So we need wholesale change. Young people deserve better. Our care leavers deserve better. The cost of youth homelessness to the Treasury is estimated to be £8.5 billion a year, or an average of £27,347 for each young homeless person. Young people are vulnerable to homelessness due to unique barriers, including a lack of visibility, reduced benefits and a shortage of affordable youth-specific housing.”
“Member for Walsall North (Eddie Hughes) when he was a Minister to at least secure some cross-departmental buy-in for the rough sleeping strategy, this Government have shown no real vision in operating the cross-departmental working that a national youth homelessness strategy would rely on. Young people can experience homelessness for a plethora of reasons. Their experience if they do can be nothing short of desperate, and they are routinely institutionally failed by the state. Many are not supported to transition into adulthood and, as such, they face unique barriers that can push them into homelessness. They may lack the documents to evidence their homelessness—for example, written confirmation from their caregiver that they are no longer welcome in the home. I have had the privilege of meeting many young people at New Horizon in London.”
“I ask the Minister to please refrain from trotting out the usual spiel about how much money the Department is throwing at homelessness—with little success, may I add?—and to instead commit today to start putting together a far-reaching and ambitious national youth homelessness strategy this side of the election: a plan for the 136,000. As Alfred Morris highlighted in 1985, Departments did not work with each other then, and they still do not today. Those experiencing homelessness, not least our young people, are always the ones who bear the brunt of Whitehall working in its traditional silos. Despite a valiant effort by the hon.”
“That is why charities like Centrepoint—teaming up with the likes of the Albert Kennedy Trust, the YMCA and the fantastic New Horizon Youth Centre, which does so much to help young people in London, and 100 youth organisations—are calling for a national youth homelessness strategy: a plan for the 136,000. Back in March, campaigners calling for a plan for the 136,000 homeless young people garnered more than 15,000 signatures on a UK Government petition. As they rightly said in their petition, “no one is talking about this” and there is no specific national plan to tackle youth homelessness.”
“Despite Centrepoint’s numbers being much larger than those of the Department, it should be noted that those are a small c conservative estimate that do not include the thousands of young people classified as the hidden homeless—for instance, those young people sofa surfing and those who have not approached their local council in any way. To obtain such information for England, Centrepoint had to make freedom of information requests for every local authority in the country. That is absolutely ridiculous and shameful. How can the Government properly begin to solve the problem if they do not truly understand the scale of it?”
“The data collected by the Department could be so much better and so much more far-reaching. Given that we are almost certain to have a general election at some point in 2024, I truly hope that my Opposition Front-Bench colleagues will consider the demands that I will put to the Government today. Collecting better data on young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 will not alarm any fiscal hawk at the Treasury. It is good policy, and can be achieved very simply: by making amendments to the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. As it is, we rely on the likes of Centrepoint, the national youth homelessness charity, which through its databank work has estimated that nearly 136,000 young people approached their local council as homeless in 2022-23. Many of them were not even close to getting formally assessed.”
“1303.] He went on to talk about the lack of cross-departmental working to tackle the problem, saying, “the present piecemeal approach to the problem of homelessness among young people is hampering other valuable work in this sector”, and, “The DHSS, the Department of Education and Science, the Department of the Environment, the Home Office and local authorities are all involved in different, but not very clearly differentiated, aspects of the problem.” —[ Official Report , 24 May 1985; Vol. 79, c. 1304.] It is staggering to think 40 years later how little overall progress has been made. Even where it has been—for example, under the last Labour Government—surely it has since been eroded. We still do not truly know how many young adults find themselves homeless.”
“I am reliably informed that this is the first time in nearly 40 years that such time has been dedicated to the specific issue of youth homelessness. The previous time, in 1985, was largely because the late Alfred Morris, the former Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe and latterly Lord Morris, took it upon himself to raise the matter with the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment. I was reading through the Hansard entry and I despaired at the fact that that contribution, the words that Alfred Morris spoke in 1985, could be said here today, in 2024. The former Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe said there was “no information available on the numbers of homeless adolescents and young people in London and the other major conurbations.” —[ Official Report , 24 May 1985; Vol. 79, c.”
“All of this will require all of Government—not just one part—to put it front and centre. Anything less is simply not good enough. Amid such an emergency, young people are often overlooked by the system. There is growing concern that ever greater revenue constraints being placed on local government lead to young people and young adults getting a raw deal from a system already at breaking point. Young people who experience homelessness are overlooked, in my opinion, by Government, by the Department and, yes, by Members from across this place. Although I know that there are local elections tomorrow, I am saddened that we are not seeing more Members here today for this incredibly important debate.”
“Of course, homelessness is caused by different factors: poverty, trauma, leaving care, being a victim of domestic abuse—the list goes on and on, and different demographics of people are affected in a multitude of ways. They include women, young people, those who define as LGBTQ+, our veterans, prison leavers and many more. The solution to the homelessness emergency therefore must be multifaceted. Yes, we desperately need to build more homes for truly affordable and social rent, but so too must we properly fund our local authorities and reform the welfare system—although not in the way that we have seen announced this week—and essentially we must tackle the underlying trauma that the vast majority of people who find themselves homeless have experienced in one form or another.”
“I am more than happy to be considered a broken record on homelessness. Given that I care deeply about being a voice for those who may feel they have none, I will accept such a charge. I know that if I am a nuisance to the Minister—I have a lot of time for her, as she well knows—and my hon. and very good Friend the Member for Weaver Vale (Mike Amesbury), I will be playing my small part in moving the needle towards progress and change. Homelessness is multifaceted. Different forms exist. They range from sofa surfing and rough sleeping, to being stuck in temporary accommodation, and so much more besides. Yesterday we saw the latest statistics released by the Department and they once again reveal the scale of the problem—more than 112,000 households and 145,000 children in temporary accommodation.”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered youth homelessness. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. I should declare that my husband is chair of YMCA Together, in Liverpool—it is an unpaid role—and that I am a national patron for YMCA. I pay tribute to the colleagues and friends from various organisations in the homelessness sector who are here today. We have representatives from New Horizon Youth Centre, Centrepoint and Depaul. Thank you for the work that you do and for being here today. Those colleagues who know me well know that I have a very keen interest in all matters relating to homelessness —hopefully, some would say a serious interest. I am also very proud to be a co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for ending homelessness. I use my role to regularly raise awareness, where and when I can.”
“It is wonderful to hear the Minister speak about chairing the cross-Government rough sleeping board, but has she asked why it is failing and why the numbers are consistently going up?”
“Please talk up the need for a national youth homelessness strategy and be the voice for those 136,000 young people, because they deserve to have a life well lived in which they can fulfil their potential and realise their dreams, hopes and aspirations. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered youth homelessness.”