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| 15th July 2010 |
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| Jessica Lee |
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| (Erewash, Conservative) |
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| What assessment has been made of the effect on providers of home information packs of the suspension of the requirement for such packs to be produced. |
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| Adam Holloway |
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| What assessment he has made of the effect on the housing market of the suspension of the requirement to provide home information packs. |
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| Eric Pickles |
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| The suspension of HIPs has given a much needed boost to the housing market. Reports from the industry suggest that the number of new homes coming on to the market has increased by more than one third since HIPs were suspended. We have also estimated that abolishing HIPs could save consumers just short of £900 million over the next 10 years. |
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| Jessica Lee |
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| (Erewash, Conservative) |
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| Estate agents in Erewash have conveyed to me their relief at the home information pack scheme being abolished. Indeed, one estate agent has just described the scheme to me as being a complete barrier to people selling their homes. Can the Secretary of State inform the House whether that sentiment is shared by other people working in the housing sector across the country? |
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| Eric Pickles |
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| (Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government; Brentwood and Ongar, Conservative) |
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| I am delighted to inform my hon. Friend that joy and happiness among estate agents is not confined to Erewash. Throughout the land, there is a general understanding that the drag anchor that HIPs were is no longer a constraint on the housing market. |
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| Adam Holloway |
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| What further plans does the Secretary of State have to roll out that happiness and smooth the conveyancing process? |
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| Eric Pickles |
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| (Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government; Brentwood and Ongar, Conservative) |
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| I am all for spreading as much joy and happiness, and indeed love, as I can, where'er I go. It was clear even from the trials that HIPs were going to be a real mess. We now need to look to the future and at what can be done to speed up transactions. I know that my right hon. Friend the Minister for Housing is looking at ways to speed up the introduction of e-conveyancing. |
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| Alan Whitehead |
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| (Southampton, Test, Labour) |
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| Why has the Secretary of State decided, alongside the abolition of HIPs, that energy performance certificates should no longer be required at the point when a house is initially viewed for purchase? Does he intend to downgrade the importance of those as well? |
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| Eric Pickles |
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| (Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government; Brentwood and Ongar, Conservative) |
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| Gracious, no-indeed, under our green deal, energy certificates will perform a much more important role. They will be about bringing the price of energy down and ensuring that somebody with a house that has a good energy certificate does well, because we want to get houses on to the market. We will insist that the energy certificate be commissioned and in place before the sale takes place. It is about speeding things up-the hon. Gentleman is not familiar with that idea. We are in favour of house sales, not bureaucracy. |
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| Christopher Leslie |
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| (Nottingham East, Labour) |
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| I am glad to hear that the right hon. Gentleman thought deeply about the consequences of removing the home information pack arrangement, but in his careful and calculated assessment, did he work out the number of people whose jobs might be affected? Clearly a number of people across the housing market professions have been gearing up to work in that area and will now no longer have that employment. How many people? |
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| Eric Pickles |
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| (Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government; Brentwood and Ongar, Conservative) |
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| When the hon. Gentleman was in another job, during his brief interregnum between spells in this place, he used to advise me solidly to cut away waste and speed things up, and I have followed that advice. HIPs were just part of a service that was provided. We have just heard from Dr Whitehead about energy certificates, and a number of such services are available.. |
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| It has to be said that it is not as though the removal of HIPs came as a shock. It appeared clearly in the manifestos of the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrats, and in the coalition document |
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| 6th July 2010 |
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| Adam Holloway |
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| (Gravesham, Conservative) |
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| What recent discussions he has had on the future of the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and if he will make a statement. |
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| David Lidington |
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| (Minister of State (Europe and NATO), Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Aylesbury, Conservative) |
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| The Peace Implementation Council, which met in Sarajevo at the end of June, discussed progress towards the conditions necessary for the closure of the Office of the High Representative but, as those had not been met, no decision on closure was taken. |
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| Adam Holloway |
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| (Gravesham, Conservative) |
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| What discussions has my hon. Friend had with his EU counterparts on the future accession of Balkan states to the EU? |
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| David Lidington |
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| (Minister of State (Europe and NATO), Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Aylesbury, Conservative) |
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| Both my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I have raised during, I believe, every bilateral conversation we have had with European counterparts and at formal sessions of the Foreign Affairs Council the importance that we accord political and constitutional progress in the western Balkans and the need for the EU to make as one of its highest priorities the strengthening of both the incentives and disincentives in respect of those countries pushing forward with further reform, so that their welcome into the family of European nations can be given as soon as possible. |
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| 16th June 2010 |
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| Adam Holloway |
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| (Gravesham, Conservative) |
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| Every household in Gravesham has inherited a sort of second mortgage of debt. Can the Prime Minister give us some idea of the level of debt per household across the country? |
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| David Cameron |
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| (Prime Minister; Witney, Conservative) |
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| My hon. Friend is entirely right that every single person in this country is now carrying £22,000 of debt because of the mess that the last Labour Government left us. The fact is this: if we do not do something about it, by the end of this Parliament, we will be paying £70 billion in debt interest. That is more than we spend on schools and more than we spend on defence. It would be a tragic waste of money. That is why, however painful it is, we have to get to grips with the deficit that we were left by the last Labour Government. |
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| 16th June 2010 |
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| Adam Holloway |
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| (Gravesham, Conservative) |
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| What recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on Scotland's future energy needs. |
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| Michael Moore |
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| (Secretary of State, Scotland; Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, Liberal Democrat) |
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| My colleagues and I are fully committed to ensuring that Scotland is able to continue to play an important role in meeting the UK's aspirations for climate change and security of supply. |
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| Adam Holloway |
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| (Gravesham, Conservative) |
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| Can my right hon. Friend give us an assurance that Scotland's energy capacity will remain at the forefront of global renewable advances? |
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| Michael Moore |
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| (Secretary of State, Scotland; Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, Liberal Democrat) |
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| I am very happy to give that assurance. |
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| Brian H Donohoe |
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| (Central Ayrshire, Labour) |
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| My constituency has three of the five biggest users of energy. Does the Secretary of State agree that the only solution is nuclear power? |
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| Michael Moore |
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| (Secretary of State, Scotland; Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, Liberal Democrat) |
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| As I said earlier, the Government have set out a clear policy on their energy strategy, and arrangements are in place to ensure that we have diverse sources of supply and security for the future. |
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| 3rd June 2010 |
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| Adam Holloway |
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| (Gravesham, Conservative) |
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| To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on the provision of support for people who are unable to work as a result of disability. |
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| Maria Miller |
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| (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Disabled People), Work and Pensions; Basingstoke, Conservative) |
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| The Government recognise that some people will not be able to work, or prepare for work, because of a disability. These people will receive unconditional support and will be able to have help to find employment on a voluntary basis. |
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| Financial support for those who are unable to work will be through cash benefits, such as disability living allowance and the employment and support allowance (replacing incapacity benefits). |
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| 3rd June 2010 |
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| Adam Holloway |
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| (Gravesham, Conservative) |
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| Now that we know that the last Government spent £1 billion on advertising and "invested" £12,000 in golf balls, is the Prime Minister surprised that there is no money left? |
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| David Cameron |
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| (Prime Minister; Witney, Conservative) |
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| We are not really surprised, not least because of the letter that we got from the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury. I am glad to see that he has apologised for the letter, although he has not yet apologised for the legacy. My hon. Friend makes a good point. In addition, we have discovered that £320 million was spent on hotels, £1.5 billion on consultants and-this really did amaze me-one Department spent more than £140 per person on cut flowers and pot plants. Perhaps we could have a lottery to find out which one it was. |
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