Gideon Amos MP: speeches

Speeches

• 14 Jul 2025 · Social Housing: Right to Buy · Hansard source

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  My Somerset councillor colleagues have for decades steadfastly protected and managed our stock of council houses, which has declined through right to buy from tens of thousands a number of years ago to only 6,000 now. While I welcome the recent attention to this issue by the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister, is it not time that communities decide for themselves whether to sell off council houses at all?

• 14 Jul 2025 · Social Housing: Right to Buy · Hansard source

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  16. What assessment she has made of the potential merits of allowing local authorities to end the right to buy in their areas.

• 10 Jul 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I declare my interest: I am a registered provider of social housing, and before the election I had support from a construction firm in my constituency. Yesterday the Competition and Markets Authority found, in its notice to accept commitments from the big seven house builders, that “suspected conduct may have had the object or effect of preventing, restricting or distorting competition”. It also stated: “It may be presumed that parties took the competitively sensitive information into account.” The CMA is considering accepting a payment of £100 million to halt that investigation. Given the scale and seriousness of the suspected conduct, should not Parliament decide whether thousands of people have paid over the odds for their home? Should it not decide whether it is right that the Government and the CMA should accept £100 million and whether the proposed commitments will go far enough to create the competitive industry we need to see?

• 8 Jul 2025 · Road and Rail Projects · Hansard source

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  People around the country have been plagued and let down by a transport system that was completely neglected by the last Conservative Government. The problems have ranged from potholes to cancelled bus services, along with entirely fictional budgets for rail and other transport projects. Given that a safe, reliable transport system is vital to economic growth, this capital investment is of course welcome news. We are pleased to see the Government answering the calls of Liberal Democrats and other campaigners for vital upgrades such as new rail investment and improvements on the northern trans-Pennine route. Given the hard-fought campaign by local people in my constituency, I particularly welcome the confirmation of new stations at Wellington—first proposed in the House by my predecessor Jeremy Browne—and Cullompton. I cannot go quite as far as the Secretary of State in agreeing to relocate Wellington in Devon—it remains in Somerset—but both those rail projects are long overdue, and I thank the Secretary of State for engaging with not just me but my hon. Friends the Members for Honiton and Sidmouth (Richard Foord) and others on both sides of the House, including the hon. Member for Exeter (Steve Race), who I see is present, on the vital importance of those stations to the regional economy. The long overdue funding for the west midlands rail hub is also welcome. Let me now turn to the road infrastructure projects. Many of the schemes announced today have been sought for many years. We are pleased to see investment in the A66, for which my hon. Friend the Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) has consistently campaigned, as well as investment in infrastructure in Manchester, Derby and Nottingham. However, we still need clarity on exactly how the funds for these projects will be spent. After years of delays, broken promises and mismanagement—not least on HS2—public confidence in the Government’s ability to deliver major infrastructure is understandably low. Given the effects of inflation during the 12-month delay of the Wellington and Cullompton stations project, among others, can the Secretary of State confirm that that project will be fully funded and completed in the two years that it will take to construct the stations? When will the Government finally publish detailed plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail? Can the Government give the country a firm assurance that all these projects will be delivered on time and on budget, in a cost-effective manner?

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

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  I welcome today’s announcement, but Joanne from my constituency of Taunton and Wellington has asked me to advocate for children with special educational needs and disabilities, given the numbers involved and the limitations on resources. This is at a time when Somerset’s auditors have blamed the predecessor council for decisions that “led to funding shortfalls in each future year in perpetuity.” Will the Secretary of State and the Government ensure that councils such as Somerset are properly funded so that parents and children with special educational needs do not have to wait the one or two years they currently do for assessment, which can devastate their education?