EU referendum campaigning latest
House of Lords
Parliament
And with that business in the House of Lords is brought to a close.
Peers will be back on Monday to debate the government's reformed Tax Credits plans.
If you cannot wait till then MPs will be back tomorrow at 9.30am for Private Members Bills.
Housing and Planning Bill
House of Lords
Parliament
Conservative peer Lord Deben, who as John Gummer was environment secretary from 1993 to 1997, support the idea behind Labours amendments.
He criticises the government for not including any infrastructure requirements in the bill.
"We want to support the bill but this sort of stuff needs to be in there for it to work."
Housing and Planning Bill
House of Lords
Parliament
Labour table a group of "probing amendments" to test the governments plans on linking new build schemes to local infrastructure.
Labour housing minister Lord Kennedy of Southwark argue "we cannot just build a group of houses and have no access to health services, dentists, schools, shops and transport."
Probing by are tabled with no intention of seeing the amendment carried. Probing amendments are instead designed to provide an opportunity for discussion of a specific point.
Housing and Planning Bill
House of Lords
Parliament
Crossbench peer Lord Cameron of Dillington tables an amendment to set up a series of exemptions from the requirement to build starter homes.
Under the amendment, local authorities would be able to exempt applications that:
Lord Cameron argues the greater flexibility will encourage building firms to take part in the scheme.
"Exemption sites have an invaluable proven track record of promoting building", he adds.
Reality Check
Tamara Kovacevic
Image source, PAFurther to my earlier post, we’ve been trying to find out how effective the Le Touquet agreement has been at stopping the flow of irregular migrants to the UK.
There aren’t any figures available for the number of people refused entry to the UK at the Calais border point.
But the UK Government does publish the total number of those who are stopped at all immigration checks on the continental side of the Channel.
That includes the operation in Calais – and similar checkpoints in Dunkirk, at several French train stations, and in Belgium, at Brussels Gare du Midi train station.
Between 2005 – when the agreement came into force – and 2015, a total of 55,494 people were refused entry to the UK at those points, according to government statistics (Source: UK Government Immigration Statistics Release, updated on 3 March 2016).
It’s reasonable to assume that most of those people would have been stopped in France, but we can’t be sure as the statistics do not go to that level of detail.
Image source, Getty ImagesAccording to research commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) many families in England could be forced out of their council homes and be unable to afford alternative housing in the same area.
According to the LGA-commissioned study, almost 60,000 households in England will not be able to afford to pay rents at the market rate or take advantage of the right to buy.
Subsidised rents for households earning more than £30,000, or £40,000 in London, will be scrapped in April 2017.
Social housing tenants will be asked to pay rent at or near market rates.
The policies come under the Housing and Planning Bill, currently being debated in the Lords.
Read more here.
House of Commons
Parliament
The House of Commons has adjourned for the day.
It will sit again at 9:30am tomorrow to consider private members' business.
Bills under consideration include the Driving Instructors (Registration) Bill and the House of Commons (Members' Fund) (No.2) Bill.
Adjournment debate
House of Commons
Parliament
Health Minister Jane Ellison says the government is committed to tackling diabetes.
She says: "Everyone with diabetes should receive the best possible care, regardless of age postcode or type of diabetes."
She adds that "there is some way to go" in eliminating regional variations in diabetes treatment.
She says that the government will announce more on a "childhood obesity strategy" in the summer.
House of Lords
Parliament
In order to avoid repetition, related amendments are often grouped and debated together.
Lists of such groupings are prepared by agreement between the members tabling the amendments and the Government Whips' Office and groupings are informal and not binding.
However, each amendment in the group must be voted on, moved or disposed of separately.
Housing and Planning Bill
House of Lords
Parliament
Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Doocey tables an amendment to "exempt councils who wish to regenerate estates from the duty to build starter homes".
She argues that if councils are "forced to put starter homes, instead of replacing council homes, resources will be sucked away from replacing council units and price out existing tenants".
This would go against the government's own "stated ambition" to transform 100 of the most run down estates transformed, with tenants protects, Baroness Doocey adds.
Housing and Planning Bill
House of Lords
Parliament
Labour housing minister Lord Kennedy of Southwark tables an amendment allowing starter homes to be built on "under-used or unviable brownfield sites not currently identified for housing".
This, Lord Kennedy says, returns to the "original concept of starter homes" and leaves "local authorities with greater flexibility to deliver what they think is needed to meet local housing needs".
Welsh affairs
House of Commons
Parliament
Wales Minister Alun Cairns says he is "optimistic" about the future of Wales.
Responding to criticism of the withdrawal of the Wales Bill, he says the bill was a "draft", and that the government is "determined to get this right".
He argues that government welfare and infrastructure projects have benefited Wales.
On the steel industry, he says the government has been supporting the sector to the best of its ability, and rejects a suggestion made by the Labour MP Stephen Kinnock that not enough is being done at an EU level to place tariffs on Chinese steel.
Housing and Planning
House of Lords
Parliament
Peers withdraw the group of amendments but indicate that they may return to them later if the government do not make concessions on the first-time buyer scheme.
At a press conference alongside George Osborne, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble jokes that Germans "will cry" when asked how they would react if the UK votes to leave the EU.
French President Francois Hollande has said he wants the UK to stay in the EU - and warned of the "consequences" for immigration and the economy of leaving.
Read MoreWelsh affairs
House of Commons
Parliament
Labour's Nia Griffith says the Secretary of State for Wales, Stephen Crabb, should be "embarrassed" that he has had to withdraw the Wales Bill, which she describes as a "shambles".
She asks when a new bill will be published, and when the Welsh Assembly will get more powers.
She also says Labour wants "something much more substantial" than a VAT cut to the Severn Bridge tolls.
Housing and Planning Bill
House of Lords
Parliament
Conservative peer Lord True says that "while this is not the particular instrument" he would pick, peers should respect the government's mandate.
He tells peers that London suffers from an "artificial market at the moment" due to low interest rates and "a growth in population on the London market".
"It's not easy to save when the prices needed for a deposit are moving away from them. It's perfectly logical and understandable [for the government] to introduce such a measure."
Welsh affairs
House of Commons
Parliament
Liberal Democrat Mark Williams says he has concerns about re-organising rail franchises in Wales.
He says he hopes the Wales Office will get involved in these discussions, and ensure there is a direct rail link from the Midlands to West Wales.
French president Francois Hollande responds to a question from the BBC's Ben Wright about a warning from one of his ministers that border controls at Calais could be stopped if the UK leaves the EU.
Jeremy Corbyn has warned the banking industry not to treat people and businesses as "cash cows", as he called for sector reform.
Read More