Gideon's MP Column

It’s not been long since Parliament returned after the Conference season but, as your MP, I’ve made sure I hit the ground running while trying to make the most of Fridays and weekends in Taunton and Wellington to support some great local groups.

On the first day back, I used my question to the new Secretary of State for Housing to raise the quality of housing for our military.

Just before then, I managed to rush out to Parliament Square to meet young people from Citizens Somerset and listen to their call for more to be done on warmer and safer homes. They made some excellent speeches.

Back inside Parliament, I am proud to say our Forces families will now gain the protection of a ‘Decent Homes Standard,’ written into the law for the first time and I’m delighted it’s been confirmed that £9 billion will now be spent modernising the MoD’s 47,000 homes.

The new rule came in after the government took up my proposal to add it to what, after the King granted Royal Assent, became the Renters’ Rights Act last week.

I pay tribute to those serving in our Armed Forces and the families who wrote to me detailing some shocking housing conditions. They put their lives on the line – the least they deserve is a decent home to come back to.

I also had massive support from the nine veterans among our LibDem MPs who sit with me on the green benches, as well as our Peers.

I made Armed Forces’ housing the Liberal Democrats’ top priority when the Bill was introduced 12 months ago and it’s superb to be able to deliver a real win for them.

I have made clear before my concern about massive housing numbers being imposed on our area. What we really need are decent homes at low rent for all who can’t afford to buy. A new generation of council houses would fit the bill.

I also argued in the Commons recently for a new ‘Somewhere Safe to Stay’ duty to be rolled out so no one has to sleep rough; homelessness is another issue which often affects our veterans and they, of all, people shouldn’t have to suffer out in the cold.

Housing challenges of another kind – spiralling service and estate management charges – also came under Parliamentary scrutiny last week.

In a well subscribed debate from MPs of all parties, estate management companies came under the microscope. So many roads and open spaces are now run by companies which fleece residents for the privilege of using them.

Lib Dems want to see these managers regulated, councils given the resources to take over these spaces, and unreasonable charges capped, by law.

Such was the pressure we brought to bear that the Minister, in summing up, told the House that, mid-debate, he had instructed his private office to call one of the most significant estate management firms in to meet with him.

Back in the constituency, it was a joy to be at Taunton Carnival again, made possible by the hard-working Carnival Committee and our Town Council.

And the recent Garden of Light in Wellington Park was magical. We loved the idea and it drew in about 2,000 people, so well-done to our Wellington town councillors who I saw volunteering to help run the event - it was a hit!

Finally, spotlighting our Forces families this week is highly appropriate as we approach Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day.

Every family has its story. For mine, after Nazi extremists took over in Germany, it was an 18-year-old, soon to be Captain, Amos who joined up in 1942 and served in Europe and India, just as both my grandfathers had served in the trenches in the First World War.

Collectively, theirs was our greatest generation.

We will remember them.