I met with a Minister to press the case of unsafe cladding on buildings in Hackney. The good news is that from the 9 January there are now six high-street lenders offering mortgages on properties with cladding. But there's not enough movement on high insurance costs and a lack of skilled workers to carry out the works that will be required to remove unsafe cladding – I’ll keep pressing.
 
The Public Accounts Committee looked at government digital services – both behind the scenes as well as consumer and business facing services. There’s a lot of scope for potential savings because many systems in Whitehall are old fashioned and out of date. And better, more efficient systems would make a real difference to those working on the frontline. Look out for our report on this in due course.
 
And the Government won important votes on the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. This is a significant piece of legislation that would instruct Whitehall to go through every law related to our former membership of the EU and decide which it wants to keep and which to junk. But these laws aren’t just some relics of our past EU membership – many are vital protections for workers, consumers, and the environment. I voted against this Bill but the Government’s majority meant it passed. The Bill is now in the House of Lords – see here for further details.