You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
England’s tenant engagement organisation has expressed its “frustration” that Alok Sharma was shuffled out of the housing minister role with his lengthy roadshow to meet tenants incomplete.
Tpas had been facilitating a series of meetings between Mr Sharma and people living in social housing.
He began the roadshow as part of work for a Social Housing Green Paper, announced in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June 2017.
But Mr Sharma was moved to the Department for Work and Pensions as part of a cabinet reshuffle yesterday, to be replaced by former justice minister Dominic Raab.
Jenny Osbourne, chief executive of Tpas, said of Mr Sharma’s departure: “We’re genuinely surprised that he’s gone. We’re somewhat frustrated. I just don’t know how you can replicate the impact of hearing what he heard in those meetings.
“True, there were a lot of government officials in those meetings and they will be the ones writing the Social Housing Green Paper. But he’s met about 1,000 tenants and there will be a lot of tenants who are frustrated.”
Nothing has yet been made public on the green paper, which housing secretary Sajid Javid has previously said would be published in early 2018.
Mr Sharma was still due to attend one more tenant roadshow in Basingstoke after it was rescheduled.
Inside Housing has asked the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government if the remaining event will now go ahead.
“I think it was interesting that at every meeting he was keen to say that housing is a very important issue for Theresa May and the government,” added Ms Osbourne.
“I have to read into this reshuffle that this is true. Sajid Javid has been made first secretary of state for housing, and Dominic Raab is clearly a very intelligent and influential man.
“The tenants Alok Sharma met really believed in the government’s message about what it was trying to do, and that needs to be built on.”
A number of housing leaders have also expressed concern at the reshuffle and the high turnover of housing ministers in recent years.