24 November 2022

The Green Party of England and Wales is calling for the government to urgently bring forward its promised Renters Reform Bill in time to stave off a winter of evictions and homelessness.

The call came as new figures showed so-called no fault evictions leaping 76 per cent [1}

Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, said the Bill must include:

“An immediate cap on rent increases until at least the end of March 2023, as well as a ban on no-fault evictions over the same period to prevent landlords evicting tenants in order to raise rents.” 

In Scotland, where the Scottish Greens are in government with the SNP, similar measures have already become law [2].

Average rental prices outside London have hit a high of £1,162 a month, jumping 11% in the past year [3]. 

The UK government produced a White Paper in June [4] and Housing Minister Andrew Stephenson told Parliament in October the legislation was still a “priority.” [5]

Carla Denyer added:

“Knowing that you have a secure home over winter is vital for both physical and mental health. Households already face soaring energy and food costs; the last thing they need, on top of everything else they have to contend with, is unaffordable rent rises and the fear of being evicted.

“Rising private rents and increasing evictions have also been cited as major causes of a dramatic increase in homelessness in London and other cities. The number of people sleeping rough on the capital’s streets has jumped by a shocking 24% in the past year [6]

“We are calling on the government to introduce an immediate freeze on rent rises and a ban on evictions by landlords who simply want to increase rents between tenancies. The Scottish government has introduced legislation to safeguard tenants this winter. We want to see the Housing Minister introduce similar measures in England, and for the Senedd to use its devolved powers to do so in Wales [6].” 

Notes

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-63719126 

[2] Cost of living: rent and eviction – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

[3] Average rent climbs to £1,162, according to Rightmove, up 11% in a year – as charities warn tenants are struggling to make ends meet (msn.com)

[4] A fairer private rented sector

[5] Housing Minister Andrew Stephenson

[6] Number of people sleeping rough in London up 24% in a year | Homelessness | The Guardian 

[7] Rent freeze call by Plaid Cymru voted down by Labour – BBC News

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Environment Agency officers and partners in the Reviving Calderdale’s Rivers project made the fantastic find at Luddenden Brook. It’s the first time they have been confirmed in that location for close to a decade.

White-clawed crayfish are the UK’s only native, freshwater crayfish, and are most at risk from the American signal crayfish, which spread a fatal disease and compete for food.

The rare species plays a vital role in keeping our waterways clean and as a source of food for other native species, but have struggled to survive after the more aggressive signal crayfish population has taken hold.

Crayfish in ‘very real’ danger of extinction

Dan Chadwick, Fisheries Technical Officer from the Environment Agency in Yorkshire, said:

We’re delighted with this discovery. The white-clawed crayfish is in very real danger of disappearing from the UK so to confirm that a population we thought was lost is flourishing is exciting.

We’ll be working with partners including Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Calderdale Council and Calder Rivers Trust to create better habitats and ensure this rare species can survive and thrive. It gives us real hope that there might be further populations in the Calder river catchment.

The signal crayfish, which originates from America, was introduced in the 1970s. It is bigger, more aggressive and out-competes the native white-clawed crayfish. They also carry a fungal disease known as crayfish plague, which is fatal to the native species. They burrow into banksides, causing increased siltation of watercourses which can smother river beds.

Populations of signal crayfish do exist in the main River Calder, but several weirs on Luddenden Brook isolate and protect the endangered white claw species from them. The Environment Agency is now calling on people to ‘Check, Clean, Dry’ their clothing and equipment after visiting local rivers in the Calder catchment to avoid transferring the invasive species and the crayfish plague into the brook and risking harm to the white claw population.

River users should ‘Check, Clean, Dry’

Tim Selway, Environment Agency Biodiversity Technical Officer, said:

We want to do all we can to protect this special species so are calling on people to take extra care and make sure they are not moving crayfish from where they have been found.

Signal crayfish have rapidly spread across the country and moving just one into a river can wipe out an entire population of the white-clawed species, killing hundreds of thousands of them. And once the invasive signal becomes established in a river there is currently no way to get rid of them.

Elliot Baxendale from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust added:

Through partnership work it’s fantastic to see the rediscovery of the white-clawed crayfish in Luddenden Brook. This endangered species needs all the help that it can get and this can be as little as following the Check, Clean, Dry guidance to help ensure their survival in our shared interconnected eco systems.

Chair, let me warmly welcome Brazil’s delegation, led by Minister Fernando Meirelles de Azevedo Pimentel to their eighth Trade Policy Review [TPR].

Let me also thank the Government of Brazil and to the WTO Secretariat for their Reports and, in particular, to you, Chair and Discussant, for your insightful comment.

Chair, following Brazil’s recent federal elections, we look forward to continuing to work together constructively with the incoming government to find bilateral opportunities and to advance progressive multilateral solutions, including here at the WTO.

In our written questions for this review, the UK was keen to gain a deeper understanding regarding Geographical Indications, import and customs requirements, environmental and sustainability measures, and government procurement.

As Brazil’s 2017 TPR and the Secretariat Report for this review note, Brazil remains a somewhat inward-oriented economy. However, we were pleased to note developments in the modernisation of Brazil’s economy and commend Brazil’s clear commitment and actions here to reaffirm the WTO as a central pillar of global economic governance and its impressive role within the multilateral trading system. Let me also recognise Brazil’s active engagement on all the Joint Statement Initiatives.

Chair, we are encouraged by Brazil’s ongoing openness to international investment. We agree with Brazil that economies, like the multilateral trading system itself, should function as an instrument to improve the lives of everyone, and that investors depend on predictability and stability.

As such, there are key opportunities for Brazil and the UK to build on common ground. For instance, the UK Global Tariff, which came into effect in January this year, has secured over £2 billion of import value by unilaterally removing barriers to green trade. This measure supports wind turbine components, renewable energy generation, and advancing carbon capture innovations and research. This measure reflects the importance of trade in greening the global economy, as highlighted in Director General Ngozi’s recent comments at COP 27 and in the WTO World Trade Report. Trade must be a cornerstone of climate action.

Similarly, to grow international trade, UK Export Finance offers a dedicated £2 billion clean growth direct lending facility, and long-term financing (up to 18 years indeed for renewable energy projects) to provide a safety net for businesses investing in this area.

Turning to new trade policy developments, we are proud to support Brazil to be the first Latin America country to have a digital marketplace of export services tailor-made for MSMEs’ needs, which is based on the United National Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business integrated services for MSMEs in international trade.

We also note that the BRAEXP platform [a new service for Brazilian’s exporters] is due to be fully developed by March 2023 and we look forward to seeing the trade-facilitating benefits which it will undoubtedly provide.

Chair, let me also pay tribute to Brazil’s commitment to the trade facilitation agenda. Through the Trade Facilitation in Middle Income Countries programme, we were glad to support the World Bank Group and the World Customs Organization to deliver to Brazil a Time Release Study, a WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement Gap Assessment, a Trade and Gender Survey, and a Poverty Impact Assessment.

We encourage Brazil to keep implementing the solutions identified in those deliverables. These will enhance transparency and improve the effectiveness of international trade procedures, ensuring that benefits are reaped regardless of socio-economic status, ethnicity, or gender.

We are also pleased that the Secretariat’s Report notes that Brazil has eliminated important duties on certain aeronautical goods and has implemented tariff reductions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those measures demonstrate flexibility and an openness to international trade, and we encourage Brazil to implement further, similar, outward-looking, open measures.

Regarding Geographic Indication [GI], the UK particularly welcomes Brazil’s recent commitment to progress the UK’s application for the protection of GI’s in relation to Scotch Whisky, cheers. We are pleased with the progress which we have made on a double taxation agreement to boost trade and investment between our 2 countries.

We were also glad to share with Members that last Thursday 17 October we completed negotiations with Brazil on the UK Goods Schedule at the WTO, a great step in our bilateral relationship. Earlier this year, we welcomed the OECD Council’s unanimous invitation to Brazil to start on the path towards formal organization membership, a process which will surely prosper in the capable and oh-so-elegant hands of Ambassador Parola. Geneva’s loss is undoubtedly Paris’ gain.

Concerning Brazil’s accession to the Government Procurement Agreement [GPA], the UK was pleased to receive Brazil’s latest market access offer in June. To fully unlock the richness of our trading relationship, the UK would welcome further engagement to progress Brazil’s accession to the GPA, and in doing so to become the first Latin American country to accede. All of these proactive steps underline Brazil’s strong commitment to multilateralism.

To conclude, Chair, we wish Brazil well in building on its trade-centred growth path and we thank our colleagues in Brazil and here for their fruitful engagement in this important transparency exercise.

Finally, to pick up a current in our conversations this morning, good luck to Seleção Canarinha, whose silky skills are matched only by those of your team in Geneva. See you in the final in Qatar.

Thank you, Chair.