Housing and Communities Annual Lecture

ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS:

Clive Betts MP (Chair, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee 2010-2024 and MP for Sheffield South East)

Clive Betts began his political career in 1973 and in 1976 was elected as a member of Sheffield City Council. He became Leader of the Council in 1987, having served on the Housing and Finance committees for several years. He remained on the Council until his election as Labour Member of Parliament for Sheffield Attercliffe in 1992.

Clive was appointed a Government Whip in 1997 and held the post until 2001. In June 2010 he was elected as Chair of the Department for Communities and Local Government Select Committee.

Since becoming a Member of Parliament, Clive has been a key member on several Select Committees (Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Department for Communities and Local Government.) His political interests include economic policy, local and regional government and housing. He is chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Arms Length Management Organisations. Clive is also chair of the Netherlands Group in Parliament.

Clive can frequently be found in the stands at Sheffield Wednesday FC and is Chair of the Parliamentary All Party Football Group.

Dr Halima Sacranie (Director of Housing Research, Centre for the New Midlands)

Dr Halima Sacranie is the Director of Housing Research at the Centre for the New Midlands. She is also an Honorary Research Fellow at the University or Birmingham where she completed her PhD at the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies in 2012, and a Research Fellow at Aston Business School.  Halima’s research interests include housing policy and housing models, tenant engagement and wellbeing, sustainability in social housing, neighbourhoods and placemaking. Her recent projects includes a 4-year EU project with TU Delft on the circular economy in social housing, and 2-year project with Birmingham City Council and the Gambling Commission on the impacts of harmful gambling on council tenancy. Halima is currently leading an evaluation of the West Midlands Social Housing Quality Fund programme which has been commissioned by the West Midlands Combined Authority.

As Chair of the Housing and Communities Leadership Board at the Centre for New Midlands since July 2021, Halima has worked with Board members, policy makers, practitioners and academics in the Midlands to raise the profile of critical housing and communities issues, to create a platform for thought leadership and debate, to share best practice and to influence policy through stakeholder engagement and impactful research. Halima is also a Trustee of the charity Climate Outreach.

ABOUT OUR EVENT SPONSORS:

Unity Trust Bank is an award-winning, independent commercial bank that businesses can be proud to bank with. For nearly 40 years we have been helping organisations to prosper and contribute to positive economic, social and environmental change. Put simply, our purpose is to create a better society.

We provide exceptional banking services for organisations that share our principles of acting with integrity and only lend to creditworthy organisations that share our values and deliver quantifiable impact in their local communities.

Our loyal customer base continues to grow and our ambition is to become the bank of choice for all socially-minded organisations in the UK.

Despite the challenges from economic disruption, Unity remains financially strong and operationally resilient, and the compound annual growth rate of our lending portfolio was 23.8% in 2022. We will continue to pursue safe, sustainable growth into the future.