Mr Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham, Conservative)

Before the clause whizzes by at a rate of knots, I should like to raise a few points to which I am sure the new Minister will be delighted to respond—

Mr Nick Raynsford (Minister of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions; Greenwich & Woolwich, Labour)

No, the old Minister.

Mr Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham, Conservative)

I see, we are back to old Labour now.

The clause deals with section 197 of the Housing Act 1996. It effectively repeals the local authority's duty not to secure accommodation, but to provide an applicant

``with such advice and assistance as the authority consider is reasonably required''

to enable him to secure ``other suitable accommodation'' in the district. That provision will be replaced by a general duty to secure accommodation if nothing else suitable is available.

Shelter has expressed concern that the existing legislation has led to a wide variation in the standards and levels of advice and assistance provided by local authorities. It is very poor in places with applicants sent away with little more than a list of bed-and-breakfast locations. Shelter says:

``the quality of advice and assistance is not necessarily dependent on the amount of stock available and there are numerous examples of good practice achieved in areas of high demand.

Likewise, there are authorities where, despite low housing demand, the level of assistance provided is poor.''

I share Shelter's hope for a more uniform and uplifted level of service for homeless people across the country.

How does the change in duties tally with the strategic multi-agency approach—according to the Government, the rationale for part II—particularly if other agencies within the strategic partnerships have access to accommodation? How does the new measure tally with the enhanced strategic advisory role that we debated in our proceedings this morning? How does it tally with efforts to reduce empty homes more logically and undogmatically? How does it work in districts where there is no local authority housing? Surely the key is to secure suitable housing for homeless, or potentially homeless people by whatever means possible. Might the measure not restrict that? Perhaps the old Minister would comment on some of those concerns.

Mr Nick Raynsford (Minister of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions; Greenwich & Woolwich, Labour)

I, too, take the opportunity to extend my congratulations to the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington and welcome him back to our discussions.

The hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Mr. Loughton) asked a number of pertinent questions about how clause 23 tallies with the other measures in this part. The purpose of the clause is to remove section 197 of the 1996 Act, which was heavily criticised at its introduction and has subsequently proved problematic. To some extent, the hon. Gentleman conceded that in referring to the Shelter report, which highlighted the wide variations in the assistance provided by local authorities, which we fully accepted in the debate this morning.

Therefore, it is necessary to ensure there is an effective duty on local authorities towards people who are homeless, in priority need and not intentionally homeless. That duty is to secure that they obtain accommodation, or, if they are threatened with homelessness, that they do not cease to have accommodation.

The relationship with the multi-agency approach is clear. An individual who is threatened with homelessness can be assisted in a variety of ways, including through advice and assistance from a range of different agencies. Someone who is experiencing difficulty in budgeting may be helped by a welfare rights or money advice centre. I think of some of the examples that the hon. Members for East Worthing and Shoreham and for Eastbourne discussed, where individuals, possibly with a history of mental illness, are located in a block of flats where they could cause difficulties to neighbours. Good advice and support from social services may make it possible for such a tenancy to be sustained, which otherwise could be problematic.

That tallies well with the wider multi-agency approach, but it contains a long stop that ensures that the local authority has to secure accommodation and cannot simply say, ``We think that there may be enough alternative accommodation available. We will give you a list. Go out and find something for yourself.''

That is not a satisfactory solution.

The hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham asked how the measure would help to tackle the problem of empty properties. It will act as a further incentive to local authorities to explore effective means of getting every property available to them back into use. It will also encourage them to liaise with other providers in the area, such as registered social landlords and the private sector, on where lettings might be available. It will require an assured tenancy, not an assured shorthold tenancy. We will make some technical changes to subsequent clauses to give effect to that. Nevertheless, it is still possible for someone to be housed on an assured shorthold tenancy on an interim basis and then to transfer to an assured tenancy. The whole purpose of the policy is to secure permanent accommodation for homeless people, so that they are not caught in a revolving door of repeated homelessness, which can be extremely traumatic.

I apologise to the hon. Member, but I cannot recall his third question. If he reminds me of the content, I will happily try to answer it.

Mr Tim Loughton (East Worthing & Shoreham, Conservative)

What about districts in which there is no local authority housing?

Mr Nick Raynsford (Minister of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions; Greenwich & Woolwich, Labour)

I thank the hon. Gentleman. In cases where the authority has transferred its housing stock to another landlord, there has to be, as part of the transfer, an agreement with the receiving body, the registered social landlord, to accept nominations to enable the authority to meet its homelessness obligations. That contractual relationship between the local authority and the large-scale voluntary transfer authority—in some cases, the relationship could be with a number of other RSLs—is the mechanism by which the authority can refer homeless applicants to such accommodation.

Certainly, as part of their homelessness strategy, which is dealt with in one of the earlier clauses of this Bill, it is obviously necessary for local authorities to ensure that they have good relationships and arrangements, whether contractual or simply a voluntary understanding, with registered social landlords in their area to enable them to have access to the necessary number of premises and to meet their obligations.

I hope that the Committee will accept this sensible clause .

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 23 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 24 ordered to stand part of the Bill.