Clause 23 - Abolition of duty under section 197
Homes Bill
5:00 pm
Mr Nick Raynsford (Minister of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions; Greenwich and 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.