Clause 1 - Withholding of housing benefit on grounds of anti-social behaviour
Housing Benefit (Withholding of Payment) Bill
9:00 am
Mr James Clappison (Hertsmere, Conservative)
Thank you for your guidance, Mr. O'Hara. I beg to move amendment No. 1. The Liberal Democrat spokesman must speak and make such points as he wants to make. The Bill is an important measure which will bring relief to many people who suffer from the problem of antisocial neighbours, and the hon. Gentleman must choose the course he wants to take. People who are affected by the problem will draw their own inferences.
The first amendment to Government new clause 3 is marked amendment (a). Committee members will find it on page 1171 of the amendment paper. It would remove subsection (1)(b). Under the Government's amendments, the procedure that leads to the loss of housing benefit is brought into action in the event of a conviction involving antisocial behaviour. Under new clause 3(1)(b), which sets out the mechanism that leads to the making of an antisocial behaviour declaration, convictions that result—