Clause 77 - Licence conditions
Housing Bill
2:45 pm
Mr Edward Davey (Shadow Secretary of State for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Local Government & the Regions; Kingston and Surbiton, Liberal Democrat)
As with the previous amendment, many of the arguments relating to these amendments were rehearsed at our sitting on Tuesday. My hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Matthew Green) explained our position. I was in the Gallery to hear the Under-Secretary's reply to the debate and, with respect to the force of amendment No. 296, she made it clear that she considered that the notion of authorities and landlords taking ''reasonable'' steps was already implicit in local authority legislation more generally. She may wish to confirm that in response to this debate. I shall not talk about the amendment too much more, although it would not be too onerous to add ''reasonable'' to the clause to remind people who implement the legislation that they should be reasonable, which some tend sometimes to forget.
I am grateful to Shelter for its help in drafting amendment No. 292. We want to make sure that the issues in respect of antisocial behaviour are made clear to the tenants, when they sign their contracts. It does not seem too onerous to ask for written statements of terms that are required under schedule 4. The amendment refers to the
''responsibilities of the occupier in respect of his own conduct''
and
''the responsibilities of the occupier in respect of the conduct of other occupiers and visitors''.
Such key points go to the heart of the practical debate about antisocial behaviour. We have had such a debate before, so I shall not prolong my remarks now. However, will the Under-Secretary give me a clear explanation of why it would be wrong to ask for written statements to cover such points because that seems very much line with the Government's approach?