Housing and Regeneration Bill
Public Bill Committees, 11 December 2007
Roger Gale (North Thanet, Conservative)
Good morning. Before we begin, there are various preliminary announcements to make. First, while I am in the Chair, if hon. Members wish to remove their jackets for their comfort they may do so. It is up to Mr. Benton whether he extends the same courtesy. Will all hon. Members please ensure that their mobile phones, pagers and all electronic devices are switched off? For the purposes of this Committee, laptops are not allowed to be used.
There is a money resolution in connection with the Bill and I am advised that copies are available in the room. Adequate notice should be given for amendments, because, as a general rule, Mr. Benton and I will not call starred amendments.
The process of taking evidence in public that we are shortly to embark on is relatively new, so it may be helpful to hon. Members, as it has been to me, to be advised as to the procedure. The Committee will first consider the programme motion on the amendment paper. That process will take up to half an hour. We shall proceed to a motion to report written evidence, followed by a motion to permit the Committee to deliberate in private in advance of the oral evidence sessions. I would like to think that we could take those latter two motions formally.
Assuming that the second of the motions has been agreed to, the Committee will move into private session for discussion prior to the evidence taking. Once the Committee has deliberated, the witnesses and members of the public will be invited into the room and the oral evidence session will commence.
To concentrate minds, the witnesses have been invited to attend at 11 o’clock. That means that you have half an hour, but if you choose not to take it, it will help the witnesses. If the Committee agrees to the programme motion, it will hear all evidence today and on Thursday, moving on to the more familiar proceedings of clause-by-clause scrutiny as a Public Bill Committee in sittings commencing in the new year.
You will notice that the first evidence session, when we come to it, will be with the Local Government Association and London Councils. That session must terminate at 11.45 am under the terms of the programme motion, if you agree to it; so the witnesses do not have very long. Regrettable and discourteous though it may seem to some people, at 11.45 am the Chair must terminate the evidence session. You should be aware of that when we come to take the evidence.
Without further ado, I call upon the Minister to move the programme motion.
Iain Wright (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Hartlepool, Labour)
I beg to move,
That—
(1) the Committee shall (in addition to its first meeting at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday 11th December) meet—
(a) at 4.00 p.m. on Tuesday 11th December;
(b) at 9.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. on Thursday 13th December;
(c) at 9.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. on Thursday 10th January;
(d) at 10.30 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. on Tuesday 15th January;
(e) at 9.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. on Thursday 17th January;
(f) at 10.30 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. on Tuesday 22nd January;
(g) at 9.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. on Thursday 24th January;
(h) at 10.30 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. on Tuesday 29th January;
(i) at 9.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. on Thursday 31st January;
(2) the Committee shall hear oral evidence in accordance with the following Table;
Witness
Tuesday 11th December
Until no later than 11.45 a.m.
Local Government Association;
London Councils
Tuesday 11th December
Until no later than 12.30 p.m.
Chartered Institute of Housing
Tuesday 11th December
Until no later than 4.45 p.m.
National Housing Federation
Tuesday 11th December
Until no later than 5.30 p.m.
Defend Council Housing
Tuesday 11th December
Until no later than 6.15 p.m.
Tenants and Residents Organisations of England
Tuesday 11th December
Until no later than 7.00 p.m.
Council of Mortgage Lenders
Thursday 13th December
Until no later than 9.40 a.m.
Campaign to Protect Rural England
Thursday 13th December
Until no later than 10.25 a.m.
Tribal Treasury Services
Thursday 13thDecember
Until no later than 1.45 p.m.
Shelter
Thursday 13th December
Until no later than 2.30 p.m.
Lord Best
Thursday 13thDecember
Until no later than 4.00 p.m.
Department for Communities and Local Government
(3) proceedings on consideration of the Bill in Committee shall be taken in the following order: Clause 1; Schedule 1; Clauses 2 to 9; Schedule 2; Clauses 10 and 11; Schedule 3; Clause 12; Schedule 4; Clauses 13 to 52; Schedule 5; Clause 53; Schedule 6; Clauses 54 to 57; Clauses 59 and 60; new Clauses and new Schedules relating to Part 1; Clauses 242 to 248; Schedule 8; Clauses 249 to 267; Schedule 9; Clauses 268 to 273; new Clauses and new Schedules relating to Part 3; Clauses 61 to 241; new Clauses and new Schedules relating to Part 2; Clause 274; Clause 58; Schedule 7; Clause 275; Schedule 10; Clauses 276 to 280; remaining new Clauses; remaining new Schedules; remaining proceedings on the Bill;
(4) the proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at 4.00 p.m. on Thursday 31st January.
It is a privilege to serve yet again under your chairmanship, Mr. Gale. I say “yet again”, because the first Bill Committee on which I served was that on the Gambling Bill, which was splendidly chaired by your good self. You also chaired the previous Session’s Finance Bill Committee, on which I served. Mr. Gale, I do not know what heinous crimes you have committed that cause me to follow you about, but, for my part, I am absolutely delighted that your decisive and wise chairmanship will help us enormously during the Committee’s deliberations.
I also welcome your co-Chair, Mr. Benton, whose constituency I was privileged to visit last week, and whose chairmanship I also respect. I welcome all other right hon. Members and hon. Members to the Committee. I would imagine that occasionally some hon. Members have to be, shall we say, persuaded by the Whips to serve on a Public Bill Committee, but for this Bill my party has been fighting them off, as we have been over-subscribed by those wishing to participate. We had an excellent debate on Second Reading and I look forward to expanding on and developing some of the arguments that were teased out.
With some trepidation, I welcome to the membership of the Committee my right hon. Friend the Member for Greenwich and Woolwich and the right hon. Member for North-West Hampshire, who is not present this morning. Their experience as former Housing Ministers is second to none. I am filled with a great deal of trepidation precisely because of their first-class knowledge and experience in the field. I am certain that they will ensure that I raise my game during the Committee. I also thank and welcome the Front-Bench spokesmen of the Opposition parties, the hon. Members for Welwyn Hatfield, for North-East Bedfordshire and for Chesterfield. I like and respect the hon. Gentlemen enormously. I invariably disagree with them, but know that they will scrutinise the Bill with the rigour that it deserves.
I mentioned on Second Reading that the Bill is wide-ranging and detailed; ambitious and yet technical. It is an important vehicle to enable our vision to be realised of more homes, better homes, and greener and more sustainable homes. The creation of the Homes and Communities Agency will bring together land and investment to facilitate the building of new homes with a view to helping us to reach the target of 3 million new homes by 2020. The establishment of the new regulator, Oftenant, will ensure that tenants of social housing get the very best that they deserve in core housing services.
We have a good and diverse range of witnesses for the Committee sittings today and on Thursday. The usual channels have worked extremely well to ensure a good balance, and the Committee will be able to hear and probe different views and perspectives on housing, regulation and regeneration. Once we have taken oral evidence, the programme motion provides for 14 sittings for detailed clause-by-clause consideration. I am keen to work with the Opposition parties on particular parts of the Bill on which they wish to concentrate, so that they have the ability to express appropriately their concerns. I am content that the 14 sittings within the programme motion will allow that to happen. The usual channels have ensured that the programme motion is accepted by all, so it remains for me only to ask the Committee to support it.
Roger Gale (North Thanet, Conservative)
Copies of any memorandums that the Committee receives will be made available in the Committee Room.