Clause 31
Housing and Regeneration Bill
6:30 pm
Lembit Öpik (Shadow Minister (Housing), Department for Communities and Local Government; Montgomeryshire, Liberal Democrat)
The clause means that the HCA can do anything—make films, run shops, go fishing—because it
“may carry on any business.”
I do not have a particular problem with that; my only concern is the risk of mission creep. It is important that the HCA is focused on its primary duty, in line with the objects that we agreed in an earlier sitting. I seek assurance from the Minister that it will not be expected to over-reach itself, going way beyond the original intentions of the Bill.
Iain Wright (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Hartlepool, Labour)
Yes, I can confirm that the agency will be able to do anything that it likes. However, it must be purely within its objects. That has been made very clear.