Clause 54
Housing and Regeneration Bill
1:30 pm
Iain Wright (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Hartlepool, Labour)
I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman who has been tenacious in this line of questioning. He has been so throughout the debate, from oral evidence sessions onwards, in a very sincere manner. I suggest that such a provision is not necessary in respect of his concerns because the powers of the agency are already sufficiently wide to provide industrial building or workshops, should the regeneration or sustainability of a community or area warrant such development. I draw his attention to clause 33 which contains the phrases
“encourage or develop existing or new businesses...provide business or employment services”.
Those specifically and sufficiently refer to encouraging or developing the matters to which he alluded.
We are reiterating and rehashing some of the earlier debate but it is important to reassure the hon. Gentleman that, while the focus of the agency may be towards increasing the supply of housing, it is also tasked with ensuring that any housing developed is supported by the necessary infrastructure, which will include the provision of adequate employment facilities for the area in question should it be needed.
I have made the point on a number of occasions that I do not think that plonking 3 million homes in a field will be adequate. We need to ensure there is sufficient infrastructure, and an employment base is essential. The agency may facilitate the provision of these developments rather than develop itself but it has the power to do so which will be important in helping to fulfil its objects.