Schedule 9
Housing and Regeneration Bill
11:00 am
Iain Wright (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Hartlepool, Labour)
I beg to move amendment No. 147, in schedule 9, page 164, line 23, leave out from ‘which’ to the end of line 25 and insert ‘—
(i) in the case of an order made by the Secretary of State, is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament; and
(ii) in the case of an order made by the Welsh Ministers, is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the National Assembly for Wales;’.
The amendment ensures correct application of the law in England and Wales following the devolution settlement. As I mentioned earlier, housing is a matter devolved to Welsh Ministers, and sections 34 and 43 of the Housing Act 1985 provide powers to the Secretary of State and Welsh Ministers to grant consent to a local authority to dispose of tenanted properties. As already mentioned, section 135 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 requires that a local authority first be accepted by the Secretary of State on an annual disposals programme before seeking her consent to a large-scale disposal under sections 34 or 43.
Schedule 9 repeals section 135, but amends sections 34 and 43 to preserve certain requirements and definitions otherwise lost. One requirement is that the cost to the Exchequer of any large-scale disposal be considered before consent is given, and the amendments provide powers to make orders with respect to such disposals. The orders might amend the number of homes considered to constitute a large-scale disposal, which is currently 500 or more, or the time period during which a large-scale disposal might be deemed to have taken place, which is currently five years ending with the date of the disposal. There are other transitional and supplementary provisions as deemed necessary.
The amendment simply makes it clear that any such order, if made by the Secretary of State, will be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution by either House, while any such order made by Welsh Ministers will be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the National Assembly for Wales. As with the earlier group of amendments, this is a technical matter to take into account the devolution settlement. I hope, therefore, that the Committee will accept the amendment.