Clause 183
Housing and Regeneration Bill
5:45 pm

Iain Wright (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Hartlepool, Labour)

I beg to move amendment No. 248, in clause 183, page 71, line 17, leave out ‘in relation to social housing’.

Joe Benton (Bootle, Labour)

With this it will be convenient to take the following: Government amendment No. 250.

Government amendment No. 256.

Government amendment No. 299.

Government new clause 42—Inquiry: charities

Government new clause 58—Charities that have “received public assistance”

Iain Wright (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Hartlepool, Labour)

The amendments and new clauses are all about the application of the regulator’s powers to inquire into the affairs of a registered provider to profit-making bodies and charities that have registered. The provisions are technical points on existing powers and, on that basis, I do not want to detain the Committee any further.

Iain Wright (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Hartlepool, Labour)

I beg to move amendment No. 249, in clause 183, page 71, line 22, after ‘they’, insert ‘and the members of their family’.

This provision amends clause 183 further. It allows the regulator to conduct an inquiry into a provider’s affairs. The amendment is technical. It amends the definition of the phrase “independent of the regulator” under subsection (4) to include members of the families of members and employees of the regulator. An inquiry must be conducted by at least one independent person to improve and enhance transparency in that process. I hope that members of the Committee will accept the amendment.