Clause 196
Housing and Regeneration Bill
6:00 pm
Iain Wright (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Hartlepool, Labour)
I beg to move amendment No. 261, in clause 196, page 74, line 28, at end insert—
‘( ) Case 2A is where the registered provider has failed to comply with an earlier enforcement notice.’.
Joe Benton (Bootle, Labour)
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Government amendments No. 262 to 265.
Iain Wright (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Hartlepool, Labour)
Government amendments Nos. 261 to 265 and new clause 44 relate to clauses 195 to 202, which permit the regulator to issue enforcement notices to registered providers. The amendments are technical, and they will allow enforcement notices to be used if registered providers fail to comply with an earlier notice, fail to publish the fact that they have been required to pay a penalty or compensation, or fail to pay an annual fee. They will also allow the regulator to require an enforcement notice to be published by the provider to whom it was given, and a pre-enforcement notice to be combined with a pre-management-transfer warning notice, and they will require the regulator to send a copy of an enforcement notice to the HCA. The amendments are technical, and as such, I hope that the Committee will accept them.
George Young (North West Hampshire, Conservative)
I appreciate what the Minister has just said—they are technical amendments to the grounds for giving notice under chapter 7. However, when he drafted the amendments, I wonder whether he had before him the letter from the Housing Ombudsman Service, which proposed an additional ground for giving notice, namely “case 7”. Case 7 would be
“where a registered provider has failed to comply with a determination of an ombudsman appointed by virtue of section 120”—
currently clause 120—
“other than an award of compensation.”
That is part of a letter from the ombudsman, Dr. Mike Biles, on 23 January. He prefaced the letter by saying that he had brought those points
“to the attention of Communities and Local Government”.
I take it that the Minister’s Department was aware that the Housing Ombudsman Service wanted clause 196 amended with an additional case. However, the amendment has not been tabled, so will the Minister confirm that he received the letter, considered the argument for an additional case and rejected it, and will he share the reasons why with us?
Iain Wright (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Hartlepool, Labour)
I can confirm that the Department received the letter that the right hon. Gentleman cites. It was dated 23 January, which is not too long ago.
George Young (North West Hampshire, Conservative)
That was the date of the letter to me, but it referred specifically to
“the following points that I have brought to the attention of Communities and Local Government”,
So, from that, I take it that the Minister was in the picture before I was.
Iain Wright (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Hartlepool, Labour)
I would not count on that. Suffice it to say that the Department is fully aware of the points raised in the letter. We are considering the proposal, and we could bring something forward in subsequent stages of the Bill. I hope that that reassures the right hon. Gentleman.
Amendments made: No. 262, in clause 196, page 74, line 28, at end insert—
‘( ) Case 2B is where the registered provider has failed to publish information in accordance with a requirement under section 205(2A) or 217(2A).’.
No. 263, in clause 196, page 74, line 33, at end insert—
‘( ) Case 5A is where the registered provider has failed to pay an annual fee under section 113(2).’.—[Mr. Wright.]