Alison Seabeck: Amendment 106 would expand the groups that can make community nomination beyond the current prescriptive and somewhat exclusive list, which is wholly dependent on regulations—again, as yet unseen—that are made by the Secretary of State. As the Bill is drafted, only two specified groups can make community nominations: parish councils in England and community councils in Wales. We welcome...
Heidi Alexander: I support the amendments, but I would like to make some general comments about the clause. Please pull me up, Mr Bayley, if I stray into elements that I should not be talking about at this stage. My biggest problem with the community right to challenge is that it will not do what the Government want it to do. My hon. Friend the Member for Worsley and Eccles South was completely right to...
Amber Rudd: I shall take each of the concerns in turn, starting with amendment 3, which the hon. Member for City of Durham has just spoken about. The Government have been very clear in both Houses that clause 39 does not affect the various other permitting and consenting regimes which apply to shale and geothermal developments. Clause 39(4) clearly states that the right of use does not grant operators...
James Gray: With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 11—Tenant Management Organisations— ‘All industrial and provident societies and housing associations registered with the Homes and Communities Agency as tenant management organisations shall— (a) be exempt from implementing, or facilitating the implementation of, the right to buy; and (b) not accept grants made by...
Andrew Stunell: Well, I want to give credit where it is due. It is a long and winding road to Damascus but the Minister has eventually got there. That is fine—it is good to see. To ensure that there is maximum choice for local democracy, and because we thought of it first, we strongly support the clause. We believe that the Government have got it right and that it is appropriate for it to be taken forward....
Roberta Blackman-Woods: I beg to move amendment 12, in clause 6, page 5, line 27, at end insert “in cases where the local authorities’ statement of community involvement was regarded as inadequate.” This amendment allows the Secretary of State only to require planning authorities to review their statement of community involvement if they have failed to produce one. It is a pleasure to serve under your...
Humfrey Malins: I have a few questions for the Minister. I do not expect him to respond to them now. However, I would be grateful if he would answer them in writing. The clause defines what constitutes a community sentence. Many more such sentences now exist than did formerly. Subsection (1)(a) directs us to clause 160 to obtain a fuller definition of a community order. Clause 160 lists in the relevant...
Helen Berresford: We know from the evidence that community orders are more effective in reducing reoffending than short prison sentences, which are ineffective at doing that. We want to see much better use of community sentences where they are more effective. Community sentence treatment requirements are a really good example of how we can do that, ensuring that we also put in the drug...
Shaun Bailey: Q That is really helpful. In terms of the engagement of Welsh language communities in the process, historically, particularly in mid-Wales, we have seen quite high local election turnouts in Welsh language communities. I am conscious of the work Plaid has done in ensuring that those people who are in the Welsh language community are able to engage with the process, notwithstanding the...
Des Browne: There are two ways in which the amendment can be approached. There are those who encourage a partnership and a broad approach—that is the position of those who drafted the amendment and who seem to be reassured that the Secretary of State intends to be inclusive and to generate a partnership that properly reflects those who should be involved in determining the shape of the application for...
Joan Ruddock: It is not impossible, as my hon. Friend says. Places such as hostels for the homeless or the mentally ill attract the strongest objections. The corollary would be a rebate on the council tax if someone lived next to something they thought was objectionable and was taking the value from their home. My hon. Friend asked earlier what would happen if someone were living next to where a new prison...
Ruth Reed: We have done some research through the Future Homes Commission, which has looked at what people want from development and, starting from what people want from their homes is a good basis on which to begin. Clearly, space and light are very important. Beyond that, community and the sense of place is highly important. Anything that moves from mixed tenure communities to mono-tenure...
Mike Gibbons: We certainly do and we enjoy that. One of our aims is to drive up aspiration in our area, and there are many ways of involving local communities in your institution in a way that will eventually spill over into improved education. So we are using some of the energy and contacts of our sponsors to find ways of bringing additional facilities to our sites, so that the community...
Simon Burns: I am genuinely fascinated to know what line the Under-Secretary will take in her reply, because from 1993 to 1997 she was chair of the Salford community health council. No doubt she did a good job and came fully to appreciate what a valuable contribution that community health council made to the lives of the people of Salford by acting as an independent voice in health care provision and...
Jane Ellison: Clause 3 will simplify the small donations scheme, making it easier for charities to operate while ensuring that the scheme delivers its original policy intention. It is about issues relating to community buildings. The clause also makes certain of the community building rules requirements more flexible, to give more charities the opportunity to benefit from the scheme. Clause 4 ensures that,...
David Ward: I half accept the Minister’s comments, in that we are talking about listing property and not disposing of it. Frankly, however, if my property is put on a list, that is an infringement of my rights, and I believe I have the damn right to say what list my property goes on. The measure creates an infringement and, beyond that, it is anti-competitive from the point of view of small businesses....
Chris Philp: I will follow your direction, Sir Charles, by saying just a few words on this clause, which is relatively straightforward and, I think, pretty inoffensive. Clause 130 simply creates a requirement for probation officials to consult key local and regional stakeholders on the delivery of unpaid work. Unpaid work—or community payback, as it is sometimes known—combines the sentencing purposes...
Stephen Hammond: I beg to move amendment No. 243, in clause 54, page 47, line 33, at end insert— ‘(4A) In subsection (2)(b) after “permit”, insert “or has undertaken such training for drivers of vehicles for the purpose of community transport as the Secretary of State shall by order define.”. (4B) In subsection (2) after paragraph (c) insert— “(d) the driver is not...
David Hanson: I am on my own again, am I? We are back to normal practice. It is like the Christmas truce in the first world war. I am expecting to have, and I want, an appeals commission that has widespread acceptance in the community. I cannot have one Muslim, one Jew, one Protestant and one Catholic on that commission. I want a group of people who are respected, who hold the trust and confidence of the...
Nic Bliss: I would mention three things. I have been personally involved with trying to develop the community gateway associations, which are stock transfer associations that have been about transfer into tenant membership organisations. There is a long process to develop the empowerment structure within those bodies. On the empowerment issue, you have to make a commitment and work with it...