Grant Shapps: I beg to move amendment No. 6, in clause 38, page 17, line 25, leave out ‘as it considers appropriate’ and insert ‘before making such a determination’. The amendment is intended to clarify some vague wording in the clause. Its purpose is to ensure that the HCA must consult bodies representing the interests of registered providers of social housing before making a determination. On...
Grant Shapps: I beg to move amendment No. 67, in clause 35, page 15, line 15, after ‘ensure’, insert ‘either’.
Greg Hands: ...the 9,310 foreign nationals registered for national insurance numbers. As a result, there has been a net loss to the borough of a huge amount of money in the calculation of local authority support grants and so on. The solutions for local authorities must lie in proper and robust population data, including, if not especially, on national insurance registration and on gateway authority...
Grant Shapps: I have listened carefully to the Minister’s arguments. The only one that I want to refute is the idea that I am against development. I am in favour of 6,000 new houses being built in my constituency, 2,000 of which have already been built. I invite him to come to Welwyn Hatfield and explain to local people why we should have 10,000 new homes at the same time as our hospital was last week...
Grant Shapps: The Minister has already referred to the Europe Economics study that was conducted prior to rolling out HIPs for one and two-bedroomed homes. However, that study was carried out because the earlier area trials, to which the Minister has also referred, had never been published. Those were £4 million trials, whose results were promised to the House by the end of the year in June and July by...
Grant Shapps: I draw the Minister’s attention to Government amendments Nos. 23 and 27, which are connected. Amendment No. 23 refers to “the functions concerned instead of, or concurrently with, other persons”. Will the Minister define who “other persons” are in that context, as it seems to be missing from the description? Government amendment No. 27 might reveal something of the answer, to give...
Grant Shapps: I still seek clarification on this issue, because it seems to me that a local authority could carry out some sort of consultation on, for example, building more homes, decide that—for a variety of reasons, including lack of infrastructure and services—it would be inappropriate in that particular area, and then be overturned by the HCA coming in and simply saying, “Actually, we are not...
Grant Shapps: Before we move away from the point about the balance between the Secretary of State giving permission for the disposal of land at less than the market rate and the alternative of removing the Secretary of State, as proposed by amendments Nos. 38 and 39, can the Minister—in order for the Committee to fully understand the point—indicate how much that power has been used by the Secretary of...
Grant Shapps: Will the Minister explain, then, why the Housing Corporation does not have those same powers?
Grant Shapps: I hear everything that the Minister says. I am slightly surprised by the response, inasmuch as hon. Members on both sides of the Committee agree with community land trusts. The point that, I think, has not been addressed in the short debate is how community land trusts get off the ground. If they are to do that, they require the reassurance of some kind of framework, some kind of definition....
Grant Shapps: I am grateful to the hon. Lady and agree with her entirely. One of my enduring frustrations when talking about homelessness is that people instantly imagine that one is talking about rough sleeping. It is one aspect—the most extreme, obvious and visual aspect—of homelessness, but it is not the major numerical element. She is absolutely right on that front, and she is right also to...
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what funding he plans to allocate to Hertfordshire to assist young people with disadvantaged backgrounds; and if he will make a statement.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) domestic energy assessors and (b) home information pack inspectors have had their licences revoked.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of home information pack companies which have closed in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what targets the Government set for house building in each of the last 10 years; how many houses were built in each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.
Grant Shapps: That is very helpful. So you do not intend to change the definitions?
Grant Shapps: What I am driving at is a characterisation of the CPRE’s position. You seem to be saying, “Yes, we need more homes,” but as an organisation, you believe that those homes can be largely built on brownfield sites and that the powers of the HCA may be too overwhelming. If that characterisation of your position is correct, what, in your view, would be the safeguard against insufficient...
Grant Shapps: Thank you for that introduction, Mr. Orr. I want to pick up on a couple of points. You mentioned welcoming the Homes and Communities Agency. A concern with the Bill that has struck many of us is that the highest price will be the required criterion for whether a piece of land is sold. Many of us feel that the public good might require more than simply a judgment on the highest price; I...
Grant Shapps: On that last point, in one of the clauses the Bill appears to try to redefine social and affordable housing in order to call all affordable housing social housing, thereby massively increasing the stock of social housing. Is that an issue of concern to you, or is it something that you have noted? Do you want that clause of the Bill to be amended?
David Cairns: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 7 June 2007, Official Report, column 691W.
