I thank the Opposition spokespersons —the hon. Members for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) and for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds) —for their very thoughtful contributions in this debate. It is really good to see consensus on the introduction of these regulations and I hope we can work together to get this right. There was a lot of cross-party consensus and joining-up previously in understanding both the issue within the exempt provision and what is really required. Fundamentally, it is about how this can be implemented in practice by councils—that is where the difference is going to be felt. I am really encouraged by the Minister’s response and I hope that we can keep in close contact following this debate on the progress that the new Government are making on this issue. I really look forward to her statement in the House on the timeline and the commitments.

Bob Blackman rightly included a number of recommendations in the Bill he brought to the House, and I am sure that local government will want to voice other things they are finding more widely. I thought that Birmingham’s response was quite telling on both the SHIP funding and being able to have a team that can go out and do the inspections—I know the Minister has talked about that more broadly. The findings are concerning—the very fact that the council has been able to recoup £7.23 million in housing benefit overpayments makes it clear that much more joining-up is needed between the DWP and housing. We must be good at how we do that, how we have the advisory board there to support some of the thinking and how we implement that practically.

There are councils that do this better, but I think simply the size of Birmingham is the challenge. It is sad and shocking that a lot of people who cannot be placed elsewhere are being placed in Birmingham. They are vulnerable people and, even more worryingly, they do not have local links, which makes a difference to the level of exploitation—someone’s level of vulnerability increases as a result. We have to think about where we place people, especially if they already have good links in areas that they know and with services that they know. Otherwise, we are just shifting the problem from one place to another, exacerbating the issue of resources and services in Birmingham more broadly.

The Minister is welcome to visit Birmingham city council and our city to see some of the exempt accommodation at first hand. I think that that would help her to get a sense of what the new regulations will need to look like. She could meet the organisations. As she has mentioned, there are lots of good providers and good provision. It is important to get the balance right. Equally, lots of providers are exploiting the situation. The very fact that the Regulator of Social Housing has had to intervene tells us the state of the situation.

This is about protecting the small providers. No one wants to see endless bureaucracy; however, regulations are important. We already have HMO licensing schemes, for example, and we are able to manage and ensure that certain areas do not become saturated, which can simply blight them. Residential accommodation in residential streets should be exactly that—somewhere people feel safe and secure, and not wondering who lives next door, worried about the level of antisocial behaviour or crime, which does spill out on to the streets.

That is exactly what my constituents had to deal with. It should not have taken more than a year and a half of my resource, and the residents, the council and the police working together to build the case and the evidence to take the cases to court. A lot of the providers can pay for good legal advice and representation, and councils just do not have the capacity to be challenged constantly when they are trying to put in place necessary measures. Only through reform can we create a system that is better for housing benefit claimants, residents and our communities alike. That is what we want to see change.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House
has considered exempt supported accommodation.

Sitting adjourned.