Greater London Authority Bill

My Lords, why are we here? What is the raison d’être of this Bill? If everything was hunky-dory, why has there been a need in the revision after seven years of life to examine the balance of powers between the Mayor and the authorities? Quite simply, it is because there was a general dissatisfaction with the manner in which the legislation was being followed through. I bow to all those with superior knowledge to mine of the current situation, both in the GLA and in business. I was pleased to hear the point of view of London First. We are now examining the crux of the switch in the balance of power, strategic and otherwise, between the Mayor and the authorities. I recall vividly the speech made in Committee by the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, in which he used the illustration of his experience, as a Westminster ratepayer, of a development in Westminster. He illustrated for me more vividly than any others the reality of the situation. He said that, although the planning permission required the developer to develop affordable housing as a certain percentage of the total, when that percentage was complied with, it occupied only 10 per cent of the land. Of course, I ought to have known about that in general, but I was shocked and angry that such devices were being used by developers—I am not talking about collaboration with councils or planning committees. It is clear that no matter what we do to try to improve the position on affordable housing, numerous powerful, avaricious and greedy forces will take advantage. Anyone like me who has been in a surgery with their constituents will know not only the size and the weight of the surgery in housing but the awfulness of the conditions that people are in. It is clear that the Minister and her colleagues recognise that, in order to get the Bill through and to take into account the various situations, compromises have to be made. However, I do not think that the compromise brought before the House by the noble Baroness, Lady Hanham, is acceptable in this instance. I am well aware that whatever we do will never be sufficient. My noble friend emphasised that there is a desperate need to provide more affordable housing. This was re-emphasised around the House. The situation is not going to get any better unless there is a powerful drive spearheaded by the Government and fronted by the Mayor, the GLA and every local authority. There are many good reasons why, left to their own devices, authorities will reorganise their priorities and do a good job for their ratepayers, but that will not solve the problem for those who want affordable housing. Of course compromises need to be made, but I hope that the Minister and her colleagues will recognise that there should be no compromise on what is proposed in giving the Mayor extra powers over housing. We have seen evidence during the passage of this Bill of the disparity between what authorities feel is adequate. Yet we know that when people are deprived of good housing, they not only have an inadequate lifestyle, but bring up children in poorer circumstances, where they are less able to benefit from education or get better jobs. So the whole cycle goes on. It starts with adequate housing. When we talk about affordable housing now, we talk about costs of rent and purchase that are way beyond anything that we contemplated five years ago. The sooner the Minister is able to put flesh on the bones of this particular nexus, the happier I will be.