Housing and Regeneration Bill

That was a great way to start this debate. I am extremely grateful not just to the noble Earl, Lord Cathcart, who outlined why we need the HCA—although, last year, we built 200,000 homes, so we are doing much better—but also for the range of expertise around this Committee, so we will have some excellent debates. I was extremely glad to hear the noble Earl say that this is a probing amendment. Having read it, I thought that this Committee would get off to a pretty ropey start if I had to defend the existence of the HCA. Clearly, it has raised many questions around the Committee—for example, why is it an NDPB rather than, say, an executive agency? The noble Viscount, Lord Eccles, asked about the size of the board. The balance and composition of the board has also been raised. My noble friend Lady Ford, put much more powerfully than I can why it is an NDPB. As she said, we need the balance of an independent, flexible and powerful agency, which at the same time gives the responsible Minister a degree of control over its activities. Although we do not have a national housing policy, we certainly have a policy for housing the nation, and the responsibility of the Department for Communities and Local Government lies in setting those high objectives, values and targets. In the same way as we have created English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation, which have served us so well, we will create the HCA as an NDPB as well. The agency is challenged by its task, which is why it needs to be as robust as possible. As I said at Second Reading, we have a budget of billions of pounds and its task is to be the best possible delivery partner. Again, I was grateful to the noble Earl, Lord Cathcart, for emphasising the word ““delivering””. Whereas policy and strategy sit with Ministers, this board will bring together for the first time all the partners, investment, land and housing, regeneration, decent homes, and growth areas. It will have at its disposal an enormous range of expertise and the power to bring people and partners together for the first time in a new way, which not least determines that the Secretary of State should make the appointments to the board. As my noble friend Lady Ford said, we need to have a credible and strong board with a strong voice. We need to respect Cabinet Office guidance that in situations such as this, the responsible Minister appoints the board. Amendment No. 2 refers to qualifications and experience. I take the point made by the noble Earl, Lord Cathcart, on the need to have expertise which reflects front-line experience; flexibility, so that as things change we may be able to modify the board; and balance, which goes beyond individual expertise. Combined, those factors will give us a broad range of expertise to address all these different interests. Indeed, paragraph 1(3)(a) of Schedule 1 provides that the Secretary of State must be satisfied that the board appointee is suitably qualified and experienced in matters pertaining to the activities of the HCA. The board will provide strategic leadership and be the voice—the public front—of the agency. It will be the guardian of delivery and will champion the various elements of the work. The noble Viscount, Lord Eccles, is therefore right to ask whether six people will be enough. It is a minimum number. The fact that there are 12 members on the board of EP and the Housing Corporation—double the minimum number—reflects the fact that the figure can be increased. It is important that the Secretary of State has the ability to ensure that the board of the agency is sufficiently staffed. As I have said, there is a standard power to appoint board members and there are inbuilt accountability arrangements through the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointment guidelines when making appointments. In practice, therefore, we expect the membership to be greater than the minimum number of six in order for the HCA to be led as we want it to be. On the question of balance, as raised in Amendment No. 2, it is important that the Secretary of State is free to make appointments which will ensure that the scope of the HCA’s work is representative. I take the point entirely—it was very well made—that we are looking not for representation but for people who have credibility and experience and can rise to the task with which they will be faced. I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, that, again, the priority of ensuring a balance and variety of relevant expertise on the board will continue to be governed by the OCPA guidance and will remain at the discretion of the Secretary of State. That flexibility is necessary because of a need, potentially, for modifications in some situations as time goes on. We are looking for demonstrated capacity. The Secretary of State is making progress with the appointment of board members. I hope to be able to update noble Lords as we go through that process to make sure that they are fully informed as and when we can make public announcements about it. That will be during the course of the Bill. I hope that I have addressed the issues that have been raised. If noble Lords would like more detail on any aspect of governance I shall be happy to write to them in due course.