Housing and Regeneration Bill

Before I get to this debate itself, I should say that both myself and, in particular, my noble friend Lady Andrews as the lead Minister on the Bill are going to be as telegraphic as we can in our responses. The Committee will be aware that we are running out of time in which to consider the Bill and we need to give it fair consideration across the piece. If noble Lords enter the debate in that spirit we will make greater progress and still try to answer the points. If any points are unanswered in our responses we will, of course, fulsomely correspond with noble Lords to ensure that questions are answered. We are grateful for the amendment. I can see that the noble Lord is trying to make the language clearer, which does not conflict in any way with our policy intent. If he is happy with that observation, I should like to give a little thought to the wording of the amendment and come back to this issue—perhaps with some jointly agreed words—at a later stage. I should say to the noble Earl, Lord Cathcart, that I am intrigued by this new development in Conservative Party policy and thinking and the call for elected regional assemblies. I shall await developments with great interest. It is, of course, our party’s policy to try to ensure that we have democracy at each tier and level of government.