Housing and Regeneration Bill

As a result of what the noble Baroness said, perhaps I may raise a point that I have raised previously. As one stage she definitely implied that some of the funding allocated by the Government was competed for by the local authorities or housing associations. I have no difficulty with that as a means of selecting those who will make the best use of that funding. But what happens next? In other words, presumably they cannot apply again for similar funding for the next 40 or 50 years, or however long it takes, to give all the other authorities who might have failed at first a chance to get access to that funding. Otherwise, if funding goes only to the most efficient, smartest and—perhaps I will not say most loquacious—most plausible authorities, you could have a situation in which some social housing was extremely well maintained and some, through no fault of those who managed it, became effectively neglected. I am sure that the Government have thought that through, but I would like the noble Baroness to tell me how they have done it.