Housing and Regeneration Bill

I start by welcoming Members of the Committee to Part 2 of the Bill. We have looked forward to this day for some time, and so far it has lived up to expectations. I am glad that we started with an amendment that raises some important issues that cross the whole platform of what we are discussing in this part of the Bill. I was relieved when the noble Lord said that he was not going to pursue the private rented sector, because it creates even more complexities than the local authority sector. The noble Lord knows that it is Julie Rugg’s task to come to the department to tell us about some of the options that we might have, after she completes her review of the private rented sector. The noble Lord also told the Committee, rightly, that we have decided that Oftenant was not the best possible choice of title; when we think about it, it may have been the worst choice. The Tenant Services Authority is what it will be called, which is much better because it represents what it is going to do. The amendment proposes to introduce an enabling power to provide a framework under which the future regulation of local authority housing would operate. It has been obvious from the way in which the noble Lord presented the case—he is the best possible advocate—the support around the Committee and the evidence that he drew on, that there is considerable sympathy with the process that he has proposed. I am grateful to my noble friend Lady Whitaker for raising one of the problems that we have with it, which I will come on to. I want to be sure that Members of the Committee understand that we have never, ever thought that cross-domain regulation was anything other than a good thing. We have always been committed to it, so it has not been an uninvited guest. It has been a guest that has been under inspection, in a way that is perfectly proper and necessary. Martin Cave was clear in his report, and he was clear when we met him, that cross-domain regulation is designed to improve standards for every tenant, and that is right. The examples of the flows of tenants back and forward between the sectors, which the noble Lord, Lord Best, pointed out, are accurate. It illustrates the complexity. The only thing between us is how we move forward. This will involve taking enabling powers. We have had to consider a Henry VIII power many times in this House. It enables primary legislation to be amended or repealed by subordinate legislation. Our problem with an enabling power in this case—we do not have a natural aversion to it—is with the process to which it gives rise. I will come to that. In a way, I was hoping that noble Lords would think that the amendment had been overtaken by events, given our commitment, which we announced in the draft legislative programme, to legislate for cross-domain regulation through the Community Empowerment, Housing and Economic Regeneration Bill. The noble Lord is quite right, but he had the words in the wrong order. It will not be a slight Bill; it will be substantial, and this will be an important part of it. I do not share the gloomy prognostications of noble Lords. I do not believe that there will be any issue. We will introduce the Bill in the autumn following a White Paper this summer, and we will be secure in our expectations that this will be an element of that. There is no question of our passing up a golden opportunity. Our intention is to proceed, and our timetable is very clear. In that case, we really must subject the notion of an enabling power to proper scrutiny, because it offers no advantages with regard to timing. The noble Lord, Lord Best, was very firm on this point. He said that it was about timing; he did not want to contemplate delay. I understand the sense of urgency, but we can hope to achieve cross-domain regulation only by April 2010 at the earliest through either route. I shall explain why. The amendment is hardly light on process. The enabling power proposed in complementary Amendment No. 97PB would place requirements on us to consult and to publish a draft order and a statement of representations. The order would have to be debated and agreed by both Houses. That process is quite lengthy. It could certainly not be concluded in time to deliver cross-domain regulation from April 2009. It would have to have proper scrutiny. We would have to protect against unintended consequences. Nothing would be more disastrous if we brought forward something with aspects which we simply did not predict. There is no advantage at all for timing, given the choice between enabling legislation and the Bill that we will bring forward. The remaining case for an enabling power seems to rest on two points: the desirability of providing a safeguard, should we not be successful in including measures in the future Bill—I hope that I have dealt with that; and the idea that regulations are somehow a more appropriate way to proceed than primary legislation. I take issue with what my noble friend Lord Filkin said about the timing. The co-advisory panel has been of enormous benefit to us. It is working extremely hard. Its task is to work with the stakeholders who will be responsible for implementing this, as well as with those who tell us how to address the wide range of implications involved. These are very complex matters. It is not a question of officials in the DCLG working with the regulator; it is a question of everyone who is involved in this process knowing exactly what the implications are and how this will be achieved. The co-advisory panel is now nearing the final stage of its work. It has made welcome progress in working through many of the complexities, but there is still a little way to go. On the second point, it is difficult to see why secondary legislation would be a better approach than taking measures through a Bill. It is absolutely right that this House and all the stakeholders, of whom there are many—the LGA is not the only one, although it is playing a sterling role—can scrutinise these proposals in detail. We can then propose amendments. Despite what the noble Lord, Lord Dixon-Smith, has said, the process is infinitely more satisfactory, transparent, open and robust. For an issue which is as complex as this with major implications for tenants and local authorities I believe that noble Lords will certainly want to scrutinise these provisions at length on the Floor of the House and bring forward amendments. I do not believe that a debate on regulations would give anything like that opportunity.