Housing and Regeneration Bill

This is a good opportunity to raise this serious issue in Committee and to make sure that tragic deaths like that of Rhianna Hardy can be avoided by other children. I welcome the opportunity to put on record what we are doing and how we are helping housing associations, and intend to help them, to fulfil their obligations. We are united in our determination to do everything possible to ensure that such deaths do not happen again. Since the appalling accident and others like it, the Health and Safety Executive produced a comprehensive safety note explaining the symptoms of and remedies for the problem. The safety note also set out best practice for the installation of hot water systems. The Housing Corporation arranged for that alert to be distributed to every housing association, so that they would be fully informed about what they should do and look out for. The department is updating the Decent Homes guidance which will refer landlords to the HSE safety note to ensure that advice is taken into consideration by landlords when preparing investment plans, so that they can look at what they need to change. The noble Baroness knows that we brought forward proposals to widen the requirements relating to hot water safety in Part G, on hygiene, of the building regulations. Those proposals for consultation were published on 13 May and we will implement any changes early in 2009. I think that that was the review to which the noble Baroness referred. I will write to her about the issue of retrospection, because that raises more complex issues than I can address in the Committee. Essentially, the proposed changes, if implemented, would seek to ensure that hot water systems, including the cylinder, the cistern and controls, are robust and do not let the system overheat to the extent that it fails, because that is the technical failure that has been causing the problems. As the noble Baroness knows, safety standards for existing dwellings are dealt with by the Housing Act 2004 via the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, the HHSRS; but duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 can also be applied and enforced in respect of the providers of rented housing when the conduct of the undertaking results in risk to tenants. That can help by ensuring that the HSE notice is distributed to all RSLs and that would also set standards for the condition of properties that would encompass compliance with health and safety matters. So the two systems working together can close that information gap. The landlords of existing rented stock have a duty of care to tenants and safety alerts make them aware of possible hazards from water heaters. That series of actions is very practical and is targeted on RSLs to ensure that they are fully informed. I understand the intention in the amendment to put the issue on the regulator’s agenda in the form of a review. I do not think that that would be the right way forward, because the combination of the scrupulousness of the HSE and the building regulations is focused much more on consequential routes for addressing this. The issue goes much further than the social housing sector, as the noble Baroness knows. The regulator will not have direct authority over compliance with safety standards, because that comes under the HHSRS. Rather than requiring the regulator to carry out such a highly specialised review during its 12 months, we must bear in mind that in order to be fully effective and in order to choose some of these outcomes, he needs to be fully focused on the statutory objectives. So, current regulatory practice illustrates the role that the regulator might play. In fact, under Clause 191, one of the objectives of the regulator is to ensure that tenants enjoy an appropriate degree of protection. The clause empowers him to set standards on the quality of accommodation, facilities and services provided by registered providers, so if it is appropriate for the regulator to cover this issue, we need to note that he does have sufficient tools to do so. However, neither we nor he would want to duplicate the arrangements that are in place. The Housing Corporation also regulates by means of a regulatory code which sets out fundamental obligations on housing associations in order to meet the corporation’s regulatory requirements. Under the code, RSLs are required to comply with the law, including safety standards, to ensure that the homes their residents live in are well maintained and in a lettable condition. The regulator can also help by facilitating and encouraging awareness of problems and legal obligations. I think that we have in place a system of safety and protection, access to information and ongoing work that, it is hoped, will help to ensure that we do not see another tragic accident in the future.