Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

I shall speak also to Amendments 145 to 150 inclusive. They are probing amendments and provide us with little more than an opportunity to hear the Government explain in better detail what they are planning. Amendment 144 would prevent the Secretary of State setting up a wholly new body under the clause. How big a body are the Government considering? How many employees will it have? Who will sit on it? Where will they be appointed from? How will they be selected? I simply seek clarity about the Government’s intentions. Amendments 144 and 145 would create a panel within an existing body which could do the same job as a new body. I am sure that the Minister will explain clearly why that would not be a practical option and why a wholly new body is required, especially in light of subsection (5), which makes it clear that a body need not be limited to the functions in the clause. That suggests that those drafting the Bill saw no problem in allowing a body to have a combination of different functions. Is there no existing body that could be adopted to meet the same objectives as those provided in Clause 25? I am keen to hear the Government’s reasoning. Amendment 146 is designed to probe what financial assistance the Government think will be necessary, where it will come from and how much it will be. Once the Secretary of State has provided the money, who will spend it? What will it be spent on? Who will account for it, and to whom? I will be grateful if the Minister will explain the meaning of the words ““financial assistance”” so that we can read the explanation and consider these provisions more carefully with more details to hand. Amendment 147 probes the powers and judgments of the Secretary of State. Clause 25(1)(c) allows the Secretary of State to give assistance to any body that she thinks could carry out the functions in Clause 25. If another body is capable of carrying out these functions, why do we need a new body? Why can the Secretary of State not use her judgment now to identify a body that has the functions specified in this clause? In any case, what criteria will the Secretary of State apply when identifying such a body? Amendments 148, 149 and 150 seek clarification of what is meant by ““other residential property”” that is not social housing. That appears to open the remit of this body to an extraordinary degree. Is that appropriate? Should potentially every residential property in England containing a tenant be subject to this new body? Perhaps they should, but when I read this clause, I thought that this provision was particularly vague and wide-reaching, and I am asking for an explanation. I have asked a series of short questions about Clause 25, and I am sure the Minister will answer them fully. I am interested to hear his response to these probing amendments and will consider his remarks further once I have read them. However, at the moment, I do not like the lack of clarity in the drafting of this clause, and I am unwilling to let it stand part of the Bill without any comment to that effect.