My Lords, while my noble friend is contemplating the answer to that, she wrote to me about this in her letter of 1 July. She said:
“The intention is for the HCA to dispose of its freehold interest on the open market”.
I completely understand that. She said that,
“the HCA retains a strong policy interest in what happens on its land once it is sold to market”.
I think that that picks up the point I raised earlier about the need to ensure that the land is in fact used for purposes consistent with public policy. She continued:
“Where public land can be put to better use—say in supporting the delivery of much-needed new homes—it will transfer to the HCA. The HCA will then typically seek to set the parameters for future development on the land, by obtaining planning consent with the local authority prior to sale, and selling its land with certain conditions attached”—
that is the point that I think the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, was asking about—
“to ensure that the building carried out on its land is done so in line with public policy (say by specifying the number of affordable homes to be built)”.
That all seems extremely sensible. This is not just bringing land in and then saying that anyone can do anything they like with it. If it is public land already, the question is to get it into use for public purposes as quickly and efficiently as possible, but for purposes consistent with public policy. That seems to be quite right. Can the Minister confirm that her amendment is indeed intended to achieve that?
4.45 pm