My Lords, I find myself in a very difficult position. I have to say to my noble friend that there are three elements to this aspect of the Bill, which the amendments address, which seem to me incomprehensible. The first is that, if one is running a private business and is going to make a major change in the way it is run, one has a pilot scheme that one evaluates—preferably independently—and then decides whether or not it has worked. I do not understand how a Conservative Government who believe in private enterprise have not learned this from the private sector. It seems to me that you do not behave like this. You have a pilot scheme, you have it independently assessed, you announce the results and then you discuss what those answers mean.
So I have a problem of comprehension to start with. It is an important problem, because the second difficulty I have is that I find it pretty unacceptable in this country that people should have to prove that they are suitable for renting a flat before they are allowed to do so. I do not find that very attractive. I am one of those who have always believed in identity cards, which I think would be convenient for everyone. But this Government do not believe in identity cards and have tried to argue all the time that they are not necessary. However, we are now creating a sector, a section of the community, which in fact has to have an identity card. I object in principle to the concept that some should have it and others should not.
Central to that is the issue that, however one likes to dress it up, it is likely that landlords will be more suspicious of people of an ethnic minority or with a foreign accent than they will be of those who speak correct English with the crystal accents heard in this House. I do not think that many of us who have spoken today, even those with self-confessed “odd” surnames, would be refused rented accommodation, because landlords would not expect us to be unable to prove our suitability for that flat.
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The third thing that I find pretty incomprehensible is that we are supposed to be trying to increase the amount of accommodation in Britain. We are short of accommodation. When I was a Minister with responsibility in this area, I was the first to try to encourage people to let rooms in their homes. I believe that one of the most unacceptable things to have happened recently, if I may say so, is the way in which the Opposition have espoused the cause of people with extra rooms being charged for them without remembering all those who are excluded from housing because people are living in underoccupied premises. I take the view that large families should have a first call on housing and I am pleased that the Government have done something about that. Paying the spare room subsidy should certainly be continued, because I care about the provision of housing, particularly for families.
Historically, a lot of single people would have lived in someone else’s house. That used to happen very widely, even in my young manhood. When you came down from university, you had a room in someone else’s house if your own home was not in the area where you worked. That arrangement largely disappeared and we have tried to find ways of encouraging people to use the spare rooms in their homes.
I can think of no greater discouragement than the provisions in the Bill. I do not understand how, on the one hand, we can exempt people from a significant amount of taxation to encourage them to let rooms in their house and, on the other, have a system in which people worry, even more than they do already, about letting a room in their house.
Those are the three reasons why I find what is proposed incomprehensible. There is another reason which is not about incomprehensibility, because I understand it. I do not like having a society that lays this kind of responsibility on landlords or, indeed, on anyone else. I want a society which is not about sneaking on one’s neighbour. Unless there is a really
strong case for doing so, proved by a pilot scheme and independently assessed, I do not believe that it is acceptable to ask people to carry out this kind of investigation. I say that because, having represented constituencies for many years, I know that racism is endemic, and it is very easy to make it more widespread. It is very simple to make people suspicious of those of a different colour. Therefore, we should be leaning in the opposite direction from the way in which this legislation seems to lean.
I hope that my noble friend will realise that, as he has heard from these Benches, it is not just the Opposition or the Cross Benches, or those with a particular connection to this issue, such as Liberty, who are concerned; there is a fundamental concern about this legislation and a proper test is required. I say to the Minister that if there is a pilot scheme which is independently evaluated and is shown to have a real effect on illegal immigration, I will go along with it because it will be a worthwhile step. However, until we can prove that, it seems to me that the disadvantages and the things that make it incomprehensible to me demand that we look at this issue again. We must make this pilot scheme work before we roll it out.