Mr.
Boswell: Would that cover ex-offenders, whose need for
decent accommodation is extremely important in their
rehabilitation?
Mrs.
McGuire: I do not want to go into categorisations, because
a specific issue would then become general policy. However, I highlight
the fact that a discretionary element is available to local
authorities. The discretionary element is co-funded by
local authorities and the Department to ensure that there is a support
blanket in case the local housing allowance does not cover the more
difficult situations. I hope that that allays the concern of the hon.
Member for South-West
Surrey. All hon.
Members who have spoken have said that they are concerned about the
supply of shared accommodation. I confirm that in the pathfinder areas
the supply of shared accommodation has not changed in any
respect.
Mr.
Ruffley: The Under-Secretary has made the point for us.
The under-supply is potentially driving up rents, which is leading to
shortfalls for the under-25 target group. The point is not that supply
has stayed the same, but that it is not going
up.
Mrs.
McGuire: There are all sorts of reasons why the market
makes adjustments. The concerns that have been raised this morning are
not just about increasing supply. We have had extensive discussions
with the Department for Communities and Local Government, because we
recognise that there is a wider agenda on housing
supply. Hon. Members
are worried that the new approach will depress supply, but that is not
the case. We estimate that the introduction of the median approach to
calculation will ensure that instead of 26 per cent. of shared
accommodation being available under the single rent, about 50 per cent.
of accommodation will qualify for the new
allowance.
Mr.
Ruffley: Does the Under-Secretary agree as a matter of
logic that if the supply of SRR standard accommodation goes up,
shortfalls will
decrease?
Mrs.
McGuire: I think that I agree with that point, but I am
not sure whether I should, because it came from the hon. Gentleman. I
think that the issue concerns supply and demand. As a historian, my
economics are pretty
shaky.
Mrs.
McGuire: The hon. Gentleman has a far more cuddly
reputation.
Danny
Alexander: The Under-Secretary has once again betrayed her
close understanding of the operation of markets. The position that the
hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds has outlined may be correct in terms
of economics, but can the Minister explain how the proposed change will
lead to a substantial increase in the supply of appropriate
accommodation? Is it a change that has not been made in the pathfinder
areas but that will be made as a result of the roll-out? In other
words, will the policy that has been pursued in the pathfinder areas be
amended? The Shelter research that I quoted refers directly to the
pathfinder areas, where only 26 per cent. of SRR accommodation is
affordable.
Mrs.
McGuire: We can all bandy around statistics and various
approaches to economics. We are in the presence of the Minister for
Employment and Welfare Reform, who is at pains to tell me that his
views have not radically changed since he was not only a National Union
of Students activist, but its president, who is well remembered from
all those years ago.
Returning to supply and demand,
we should not say that the housing market is uniform across the whole
country, because it is not. There are different types of markets in my
hon. Friend the Minister’s constituency, my constituency and the
constituency of the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and
Strathspey. There is a danger that we will start to look at the housing
market as a homogenous market in which the levers of supply and demand
work in uniformity. The increase in supply, if I remember my economics
correctly, could mean that rents become lower rather than
higher. Kali
Mountford (Colne Valley) (Lab): I want to ask the
Under-Secretary about the medians that she has referred to and lay down
a marker for the clause stand part debate in which I hope to speak, if
the Chair allows. Is it not right to look at the median as the total
amount of rent payable in an area rather than the median of the rent
decided upon by rent officers, which often excludes the extremes of the
lowest and highest rents and changes the median
point?
Mrs.
McGuire: I am glad that my hon. Friend gave me advance
warning of that question. We will return to it in the clause stand part
debate rather than discussing it now, because it is slightly off our
discussion, although it is adjacent to it.
I appreciate that time is
limited before we have to adjourn, so may I give one or two other
reassurances? On age discrimination, it is a long-standing principle of
the benefit system that different benefits are paid for different
purposes at different times in a person’s life. I have a couple
of other points which I hope will give some comfort, particularly to my
hon. Friends, who I know from their backgrounds and campaigning
activities may still have some
concerns. We will
continue to consider the detailed aspects of the local housing
allowance shared room rate as we look at the final evaluations in the
pathfinder areas and develop the regulations. Having said that, I will
be frank with the Committee that the core principlesfor
retaining the shared room rate—challenging dependency and
encouraging young people to think about their future job
prospects—link in with some other aspects of the welfare reform
Green Paper, which is about supporting people into work.
Ending on a positive note, I am
delighted to be able to say in response to the refrain of the hon.
Member for Bury St. Edmunds, who asked where have all the young people
gone, that they have gone to jobs, 1 million of them,
everywhere.
Danny
Alexander: I will be brief. The Under-Secretary’s
response did not reassure me on the grounds of principle or practice.
Her argument seemed
to be that things would not get any worse under the new system, but I
want things to get a great deal better. Abolishing the single room rent
would allow that to happen, and I shall therefore press the amendment
to a vote. Question
put, That the amendment be
made:— The
Committee divided: Ayes 2, Noes
9.
Division
No.
6]
Question
accordingly negatived.
It being twenty-five minutes
past Ten o’clock, The Chairman
adjourned the Committee without Question put, pursuant to the
Standing
Order. Adjourned
till this day at half-past One
o’clock.
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