Clause
182
Performance
information
Question
proposed, That the clause stand part of the
Bill.
The
Chairman:
With this we may take Government new clause
40— Publication of performance
information
5.45
pm
Mr.
Wright:
New clause 40 is linked to clause 182, which
allows the regulator to require registered providers to prepare an
annual report assessing their performance by reference to the standards
under clause 173, and then to send it to the regulator and to specify
what the report should cover. That allows the regulator to get the
information that it needs to monitor and enforce good housing
management, supplemented by additional information collected under
clause 104 or inspection reports under clause
181.
However, it is
fair to say that tenants, local authorities and others also need useful
information on landlord performance so that they can compare the
service different landlords offer and help hold them to account. New
clause 40 places a duty on the regulator to provide information at
least once a year. It specifies that the information includes that
likely to be useful to tenants, potential tenants and local
authorities. It could include, for example, its assessment of
performance, self-assessments, the outcome of inspections and tenant
satisfaction data. It will help to achieve the recommendations of the
Cave review. Martin Cave saw the regulator as publishing comparative
information and effective local league tables for registered providers
so that tenants and others could compare performance within the same
local area, similar to those for schools, universities and
hospitals.
Clause
182 ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause
183
Inquiry
Mr.
Wright:
I beg to move amendment No. 248, in
clause 183, page 71, line 17, leave
out ‘in relation to social
housing’.
The
Chairman:
With this it will be convenient to take the
following: Government amendment No.
250.
Government
amendment No.
256.
Government
amendment No.
299.
Government new
clause 42—Inquiry:
charities
Government
new clause 58—Charities that have “received public
assistance”
Mr.
Wright:
The amendments and new clauses are all about the
application of the regulator’s powers to inquire into the
affairs of a registered provider to profit-making bodies and charities
that have registered. The provisions are technical points on existing
powers and, on that basis, I do not want to detain the Committee any
further.
Amendment
agreed to.
Mr.
Wright:
I beg to move amendment No. 249, in
clause 183, page 71, line 22, after
‘they’, insert ‘and the members of their
family’.
This
provision amends clause 183 further. It allows the regulator to conduct
an inquiry into a provider’s affairs. The amendment is
technical. It amends the definition of the phrase “independent
of the regulator” under subsection (4) to include members of the
families of members and employees of the regulator. An inquiry must be
conducted by at least one independent person to improve and enhance
transparency in that process. I hope that members of the Committee will
accept the
amendment.
Amendment
agreed
to.
Clause 183,
as amended, ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause
184
Inquiry:
supplemental
Amendment
made: No. 250, in clause 184, page 71,
line 28, at end
insert—
‘( ) The inquirer
may consider the affairs of a profit-making registered provider only so
far as relating to social housing.’.—[Mr.
Wright.]
Mr.
Wright:
I beg to move amendment No. 251, in
clause 184, page 71, line 33, leave
out ‘publish’ and insert
‘arrange for the publication
of’.
Clause 184
relates to the conduct of inquiries into a provider’s affairs.
It allows the regulator to arrange for the publication of the
inquirer’s report, rather than publish the report itself. This
simply adds flexibility to the process. It may be, for example, that
the person conducting the inquiry might also publish the report. The
decision as to whether the report or part of it should be published at
all will be strictly a decision for the regulator. It might
decide not to publish all or parts of a report, for example,
where it contains commercially sensitive information. It is a sensible
amendment, and I hope that Committee members will accept it.
Amendment agreed
to.
Clause 184,
as amended, ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause
185
Inquiry:
evidence
Mr.
Wright:
I beg to move amendment No. 252, in
clause 185, page 72, line 2, leave
out from ‘to’ to end of line 5 and insert ‘provide
specified documents or
information.’.
The
Chairman:
With this it will be convenient to take
Government amendments Nos. 253 to
255.
Mr.
Wright:
The amendments are technical, detailed amendments
to clause 185, which allows the person conducting the inquiry to which
I have referred, to gather evidence for an inquiry into a
provider’s affairs.
As I have said, the amendments are technical and I think that they make
the clause clearer. In order to move business in a swift manner, I do
not wish to detain the Committee any longer.
Amendment agreed
to.
Amendments
made: No. 253, in clause 185, page 72,
line 6, leave out subsection (2) and
insert—
‘(2) The notice may,
in particular, require evidence to be given on oath (and the inquirer
may administer oaths for that
purpose).’.
No.
254, in
clause 185, page 72, line 8, leave
out ‘to persons’ and insert
‘documents’.
No.
255, in
clause 185, page 72, line 11, leave
out ‘(4), (5), (6) and’ and insert ‘(3)
to’.—[Mr.
Wright.]
Clause
185, as amended, ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause
186
Extraordinary
audit
Amendment
made: No. 256, in clause 186, page 72,
line 21, at end
insert—
‘( ) The revenue
accounts of a registered charity may be audited under this section only
insofar as they relate to its housing
activities.’.—[Mr.
Wright.]
Clause
186, as amended, ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clauses
187 and 188 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause
189
Charity:
change of
objects
Question
proposed, That the clause stand part of the
Bill.
Andrew
George:
In relation to our earlier debate following the
amendments moved by the right hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich
and in relation to clauses 172 to 174, the right hon. Gentleman
suggested that in order to protect the independence of the RSLs, it is
important that they can reflect it in their memoranda and articles of
association, their constitution and so on. What troubles me here, and
this is reflected in these clauses, is the extent to which the
regulator, under both clause 188 and clause 189, must first, in the
case of industrial and provident societies, have consented under clause
188(3) to any changes that the RSL wishes to make to the
society’s rules. Similarly, under clause 189(3), the regulator
must be consulted by the Charity Commission if someone seeks to make an
amendment. To an extent, we have debated this issue before. The
Minister has reassured the Committee that these bodies retain their
independence, but what troubles some of us is that these two clauses
suggest that their independence is not entirely maintained by the
extent to which the regulator can intervene. The Charity Commission has
to be consulted and the regulator has to give consent to the changes
that may be proposed by housing associations that are registered as
industrial and provident societies. I simply seek some reassuring
statement from the Minister with regard to these two
clauses.
Mr.
Wright:
I am not certain what the hon. Gentleman is
getting at. I think that we have covered this issue fairly
substantially. I think that what he is saying is that he is concerned
that the regulator will intervene in a disproportionate manner in
regard to the activities of the registered providers. My very clear
intention, which I have expressed to the Committee, is that that is
precisely what we want to avoid. Modern regulatory regimes modelled on
other industries suggest that we should be proportionate, have a light
touch, and should minimise interference wherever possible, and that is
locked into the regulator’s objectives, as set out in clause 86.
I am very keen to reassure the hon. Gentleman, but the situation is as
it always has been. I could look at Hansard to see whether I
have missed something, but I would have thought that the parameters
that I have just outlined provided that
reassurance.
Question
put and agreed
to.
Clause 189
ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause
190
Companies:
change of
articles
Amendment
made: No. 258, in clause 190, page 73,
line 12, at end
insert—
‘( ) The regulator
may not consent to an amendment which it thinks would turn the
company into a profit-making
organisation.’.—[Mr.
Wright.]
Clause
190, as amended, ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause
191
General
Question
proposed, That the clause stand part of the
Bill.
The
Chairman:
With this we may take Government new clause
37— Information, advice
etc.
Mr.
Wright:
Clause 191 permits the regulator to give guidance
to registered providers. It does not specify limitations as to the
scope or content of such guidance. Unlike standards, guidance is not
binding on registered providers, but providers may wish to take it into
account.
We are coming
on to clause 192, which states that guidance can also cover how the
regulator
“intends to
use powers under this Chapter and Chapter
7.”
The regulator may
have regard to compliance with guidance by registered providers when
exercising or contemplating the use of its powers under chapters 6 and
7. The regulator can also issue general information of use to
registered providers under this heading. I think that that is an
important power. However, I am also moving an amendment to introduce
new clause
37.
6
pm
New clause 37
will replace clause 191. The new clause will give the regulator a more
comprehensive set of powers than clause 191, letting the regulator
publish information, undertake research and provide guidance,
advice, education or training. It is based in part on the Housing
Corporation’s power in section 77 of the Housing Association Act
1985. The new clause will be better, and on that basis, I hope that we
will not agree to clause 191.
Question put and
negatived.
Clause 191 disagreed
to.
Clauses
192
and 193
ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause
194
Accreditation
Mr.
Wright:
I beg to move amendment No. 260, in
clause 194, page 74, line 11, leave
out from ‘may’ to end of line 13 and insert
‘refer to accreditation under this
section.’.
The
amendment relates to clause 19, which allows the regulator to run or
approve an accreditation scheme for housing management. It will amend
subsection (6) to provide that standards set under clause 173 may refer
to accreditation. It is a simple, technical amendment, and on that
basis, I hope that Committee members will accept it.
Amendment agreed
to.
Clause
194, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 195 ordered to stand
part of the Bill.
Clause
196
Grounds
for giving
notice
Mr.
Wright:
I beg to move amendment No. 261, in
clause 196, page 74, line 28, at
end insert—
‘( ) Case 2A is
where the registered provider has failed to comply with an earlier
enforcement
notice.’.
The
Chairman:
With this it will be convenient to discuss the
following: Government amendments No. 262 to 265.
Government new clause
44—Notifying
HCA.
Mr.
Wright:
Government amendments Nos. 261 to 265 and new
clause 44 relate to clauses 195 to 202, which permit the regulator to
issue enforcement notices to registered providers. The amendments are
technical, and they will allow enforcement notices to be used if
registered providers fail to comply with an earlier notice, fail to
publish the fact that they have been required to pay a penalty or
compensation, or fail to pay an annual fee. They will also allow the
regulator to require an enforcement notice to be published by the
provider to whom it was given, and a pre-enforcement notice to be
combined with a pre-management-transfer warning notice, and they will
require the regulator to send a copy of an enforcement notice to the
HCA. The amendments are technical, and as such, I hope that the
Committee will accept
them.
Sir
George Young:
I appreciate what the Minister has
just said—they are technical amendments to the grounds for
giving notice under chapter 7. However, when he drafted the amendments,
I wonder whether he had before him the letter from the Housing
Ombudsman Service, which proposed an additional ground for giving
notice, namely “case 7”. Case 7 would be
“where a registered provider has
failed to comply with a determination of an ombudsman appointed by
virtue of section
120”—
currently
clause 120—
“other
than an award of
compensation.”
That is
part of a letter from the ombudsman, Dr. Mike Biles, on 23 January. He
prefaced the letter by saying that he had brought those
points
“to the attention
of Communities and Local
Government”.
I take it
that the Minister’s Department was aware that the Housing
Ombudsman Service wanted clause 196 amended with an additional case.
However, the amendment has not been tabled, so will the Minister
confirm that he received the letter, considered the argument for an
additional case and rejected it, and will he share the reasons why with
us?
Mr.
Wright:
I can confirm that the Department received the
letter that the right hon. Gentleman cites. It was dated 23 January,
which is not too long ago.
Sir
George Young:
That was the date of the letter to me, but
it referred specifically to
“the following points that I have
brought to the attention of Communities and Local
Government”,
So, from
that, I take it that the Minister was in the picture before I
was.
Mr.
Wright:
I would not count on that. Suffice it to say that
the Department is fully aware of the points raised in the letter. We
are considering the proposal, and we could bring something forward in
subsequent stages of the Bill. I hope that that reassures the right
hon. Gentleman.
Amendment agreed
to.
Amendments
made: No. 262, in clause 196, page 74,
line 28, at end
insert—
‘( ) Case 2B is
where the registered provider has failed to publish information in
accordance with a requirement under section 205(2A) or
217(2A).’.
No.
263, in
clause 196, page 74, line 33, at
end insert—
‘( ) Case 5A is
where the registered provider has failed to pay an annual fee under
section 113(2).’.—[Mr.
Wright.]
Clause
196, as amended, ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
| 
