Baroness Thornhill (LD)

What I do understand is making difficult choices, and I often say it is a difficult position to be in—well, I would like to be in it, but I do not underestimate the difficulty of it. I thank my noble friend Lady Pinnock who, as always, brings it slap down to reality and where we are; she is great at that. I also thank the noble Viscount, Lord Younger of Leckie—I never doubt his sincerity or the logical way in which he presents arguments and asks questions. He has today confirmed why I am at this end of the table and not that one—but hey ho. I agree with the Minister that one of the issues today is short-termism; very often, it is from election to election, and it has absolutely been responsible for all the mess she has had to pick up. It has to be said that we are very much in tune with many of her aspirations and we wish them well. Unfortunately, however, we cannot see two, five, seven or 10 years into the future, so we do not know what will happen in the meantime. It has been helpful to hear the Minister outline everything today, but I am still not convinced that this does more than move the money around. Let me put it this way: I wish the Government had made another choice. I just looked at the figures the Minister gave. She said it was £7 billion over five years, but if it is £1 billion a year for the new and old funds, that is £1.25 billion over a year, and it is £2.8 billion a year in temporary housing. So I am still not convinced that it all adds up, but I am sure that in a metaphorical smoke-filled room somewhere, the Minister has a sheet and she is saying, “Okay, that’s the right decision” because of whatever. I think we just have to hope that things improve in the future. The Minister mentioned the reality of renting and keeping things in touch with what actual rents are. I therefore urge her to talk to her colleague, the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, about the database that was promised in the Renters’ Rights Act, because rent levels are meant to be on that database, and that will be a very helpful part of it. During the passage of that Act, I was very pro the database, but it seems that a lot of things have been shoved into the long grass a bit. The database is a valuable tool. The proof of the pudding will be what happens in the future, and we hope for the sake of those tens of thousands of children and families that the Government are correct. I thank all noble Lords for their contributions.