Contribution
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
Meur ras, Madam Deputy Speaker. I declare an interest—a non-pecuniary interest—as a member of the Cornwall Rural Housing Association for many years and a volunteer board member of the Cornwall Community Land Trust. Both charities are, as I will refer to later, deeply engaged in the delivery of affordable homes.
The purpose of this Bill is to create tools that can be used—or not, as local communities and local authorities choose—to assist communities that are determined to address the desperate housing needs in their area. I think that all Members present today are here on behalf of their constituents who are concerned about the impact of the current circumstances in which many people are living. Certainly in my part of the world—west Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly—the housing needs of local families are extreme. Many people are living on the streets and thousands of families are on the Homechoice housing register.
I acknowledge, but regret, that the Government intend to block the Bill today—the Minister might use gentler language, but that is effectively what it amounts to. As a humble Back Bencher, I do not have the army of civil servants across a leviathan of Government Departments to assist me in drafting the legislation, so I appreciate that my version may not be quite as perfect as Government draftspeople would like. I acknowledge that there may be some technical deficiencies, but the purpose, intention and benefits of the Bill are clear and sound, and technicalities could be very easily ironed out in the remaining stages of the Bill.
I have already explained to the Minister that if the Government remain uncomfortable with the first part of the Bill, the community-led homes and the community rights element, I would be content to find another way, with the co-operation of the Minister and the Government, and have that part removed if necessary in Committee so that we can at least proceed with the second part, the planning use class element, which, after all, simply implements policy that was implemented by the Labour party in Wales. It is not unusual, even for Governments, to declare on Second Reading, as I have just done, an intention to amend in Committee. The Government did so with the Representation of the People Bill on 2 March this year—in column 625 of Hansard.
I am not new to this procedure. As long-standing Members will remember, in 2014 I was very fortunate to come first in the ballot for private Members’ Bills. On 5 September that year I brought forward an echo of today’s Bill, the Affordable Homes Bill. It succeeded on Second Reading and 540-plus Members of Parliament were here to enjoy the occasion. It was keenly contested to get it through Second Reading. Although it was ultimately unsuccessful in its remaining stages—through, I have to say, unacceptable mechanisms used by the Conservatives, during the coalition years—one of its primary purposes was to abolish the bedroom tax on social housing. All Labour MPs at that time were happy to support me in delivering that aim, but since the Labour party came into power I have not seen it do that. It is having a detrimental impact on how housing charities go forward with their development policies. We are building far too many smaller homes and not giving ourselves the flexibility to accommodate larger families. That is a result of the pressures caused by the bedroom tax, quite apart from its immediate impact on people who live in social housing.
The Bill does not impose from the centre but offers a menu of policy options for local authorities and communities to adopt if they deem that helpful in their area. It has broad, cross-party support, including from the local Labour party in my area. Indeed, those who read yesterday’s Hansard will see that I presented a petition, the signatures to which were gathered by the local Labour party in St Ives. The petition was handed to me by a local Labour activist, Cornelius Olivier, who was a candidate against me in a general election. Nevertheless, we work together, and he strongly supports the Bill because he can see the impact of the pressures not only on west Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, but on many other places across the country. It may not be the same everywhere, but pressures certainly exist in our area, which is why we need a change in legislation to assist such areas.