§ The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (Mr. F. V. Corfield)I beg to move, Amendment No. 1, in page 2, line 1, to leave out second "and".
Mr. Speaker, if it is convenient to the House, I think that we could usefully discuss Amendment No. 2 in line 3 with this one.
§ Mr. SpeakerYes, if the House so wishes.
§ Mr. CorfieldThese two Amendments are designed to meet the point raised in Committee by the hon. Lady the Member for Wood Green (Mrs. Butler) who sought to specify among the duties of the Housing Corporation the particular duty of publicising housing societies. I think that the hon. Lady was particularly concerted with the co-ownership society, but the Government felt that it would be wrong to distinguish one from the other. I hope that the hon. Lady will feel that this Amendment meets her 1275 point, which I think was generally approved by the Committee.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§
Further Amendment made: In page 2, line 3, after "societies", insert:
and to publicise, in the case of societies providing houses for their own members no less than in the case of those providing houses for letting, the aims and principles of such societies".—[Mr. Corfield.]
§ Mr. CorfieldI beg to move, in page 3, line 15, to leave out from the beginning to "of" in line 17 and to insert:
whether or not the purposes or objects of the society include any of the supplementary purposes or objects mentioned in subsection (8) of this section, so however that the expression shall not include a society which, in addition to the purposes or objects mentioned in paragraph (c) above, has any purposes or objects not mentioned in the said subsection (8).(8) The supplementary purposes or objects referred to in the last foregoing subsection are those—Mr. Speaker, this Amendment and Amendments No. 4 in line 19 and No. 5 in line 20 are closely connected, and with the approval of the House they could usefully be discussed together.(a".
§ Mr. SpeakerYes, if the House approves.
§ Mr. CorfieldThese three Amendments are basically a redrafting of the existing provisions for the purpose of meeting the criticism of my hon. Friend the Member for Crosby (Mr. Graham Page) who felt that the present wording needed some clarification. The purpose is, first, to differentiate between the basic objects inherent in the definition of a housing society and those legitimate, but nevertheless supplementary, objects which are now listed in the new subsection (8). The new wording also makes it clear that the supplementary objects must be not only ancillary to the particular scheme, but also for the benefit of the residents in the proposed houses.
§ Mr. John Farr (Harborough)I welcome the Amendments, but I should be grateful if my hon. Friend would clarify one point. The redrafting is an improvement, and I should be grateful for my hon. Friend's confirmation that it is the intention to encourage an existing experienced housing association to stimulate 1276 the growth of other housing associations or societies within its ambit.
I have in mind the experienced and flourishing East Midlands Housing Association which is concerned with building operations in my constituency, and I should like my hon. Friend to confirm that it is in order, and indeed, permissible, for that association to stimulate interest and, as it were, sow the seeds of new housing associations within its area in the East Midlands.
I think that an experienced association such as the East Midlands one has a great part to play in encouraging the formation of other housing associations, and I should like to know whether this trend is envisaged, and, furthermore, if the Minister will encourage it.
§ Mr. CorfieldThe short answer is "Yes". We know of the East Midlands Housing Association and the fine work that it has done. In fact, my right hon. Friend recently visited it. We have specifically put the supplementary purposes in a separate subsection under subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c), one of which refers to
encouraging the formation of other housing associations',to make it clear that this is a supplementary activity which we welcome and which we will encourage.
§ Mr. FarrWould it be in order for these new societies to be affiliated to a parent society such as the one to which I have referred?
§ Mr. CorfieldYes.
§ Amendment agreed to.
§ Further Amendments made: In page 3, line 19, after "society", insert "(b) of".
§ In line 20, after "and", insert "(c) of".—[Mr. Corfield]