London Docklands (Hansard, 2 December 1987)

§ 4. Mr. Alexander
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to publish a report on the London Docklands Development Corporation's work on regeneration of the London Docklands.

§ Mr. Trippier
The LDDC itself publishes reports on an annual basis. It is required by statute to lay the annual report before Parliament. The reports have shown the enormous success which has been achieved within the London Docklands area.

§ Mr. Alexander
Is it not the case that, had it not been for the London Docklands Development Corporation, areas of otherwise very poor and derelict land would largely have remained so — thanks to the inactivity of the various councils that were administering them at the time? Does not the success of the LDDC since then point the way towards the regeneration of many other areas of our inner cities?

§ Mr. Trippier
That is correct, and that is why I was surprised to hear the amazing statement of the right hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Stepney (Mr. Shore) during a debate in the House a few weeks ago to the effect that the massive development in Docklands would have taken place had a Labour Government been in power, which is stretching credulity to breaking point.

§ Mr. Simon Hughes
Will the Minister ensure that the next LDDC report explains the extraordinary behaviour of the Secretary of State in sacking the vice-chairman of the LDDC, when the main target has gone completely untouched? Will the report explain how it is that 10 weeks ago people such as Mr. Martin Berney could be convicted of the offence of being an unlicensed estate agent in Docklands? Is he aware that the fraud squad is investigating property transactions and sales in Docklands and all sorts of matters which do not feature in the annual report? It does not disclose the sordid money-making schemes or the unaccountability, all of which is the domain of the Secretary of State, who is taking no interest in getting to the bottom of these scandals.

§ Mr. Trippier
It is grossly unfair of the hon. Gentleman to accuse my right hon. Friend of acting unfairly with regard to the dismissal of the vice-chairman of the LDDC board. The position as the hon. Gentleman may understand, is that information was brought to my right hon. Friend's attention only recently. He acted as he did because we now know that some of the information did not reveal that, subsequent to the vice-chairman's appointment, he had been prosecuted for a number of criminal offences. Prior to his appointment as vice-chairman of the board he was asked about liquidations, but no mention was made of the impending prosecutions. He was prosecuted and, as the hon. Gentleman knows, found guilty and fined. As a result, and because he did not tell the Department or the LDDC board, my right hon. Friend acted as he did. I would have thought that my right hon. Friend would receive the support of the House in his action.

§ Mr. Speaker
That goes a bit wide of the question.

§ Mr. Squire
As to the main objects of the LDDC, will my hon. Friend confirm that a substantial number of those housed within the area were previously on council waiting lists? Does not the amount of private investment, attracted by public investment, serve as a model for the rest of the country?

§ Mr. Trippier
I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. Some 12,000 new homes have been completed or are under construction. That has lifted the rate of owner-occupation in Docklands from 5 per cent. in 1981 to 29 per cent. in April 1987, and 22 purchasers of homes were former council tenants.