DIRECTIONS AS TO EXERCISE OF FUNCTIONS (Hansard, 27 June 1988)

§ Mr. Spearing
I beg to move amendment No. 314, in page 48, line 29, at end insert 'which shall be published by him in the London Gazette'.

§ Mr. Speaker
With this it will be convenient to take Government amendment No. 333.

§ Mr. Spearing
An absence of cries from the Opposition when the Minister finished speaking to the last amendment should not be taken as acquiescence. The Minister's reply was quite unacceptable and has a bearing on this amendment. Clause 67 says: (1) In the exercise of its functions, a housing action trust shall comply with any directions given by the Secretary of State. (2) Directions given by the Secretary of State may be of a general or particular character and may be varied or revoked by subsequent directions. The Minister spoke about the sort of directions or codes that may be issued. I am not sure whether grants of money would come under that heading, but I hope that they will and that they will be published.
26 The Minister said that housing action trusts could offer financial assistance for training. She seemed to be saying that a housing action trust shall have scope for some form of educational activity or technical training. We know that these housing action trusts are vehicles to replace local government. They will become not only planning authorities, but local health authorities. It is quite clear from what the Minister said that in some respects the Government expect them to become training and education authorities as well. That is all the more reason for any directions made by the Secretary of State to be published.
Publication can take all sorts of forms. The House has known of cases in which we get a retrospective statement by a Minister that has been in the Library for months. We may get publication in an obscure circular, which goes only to town halls. I am suggesting publication in the London Gazette, because it can be perused. It is a regular publication and all will be above board.

§ Mr. Winnick
Does my hon. Friend consider it odd that these bodies should have power to take away without any voting or agreement by the local authorities properties owned by local authorities? No power is being given to local authorities to take over properties owned by the person that I mentioned, who admits to violence and worse against his tenants, Mr. van Hoogstraten. Why are the Government so determined to carry out this vendetta against local authorities?
I note that the Minister is mumbling. Since we cannot get an explanation from the Minister, I am asking whether my hon. Friend can supply one. Why are the Government so willing to punish local authorities by the setting up of HATs but not willing to take any firm and effective action against gangster landlords such as the one that I mentioned?

§ Mr. Spearing
I hesitate to disagree with my hon. Friend, but I think that he will agree with what I am about to say. There is not much punishment for local authorities, although there is in the global sense. However, there is punishment for the people who live in the areas where HATs are to be designated—we do not even know where they are—because, as I said last week, the housing that is owned collectively by the community will, in effect, be confiscated. HATs are, or can be, a vehicle for confiscation from the people of the area. For example, in Canning Town in my constituency, the Custom house area is almost purpose-built for a HAT because of the conditions there. I urge every hon. Member to think of the provisions of the Bill in terms of his own constituency.
My hon. Friend asks what is to prevent rogue landlords such as the one that he mentioned being involved. As far as I can see, there is nothing, other than the directions that the Secretary of State ought to issue in respect of what the HAT can do in disposing of its property. To be sure, some of it will go to the people who can afford to buy. The Secretary of State, who has just left the Chamber, may in his initial letters tell the local tenants that they can have their property at knockdown prices, or even no price under a Walker arrangement, about which we read in the press not long ago. None of the Ministers has said anything about the Walker scheme, but the HAT can operate it by the direction of the Secretary of State.
It may be that the Under-Secretary, or still more the Minister for Housing and Planning, will not wish to direct 27 the implementation of the Walker scheme, but any future Secretary of State of any future Government, perhaps a Government even more set on having their own way, could do so, once authorised by the House. My modest request is that any such directions of restraint against the Rachman-type landlords to which my hon. referred, or encouragement for the wrong sort of land development, should be published.
I see that, following my amendment No. 314, the Government have tabled amendment No. 333, which you, Mr. Speaker, have selected with mine. That provides: The Secretary of State shall publish any direction given under this section. We are thankful for small mercies, and I suppose that I can claim a constitutional footnote in that, although this is a Government amendment, it may have been stimulated by mine. It is not always recognised that Government amendments do not necessarily originate from the Government. They may result from undertakings or be stimulated by other amendments.
However, as my hon. Friend the Member for Walsall, North (Mr. Winnick) said, even if this information is published, that does nothing to ameliorate our concern that HATs will be not about housing but about the transfer of property, and in particular the transfer of land, under the powers of compulsory acquisition which, together with the powers of planning, have a Midas touch on land value. We have seen it in east London in the docklands, and it has spread throughout the country. It can happen in any area if the House has so decided by a majority of one vote after an hour-and-a-half debate. That is why the directions should be published, and published consistently, and that is why I have tabled my amendment.

§ Mrs. Roe
I wish first of all to answer the question put by the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) about housing action trust disposals. He should read the Bill more carefully, because clauses 74 and 77 set out our proposals and the Government amendments, which are to be discussed shortly, further strengthen the proposed arrangements.
I agreed in Committee, in response to an amendment tabled by the hon. Member for Halifax (Mrs. Mahon) that we would bring forward an amendment to require any direction made by the Secretary of State to be published. Amendment No. 333 fulfils that commitment.
4 pm
Amendment No. 314 requires directions by the Secretary of State to be published in the London Gazette. We are happy to agree that those directions should be published in the London Gazette, but we do not think that that needs to be made a statutory requirement. It would not be sensible to limit publication to the London Gazette, as, depending upon the content of the direction, it may be appropriate to publish it, in, for example, a local newspaper. I hope, therefore, that hon. Members will agree to Government amendment No. 333, which requires the Secretary of State's directions to HATs to be published, and will reject amendment No. 314 as unnecessary.

§ Mr. Spearing
I am grateful for the Minister's information that Government amendment No. 333 was put down as a consequence of an undertaking in 28 Committee, although it has taken about two months for that to be done. That is an illustration of the way in which the Government are paying their respect, not just to the House, but to its procedures. In view of the undertaking, the amendment should have been tabled much earlier. I hope not only that local newspapers will publish the information, but that offices of the housing action trusts will complete their duties by having such instructions at least available in a register, if not displayed and perhaps widely circulated in the area.
We have many other matters to discuss today. In view of the Minister's undertaking, which does not go as far as my amendment, but goes some way in its spirit, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.