HC Deb 02 November 1988 vol 139 cc1004-6
2. Mr. Winnick

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received on the Housing Bill since July.

The Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Nicholas Ridley)

I and my colleagues have received a number of representations from hon. Members, interested bodies and the general public on a wide range of matters relating to the Housing Bill.

Mr. Winnick

Why are the Government apparently so determined to reverse the decision of another place that council tenants should be balloted to allow them to decide whether their property should be included in a housing action trust? Why should council tenants be denied the right to decide on this issue, and why are the Government so afraid of democracy?

Mr. Ridley

I have never quite understood why the Labour party seems so determined to whip up a campaign of misinformation about a matter that is of pure benefit to tenants, who will have a large amount of public money put at their disposal to improve the rotten houses in which many of them have to live.

Mr. Heddle

Has my right hon. Friend received any evidence at all that some Labour-controlled councils are using municipal harassment to discourage tenants from eventually opting out of their control by threatening not to carry out repairs if they do vote to opt out? Will my right hon. Friend take this opportunity to deplore such tactics, and will he take action against authorities that use those tactics?

Mr. Ridley

I have heard all sorts of rumours. If Labour councils want to be seen as sensible and fair and want to provide for their people, they must try to maintain higher standards of accuracy about what the Government are trying to do.

Dr. Cunningham

If the Government's housing proposals are so good for tenants, why is the Secretary of State so reluctant to let tenants decide for themselves? Is it not significant that in a leaflet of proposals about the balloting of tenants the Government fail to say or deliberately omit the fact, that if tenants do not vote they will be counted as voting in favour? What bigger gerrymandering of a vote can there be?

Mr. Ridley

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on scraping back. We hope that he will spend many years on the Opposition Benches, asking questions such as the one that he has just asked.

In reply to his first point, I suggest that the time to debate any amendments made in another place is the next time that the Bill comes before the House.

The hon. Gentleman's second point is entirely separate. He knows full well that any tenant who does not wish to go with the majority who are exercising their right to choose a new landlord has a right to go back to the local authority for a direct tenancy.

Mr. Squire

Does my right hon. Friend agree that when the miasma of distortion mounted by the Opposition on the Housing Bill is finally revealed, most people will welcome the Bill, not only because of the substantial resources in the form of increased housing benefit, but also for the increased protection that private tenants will enjoy in future?

Mr. Ridley

My hon. Friend is right. The attitude of the Opposition is beginning to raise questions about whether they are interested in the benefit and welfare of tenants, many of whom have real problems, or are simply trying to stir up opposition to try to make some sort of political capital, the point of which I do not see.