§ Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Nicholas Baker.]
11.16 pm§ Mr. David Amess (Basildon)I am particularly pleased to see my hon. Friend the Member for Billericay (Mrs. Gorman) here this evening. She is an inspiration to the House, and to me in particular. I know that she is highly delighted about the success of her constituent Eamonn Martin in the London marathon on Sunday. He is her constituent, living in Laindon, but he runs for Basildon athletics club.
Much as I and the House appreciate the very considerable attractions of my constituency, I have to make it absolutely clear that it is simply not possible, or indeed desirable, for the whole of the United Kingdom to be housed in my constituency of Basildon.
As any hon. Member will freely admit, the No. 1 demand from constituents as they come to one's surgery is always for accommodation. But throughout the 10 years that I have represented the town, some of the demands have become increasingly unreasonable. Much of this, I believe, is caused by what I describe as the breakdown of traditional family life in this country and the popularity of transient relationships. By this I mean men moving in and out of relationships with women, producing children and then abandoning those women and the children. This trend I utterly condemn. The women and the children are the victims of the irresponsible behaviour of many men. It is not acceptable for those men to regard the state as a substitute family; it can never be that.
This practice is certainly causing mayhem to housing demands throughout the country, not just in Basildon, together with the inability of many family units to support 16, 17 and 18-year-olds. All this I see as impacting on housing needs, not just in my constituency but throughout the land. It is just not possible for the state to meet all the demands that are being made on it at the moment.
Until May of last year, the socialists ran the council in Basildon, when they were thrown out of office. Their housing policy, such as it was, was an absolute disgrace, and led to continual charges of unfairness. There was complete hostility to the private sector, and the socialists saw housing simply as a means to foster their own insidious propaganda. Nowhere can this be more clearly seen than in connection with what happened over the transfer of housing and the ballot that then took place.
A number of officers put aside the respected tradition of political neutrality and were recruited to help their brothers and sisters in their political cause. Those people, I recall, said that they would never work with a Conservative council, if it were ever elected, or indeed serve under a Conservative Government. I trust that the officers who made those statements are examining their consciences at the moment and are no longer in the council's employ.
Quite what the housing policy was is not clear. Whether they saw senior citizens or young people as a captive market I do not know, but, whatever the demands, somehow they would pretend that the state could meet them.
So we had the ridiculous situation whereby no one on the engaged couples list ever got housed. I grew increasingly tired of parents coming to my surgery and 298 complaining that their children were never offered accommodation. They said that they had come to the town as pioneers in 1952 and that they had been promised accommodation for second and third generations, but it had never happened.
People complained that they had been given off-the-record advice in the area offices that the way to get housed was to have a baby. What disgraceful advice that was, and what an environment in which to bring a child into the world. Charges were continually made of unfairness in the allocation of property. Time after time, constituents would imply corruption, which was difficult to substantiate. They would say that so-and-so knew someone in the housing department and managed to get housed. They asked me how that could have happened. I never had an answer, as the charges were never based on firm evidence.
§ Mrs. Teresa Gorman (Billericay)Is it not a fact that, despite all the appalling Labour party policies, the Conservative party policy to allow people to buy their own home took off wonderfully well in a new town which had formerly only rented property, so that today more than 57 per cent. of all households in Basildon are owner-occupied? It is a much higher percentage than in Battersea, for example, which is reckoned to be a yuppie place, calls itself "Battarsia" and has a postal address of south west one one.
§ Mr. AmessI was not aware of the history of Battersea, but my hon. Friend is an inspiration to us all. She is quite right about the success of the sale of council houses. As we all know, the Labour party fought that policy word by word and line by line. Labour Members never wanted to enfranchise people by giving them the opportunity to own their own houses and enjoy the discounts. My hon. Friend was right to remind the House of that.
It has been a nightmare for the newly elected Conservative council to unravel the mess. However, it is well on the way to arriving at a fair policy whereby we shall have to draw a line under what has gone before, and everyone will be clear about the criteria for getting public accommodation.
I am advised that, later this month, the authority is to engage a new housing director with considerable expertise and that the new council enthusiastically embraces the Government's policies on the right to buy, share ownership and financial assistance for tenants to move back into the private sector.
I am delighted to tell the House that council arrears have now been tackled; the reduction in the past six months is double the total of all reductions in arrears in the past 10 years. That is quite incredible. Default action initiatives have been successfully piloted in Basildon and Billericay. I pay a warm tribute to the leader of the council, Tony Archer, the chairman of the housing committee, Councillor Brin Jones, and his deputy Councillor Mark Francois, for their splendid efforts. The housing committee has accepted the citizens charter, with performance indicators produced by the Audit Commission.
There was scarcely a clearer example of socialist hypocrisy in housing matters than in the ballot for the transfer of commission houses to either the local authority or a housing association. On a number of occasions, the socialist council had been offered the Commission for the 299 New Towns property and, when close to settlement, pulled out of the deal with the Departent of the Environment, producing considerable loss of income to local residents. That was in stark contrast to socialist-controlled Harlow, which accepted the property from the Commission for the New Towns.
In a wicked fashion, socialist activists embarked on a campaign to pretend that the Government would deprive tenants of their democratic right to choose the landlord of their liking. I recall their many bizarre distortions of the Government's policy. They deliberately tried to scare tenants, particularly the elderly, against the attraction of any other landlord. It is somewhat ironic that it took a Conservative council to conduct the ballot and enable local residents to choose their landlord.
I am delighted to tell the House that four out of five tenants felt sufficiently confident with the Conservative council to support a change of landlord—85 per cent. of them chose that council as their preferred landlord. The rest chose the admirable Basildon housing association. Sadly, some 2,000 tenants chose not to exercise their vote, and their properties are now in the course of being allocated. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Harlow (Mr. Hayes) went through a similar process of housing transfer recently.
I would be grateful if my hon. Friend the Minister could tell me about the time scale of the transfer, how that matter will be handled and how those tenants who did not express a preference will be allocated their landlord.
The Government have already decided to provide finance for the Siporex redevelopment and rebuild, and the Basildon housing association will be responsible for the project. It is interesting to note, however, that their parallel consultation exercise resulted in more than two thirds of tenants choosing the Basildon housing association rather than the council as their landlord.
In the time that I have been involved in the whole sorry saga, a number of the unhelpfully designed and environmentally hostile estates in my constituency have come to need structural changes. I know that the residents of those estates are delighted that the Government, through the CNT, will ensure that the Siporex properties are brought up to the highest possible standard. The local authority was pleased with its housing investment programme allocation and the fact that £319,000 has been applied to another housing association scheme. It is also pleased that all requested capital programme improvements by council JEM—joint estate management—schemes have been agreed out of expected funds of £2.4 million.
The local authority and its tenants were also delighted that, thanks to Government support, the redevelopment of the Crudens estate has now started. I was privileged to be present at the recent start of work. I know that one of the Housing Ministers hopes to visit that scheme later this year. Because of the expensive works involved, that scheme must be carried out over a number of phases. Tenants have asked me to try to get some information from my hon. Friend about when the further stages, which include the remaining parts of the estate, will start. The council would, as ever, be grateful for any financial support when the appropriate allocations are made.
300 The council is also anxious for the Government to continue their support so that the extensive underpinning of works on properties opposite St. Mary's church hall, the Triangle, Langdon Hills can be finished. I hope that the contractors will bear local residents in mind, because they do not want their lives to be made hell by the constant flow of heavy lorries in and out of the estate.
The housing committee believes that it has kept its homelessness figures relatively low by utilising all manner of innovative housing. That includes leasing short-term properties and leasing police and Essex county council properties, unused sheltered housing schemes and so on.
The whole issue of bed and breakfast accommodation is a real worry for the council. My hon. Friends will agree that the amount of money being expended on that sort of accommodation is crazy, for it is not satisfactory, and most constituents must go to Southend which, although a lovely seaside resort, is not exactly close to our area. There must be a better and more cost-effective method of dealing with the problem.
The council is reviewing its points allocation system. Some members feel strongly that the Government should agree to all waiting list applicants, and not all so-called homeless families, taking social housing that is available. They believe that that policy would mean that those on the waiting list would get into the homeless situation. They think it unfair that couples should wait three, four or five years when the homeless are housed in 18 to 24 months. The whole concept and application of homelessness requires careful definition.
§ Mrs. GormanIs it not a fact that the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977, a typical piece of socialist legislation, has been responsible for stimulating some very anti-social behaviour on the part of some parents, who deliberately throw their youngsters out of the house to put pressure on the council to house them, with the taxpayer footing the bill?
§ Mr. AmessI agree with my hon. Friend. Such anti-social behaviour, with children being thrown on to the streets, causes general disturbance and is totally unacceptable. Parents must accept greater responsibility.
An Englishman's home, like a Basildonian's, is his castle. I thank and congratulate the housing ministerial team at the Department of the Environment for the support and encouragement we have been given over the years. I sometimes get angry, as does my hon. Friend the Member for Billericay, with the lack of individual responsibility on the part of some people and the abuse of publicly provided housing. It is not necessary to have a lot of money to be clean and tidy and behave well. The anti-social behaviour of some people in settled areas, upsetting everyone, is not acceptable.
Frankly, I and the council could never provide sufficient housing to meet the endless demand. A fair and reasonable policy is needed. I am absolutely committed to ensuring the provision of housing of the very highest standards for all local residents in my constituency. Clear evidence of the warm-heartedness of my constituents was revealed in the latest census of the possession of household amenities, which showed that Basildon enjoyed per household the greatest number of central heating units in Britain.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Tony Baldry)I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Mr. Amess) on securing this debate. The House knows that Basildon is close to the Government's heart, and I take this opportunity to congratulate Eamonn Martin, who typifies the spirit of Basildon, on winning this year's London marathon.
My hon. Friend is right to point out that much of the pressure on housing results from changes in the way we live. Too often, we speak of housing "need" when it is really expectation. Naturally, youngsters like independence, but I urge them and their families not to be too hasty in parting company if they cannot afford to house themselves.
There is no way in which the state can or could suggest, or has ever suggested, that it should house all young people when they become 18 and decide that they want to live on their own. There are already many spare rooms in private and local authority housing as families grow up and move on, and I hope that our tax incentives to people to let those rooms will help.
I share my hon. Friend's concerns about bed and breakfast. It is a wholly unsatisfactory system. It is unsatisfactory for those who are put in it and expensive on the public purse. I believe that there are currently over 70 households placed in bed and breakfast by Basildon district council—a legacy of Labour control—but I know that council members are looking at ways of bringing those numbers right down. Already they have shown enterprise in successfully bidding under our housing partnership scheme for resources that, along with housing corporation funds and private finance, will enable a housing association to build more than 50 homes to rent, and so reduce the need for bed and breakfast accommodation. Basildon council also bid successfully for a share of the extra resources announced in the autumn statement for a cash incentive scheme aimed at reducing homelessness.
We have recommended to council tenants that they think seriously about the right to buy. Now is the time to consider house purchase—with low prices, low interest rates and substantial discounts available. At the same time, to ensure that councils see the benefit in promoting sales, we are giving them an opportunity to put more of their capital receipts to work and to help homeless families. No doubt Conservative-controlled Basildon council will seize all those opportunities to benefit tenants who become home owners. The council will have the benefit of all the capital receipts which it can reinvest in housing in the district.
I am sure that Basildon's Conservative council will also want to develop its enabling role in order to offer the people of Basildon a better choice of housing than just the near-monopoly of municipal renting that they have had in the past. The previous Labour administration's slowness to team up with the housing association movement cost the people of Basildon dearly. Both we and the Housing Corporation were forced to conclude that money would be better allocated to areas where we considered that more cost-effective use would be made of it.
Basildon was under a Labour council with an unrealistic approach, which meant that it not only lost money from the Housing Corporation, so that housing associations could not build new homes to rent, but that it 302 also lost the capacity to draw in further resources for housing from the private sector. I am glad to say that that is now in the past. The people of Basildon have voted, and Basildon now has a sensible Conservative council, determined to go forward and ensure that every family has a decent home in which to live.
As to the ballot among former new town tenants, I can understand that many voted for the familiarity of the council, encouraged by confidence in the newly elected Conservative council. The Basildon community housing association now has a useful stock as a basis for bigger and better things. I congratulate the association on its efforts. I am sure that those who voted for it will be pleased that they did so.
When the ballot was over, there was the question of empty houses and those of non-voters. Those have been allocated between the council and the housing association in the same proportion as the voting went, but in ways that make for good management. I understand that both the housing association and the council are content with that policy, which seems all very fair and sensible to me.
My hon. Friend referred to Siporex properties, which are coming to the end of their useful life and which it is proposed should be redeveloped. We have been very fair about them. Tenants of Siporex houses were given the chance to vote in the ballot in the same way as everyone else, even though it was not proposed that they should transfer for the time being. Most of them voted for the housing association, and as far as possible individual wishes will be met when redevelopment proposals have been worked out.
As my hon. Friend knows, the Crudens estate has benefited from estate action resources to the tune of £2,900,000 over three years. I do not blame my hon. Friend for hoping for more—indeed, as a result of his continued lobbying, we found another £200,000 for Crudens, and the district has also been able to pull in another £1,500,000 from the Housing Corporation. Basildon council has not asked us for any more money for that estate.
There is stiff competition for estate action resources, and I am sure that my hon. Friend appreciates that, if any further works are required on the Crudens estate, any bid would be considered alongside the requirements of estates elsewhere. We must recognise that some of those estates have problems that are even more serious than those of the Crudens estate.
I hope that I have shown my hon. Friend that we are well aware of the key local housing issues in Basildon. My Department's regional office is in regular contact with Basildon council, and my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing, Planning and Construction met leading members at the opening of a new housing association development there only three weeks ago. I know that Basildon council's current Conservative administration has inherited considerable difficulties, but I am confident that it will be both flexible and pragmatic in ensuring that its housing policies attract a fair and proper share of public resources for housing in Basildon and tap the maximum potential of private resources.
We are determined to have the best possible housing in Basildon, and I have confidence that, with a Conservative council, Basildon's housing strategy will continue to go from strength to strength.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Adjourned accordingly at nineteen minutes to Twelve o'clock.