§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
- (a) Whether they will list the organisations that were consulted during the preparation of the Housing and Building Control Bill;
634 - (b) What is the response of the Law Officers of the Crown to the statement by the Charity Commission that it is "totally opposed in principle" to the proposals contained in Clause 2 of the Housing and Building Control Bill:
- (c) What were the grounds on which the Department of the Environment rejected the reasoned arguments submitted by the Charity Commission concerning Clause 2 of the Housing and Building Control Bill.
§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Bellwin)There has been no general consultation on the Bill as a whole, but the following bodies were consulted on particular aspects:
- The Association of District Councils
- The Association of Metropolitan Authorities
- The Building Societies Association
- The Charity Commissioners
- The Council for the Principality
- Greater London Council
- The Housing Corporation
- HM Land Registry
- The London Boroughs Association
- The National Federation of Housing Associations
- The New Towns Association
- The Registrar of Friendly Societies.
The provisions of Parts II and III of the Bill are based on proposals put forward for consultation in Command Paper 8179, published by HMSO and generally available, and on consultation papers dated 27th May and 28th June 1982.
The views of the Law Officers on Clause 2 of the Bill were set out fully in the letter of 9th March from the Solicitor-General to the Chairman of the National Federation of Housing Associations, a copy of which I have placed in the Library of the House.
I set out in my speeches on the Second Reading of the Housing and Building Control Bill on 11th April the reasons why the Government consider that the limited extension of the right to buy to secure tenants of charitable housing associations and housing trusts living in dwellings provided wholly or overwhelmingly with public funds is fully justified.