The Secretary of State was asked—
Energy Efficient Homes
New standards for building regulations were introduced in April last year. They require a 40 per cent. improvement in energy efficiency, compared to 2002. However, we need to go further, and we are consulting on a timetable for significant increases in compulsory energy efficiency measures for new homes, so that all new homes can be zero carbon within 10 years.
I thank my hon. Friend for the work that she is doing to ratchet up energy efficiency standards, but may I ask her to address the second part of my question, which is about existing homes? In Birmingham, 35,000 homes in the private sector, and more than half of council homes, do not even meet the decent homes standard, which is a very low standard. What is she doing to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes, particularly those occupied by people on low incomes?
My hon. Friend makes an important point, and it is certainly true that existing homes make up the vast majority of the stock. We already support grants and assistance for people, including through the energy efficiency commitment provided by energy companies, but more work needs to be done as part of the decent homes programme, and through the introduction of energy performance certificates, which we strongly support, but which, unfortunately, Opposition Members do not.
Does the Minister agree that there is no point in having high standards for new homes if those standards are not enforced? Does she share my concern that between a third and 40 per cent. of homes built are reported to fail to meet current standards, and what steps will she take to ensure that those standards are enforced?
The issue of enforcement is important, and that is why we have introduced pressure testing as part of the new standards introduced last year. The standards that were in place before April last year were not sufficiently well enforced, and we have been working on a major training programme to increase enforcement and ensure that the current standards are properly implemented.
I am sure that my hon. Friend will agree that we can tackle the issue of energy efficiency in new homes through building regulations, but it is important that we have a policy to deal with energy efficiency in existing houses. By including energy efficiency certificates as part of home information packs, are the Government not demonstrating that those certificates are a vehicle through which we can try to raise public awareness of existing energy-efficient homes across the board? If the Government, while pretending to be green, rejected a measure as modest as making energy certificates part of home information packs, that commitment to being green and to tackling climate change would be nothing more than skin deep.
My hon. Friend makes an important point. Energy performance certificates can make a significant difference, particularly if they are linked to new programmes, such as those involving green mortgages and other kinds of grants for home owners. He will know that the measure has been strongly supported by WWF, Friends of the Earth, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and a range of environmental groups; they are strongly saying to us that it would be a travesty if energy performance certificates were to be delayed.
The Minister knows that the Conservative party—and, for that matter, the Liberal Democrats—is entirely behind energy performance certificates. It is because we take energy efficiency so seriously that we were scandalised to read on Sunday that there is not a single accredited domestic energy assessor available in the United Kingdom. Figures released by the DCLG on Friday reveal that there is not a single accredited assessor in place. A year ago, we were told that we would need 7,000 inspectors—this month, 2,000—but not a single one is in place. What a fiasco on the Minister’s watch.
I have to say that, for all the hon. Gentleman’s manufactured indignation, more than 5,500 people have entered training to be energy assessors or home inspectors, and 1,900 have passed their exams. The hon. Gentleman says that he supports energy performance certificates, so I must ask him why he has signed early-day motions 1264 and 1265, which oppose not only home information packs but energy performance certificates for rented buildings, public buildings and homes. WWF has criticised his party for doing so, and that is the group that helped his right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron) to travel to the—
Order. I call Mrs. Hodgson.
Is my hon. Friend the Minister aware of the affordable homes that are being built by Ikea in my constituency? They use sustainable materials and seek to be at least 25 per cent. more energy efficient than the norm. People do not even have to build them themselves. Should councils not follow the example set by Gateshead of backing innovative solutions that produce energy efficiency coupled with affordable housing?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. A lot of innovative schemes have been set up across the country. I went to see one in Redditch just a few weeks ago in which people are looking at different ways of constructing homes. We have to recognise that the house-building process must change fundamentally: we must change the way in which we build, heat and power our homes if we are to meet the challenge of climate change. I agree that there is a lot more that local authorities can do to support that process.
Council Tax
As I have made clear on several occasions, the Government have no plans to revalue during the lifetime of this Parliament.
Given the Government’s decision to abandon the council tax revaluation for the foreseeable future, does the Secretary of State have anything positive at all to say to the 2 million-plus households that, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, are struggling to pay council tax? Can she explain, too, why the Government are so committed to retaining the unfair and unjust council tax system, which was introduced, after all, by the Conservatives, and which we all know penalises people on fixed incomes, particularly pensioners?
I do not think that any tax is ever going to win a popularity contest, and the same is true of council tax, which is why we asked Sir Michael Lyons to look at it in what I think is a thorough and valued report. He concluded, first, that council tax is not broken and should be retained. Secondly, on local income tax, which was suggested by the hon. Gentleman’s party, he said that there are serious concerns about the fairness of the proposal. I urge the hon. Gentleman to look at what Sir Michael Lyons said. Let us work together in making sure that we have a council tax and council tax benefit system that really do mean that we have a secure and stable level of funding for the future.
The Minister has just alluded to the excellent and thorough report published by Sir Michael Lyons. Will she join me in urging all Members of Parliament to read it very thoroughly before they make pronouncements about the supposed effects of council tax revaluation in, to quote some people, “shoving up” everyone’s bills? If people understood the way in which council tax worked, perhaps they would refrain from such scaremongering, which is simply scaring enormous numbers of people for no reason.
My hon. Friend makes incredibly important points. Sir Michael Lyons himself said:
“In making the judgment about whether and when to revalue, government must weigh the risks to council tax from a turbulent or painful revaluation, against the risks of allowing the tax base to fall further into disrepair.”
Those are the sorts of considerations that any sensible Government must take into account. Michael Lyons himself said that revaluation was not an urgent priority. The key to council tax fairness and to putting that tax on a sustainable footing was, indeed, council tax benefit, which is why we need to work on his proposals to increase the level of council tax benefit, to make sure that it is both affordable and fair to people in this country.
Last week, a written answer to one of my questions confirmed that more than £4 million of taxpayers’ money is being spent on buying details of people’s homes from estate agents. On 24 April, the Secretary of State was quick to criticise the tabling of questions to elicit information of this kind. Can she reconcile that written answer with her assertion that the revaluation is not already under way?
I do not think I could have made my position any clearer to the House. We have no plans at all to revalue council tax in this Parliament. In fact, I think I am going to re-label the word scaremongering as “spelmongering”, because the hon. Lady is causing fear in houses up and down the country with ill-founded allegations about the Government’s plans. Instead of criticising this Government, she should tell us what she plans to do with council tax.
Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the Valuation Office Agency has to conduct valuations as part of the regular process and that it would be completely preposterous to abandon attempts to find new, more cost-effective ways of carrying out valuations? Will she therefore make it clear that any responsible party, including a responsible Opposition, should be welcoming these changes instead of trying to ridicule them?
As always, my right hon. Friend makes an incredibly important point. As he knows, there have been no changes in the powers of the Valuation Office Agency since 1993, when they were introduced by the Conservatives. Of course, the agency has to keep its records up to date, as any responsible Government agency should; and of course, instead of frightening pensioners, the Conservative party should be supporting these measures.
Lyons Report
The Government support the conclusion of Sir Michael Lyons’ independent inquiry that council tax is not broken and should be retained. We have already implemented many of Sir Michael’s proposals through the local government White Paper and will respond to more of his recommendations in the coming months.
Does the Secretary of State fully accept Sir Michael Lyons’ criticisms of the council tax benefit system, with £1.8 billion of benefit unclaimed in the last financial year and a fall of 10 per cent. in take-up in the past decade? If she does accept those criticisms, when and how will the necessary reforms be introduced?
I accept the hon. Gentleman’s contention that we ought to do more about increasing the level of council tax benefit take-up. One of the key conclusions of Sir Michael Lyons’ report is that the key to fairness in the council tax system is not revaluation or the introduction of further bands but ensuring that there is maximum take-up. That is why my Department is working very closely with the Department for Work and Pensions on improving the process. For example, anyone who applies for a pension credit will now have their council tax benefit details taken and processed at the same time, thus doing away with the need for a claim form. We are examining further measures and considering the scope for making council tax benefit an automatic rebate.
Notwithstanding the hyperventilating headlines in such papers as the Daily Express, the Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph, is it not the case that by the time the first council tax bills are produced for the next Labour Government in 2011, the council tax system will be in its third decade? Is not reform of banding long overdue, particularly as regards revaluation, which can be done on a revenue-neutral basis that will minimise the numbers of winners and losers, unlike the disaster that we saw in Wales?
I appreciate my hon. Friend’s concern about how council tax is being implemented and about revaluation and rebanding. As I have made clear on several occasions, we have no intention of revaluing in this Parliament; nor do we have any intention of restructuring the banding system, which would naturally go hand in hand with revaluation, in this Parliament. However, Sir Michael Lyons says that even if we did go down that route, which we are committed not to do in this Parliament, that would not make the council tax system substantially fairer than it is at the moment. Clearly, there would be winners and losers, but the key to making the system fairer is to encourage greater take-up of council tax benefit.
Does the Secretary of State accept that all parties have something to learn from the results of the recent local elections? Will she therefore ensure that, in the reforms to the current council tax, any disincentive to maintain the weekly refuse collection is removed? Growing evidence shows that a weekly collection is not only desirable but essential for health and safety.
I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s concern for his constituents, but it is right that local people and communities make such decisions with their local council. It is also right to increase our rates of recycling. Local councils may decide that the weekly bin collection is one aspect of their policy and may want to introduce other measures to increase the rate of recycling. That is their prerogative, but whatever is done should be done in close consultation with local communities.
If the Secretary of State has set her face so strongly against revaluation, rebanding or abolishing the tax, what exactly will she do to lift the burden from the 2 million households already mentioned? Does she accept Sir Michael’s figure of 40 per cent. in relation to existing council tax benefit lying unclaimed? He proposes an extension, but what precisely will she do? What is her time scale? Is it not time for some action, not more spin?
I think I have made myself clear. If the hon. Gentleman reads the Lyons report—I am sure he has already done so—he might reflect on some of the evidence presented in it. I have been reflecting especially on chart 7.3, which clearly shows that council tax can be made much less regressive if there is full take-up of council tax benefit. We must ensure that those who are entitled to claim council tax benefit do that. That is why our programme, working closely with the DWP, is so important to increasing the fairness of the council tax.
If the activities of the Valuation Office Agency are so benign and the likelihood of a revaluation is as remote as the Secretary of State suggested, why did the Government fight like cats in a sack to prevent those dangerous documents “Dwelling House Coding: An Illustrated Guide” and “Digital Photography User Guide” from being released into the public domain until the information was dragged out of them by use of the Freedom of Information Act 2000?
The hon. Gentleman knows that we put extensive material into the public domain about the definition of bathrooms, digital photography and every other aspect of the valuation office’s work. We have even published a document to satisfy Conservative Members’ endless curiosity. The valuation office’s powers have not been changed since the Conservative party introduced them in 1993. We have no intention of introducing revaluation in this Parliament. The hon. Gentleman and his colleagues should stop scaremongering, examine the facts and make a judgment based on them.
Will my right hon. Friend put her mind to the following question? If council tax did not exist in any part of the UK, would council tax benefit exist?
My hon. Friend makes his point in his own way. However, Sir Michael Lyons has concluded that a property tax—in other words, a council tax—should be a strong feature of the current local tax regime. Indeed, every major industrialised country has a property tax. Of course, we must not only work with the system that we have got, but try to increase levels of council tax benefit.
Does the right hon. Lady understand that any implementation of the Lyons recommendations now requires consensus across the political spectrum? Given the massive drop in the number of Liberal Democrat council seats and the total disappearance of Labour councils from many parts of the country, and given that the Government lost their mandate last Thursday and the Secretary of State lost her parliamentary seat, does she accept the new reality?
I can certainly agree with the first part of the hon. Gentleman’s set of issues—the Liberal Democrats did not fare well on Thursday. We should bear in mind, however, the fact that the right hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron) said:
“I think the way to judge us”
is
“to look at Greater Manchester…Are we making progress in places like Bolton”?
Well, I regret to inform the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) that we increased our majority in Bolton, taking seats from the Conservatives.
Affordable Housing
We are supporting a 50 per cent. increase in social housing over the current three-year period, as well as supporting increased market housing and shared ownership housing. That is the best way to deliver more affordable homes for the future.
I thank my hon. Friend for her reply, but does she accept that there are many attractive neighbourhoods in England’s towns and cities, such as Fenham in Newcastle, where house prices are rising far more rapidly than the incomes of local people and where more than 300 people apply for every single council-owned family house that comes up? Does she accept that rising house prices are not a sign that market failure has been overcome, but that new ones with great unfairnesses are being created?
My hon. Friend is right to say that the increase in house prices has put pressure on first-time buyers in particular and on others who would like to be able to afford their own home but instead feel that they need to join social housing waiting lists. That is why we need to build more social housing as part of the answer. We also believe that we need more shared ownership in order to help people buy a share of their own home even if they cannot afford the whole house price. It is also why we need to build more houses in the long term. We have to recognise that we have not built enough houses to meet rising demand for more than a generation. That is why it is so important to increase the level of house building and why it is so tragic that the Conservatives are still continuing to try to block the increased homes that we need.
The Minister will be aware of the increasing concern expressed by regeneration agencies and the chief executive of the Housing Corporation at the growing practice of the purchase of property not even to let but simply to hold as an investment without its being occupied. Does she believe that that should be left to the marketplace, and what is her response to those concerns?
The right hon. Gentleman makes an important point. There is a difference between buy-to-let and buy-to-leave. There is concern if large numbers of properties are being bought and then not rented out but held empty, particularly in areas where there is high demand for housing. He will know that we have given local authorities powers and responsibilities to do more to deal with empty homes that are left vacant for a long time. We think that authorities should use those powers.
It is interesting to read in today’s paper that the Prime Minister-in-waiting intends to build more houses both to let and to buy. Before I throw my hat in the air on behalf of the defend council housing campaign, may I ask the Minister whether she is aware that merely putting money into the private sector increases prices, and that what is needed is more land put on the market and to stop builders hogging land that could otherwise be used for building? Also, does she yet understand that building more council houses where they are required will assist in the process of ensuring that people have somewhere to live where they can afford either to pay the rent or buy? Will she stop the flim-flam that is going on in housing and recognise that the market without subsidy is—
I certainly agree with my hon. Friend that more land should be available for housing. We have said that we believe—
Order. Perhaps I can suggest to the Minister that if she faces the Chair, everyone will hear what she is saying.
I want to make it clear so that you can hear me, Mr. Speaker, that we believe more land should be available for housing, which means making sure that the priority is brownfield land. It also means ensuring that more social housing is built and that there is more shared ownership. We have taken steps to make it easier for councils to be able to build homes and for housing associations to increase the level of homes that they build. It requires increased housing across the board. The South East England regional assembly, led by the Conservatives, however, is still arguing for cuts in the level of house building. That is not in the interest of first-time buyers or those in need of social housing.
The Minister will of course be aware that in September 2004 the Government announced the commissioning of a number of low-cost houses in my constituency through the design for manufacture scheme. Some two and a half years on, we are still waiting for a brick to be laid. Will she confirm that these houses will be built and that they will still cost £60,000, which was the price announced to my constituents by the Deputy Prime Minister just before the last general election?
The hon. Lady will know that a series of different sites were put forward as part of the design for manufacture programme, and they are progressing at different speeds. Investment is taking place and new homes are being built. We think it is right that those homes should be offered at a range of prices, including some that are close to £60,000, some that may be at a lower price, some that may be social housing and some that may be at a higher price. It is important that the new developments should have mixed communities, and I am sorry if the hon. Lady’s party opposes that principle.
Does my hon. Friend recognise that many Labour Members are worried that with creeping increases in interest and mortgage rates and astonishing house prices—even in the northern counties, in places such as Bolton—if, despite her assurances, there is a downturn in the economy, there will not be enough affordable houses to catch those people who will be forced out of owner-occupation?
My hon. Friend will know that the Bank of England takes the issue of stability extremely seriously, and it is important that it should do so. We are also clear that we need more investment in affordable housing, and that is why we have said that that is a priority for the spending review, and why we are supporting increased investment in affordable housing at the moment.
Pathfinder Scheme
Although the costs of demolition in pathfinder areas vary, depending on the type and location of the property, the general trend is upwards. That is principally because, as in the rest of the country, house prices have risen significantly over the past few years in all the housing market renewal pathfinder areas.
I thank the Minister for her answer, but will she acknowledge that, as costs are increasing, and are likely to increase further, owing to the speculative purchasing of property, ambitions are being scaled down and that lateral thinking is urgently needed?
I think that all the thoughts on this issue have involved lateral thinking. It is worth reminding the House of the benefits that £1.2 billion of investment has brought to these areas. Nine thousand houses have been developed, and 35,000 properties have been refurbished and refitted to create new homes. Obviously we have seen an increase in house prices, but that will happen when areas are renewed and become places where people want to live. That means that our investment can go towards renewing and repairing more homes, and towards providing more homes in areas where people want to live.
It is not the demolitions that are the problem in the Meden valley; it is whether the builders can actually get on and build the new homes. Will the Minister pull together those running the pathfinder schemes to give a kick to the builders, who now have plenty of demolition land available for new house building? If she does, I can assure her that she will have the support of the five Labour Warsop councillors, including Councillor Peter Crawford—a Labour gain last Thursday.
I am pleased to say that that was not the only Labour gain on Thursday; there was one in my constituency as well. I take on board my hon. Friend’s comments. Clearly, we want to see more homes being built and refurbished, and I will take away the comments that he has made. We are making significant progress, but if there is more that we can do to advance the scheme further, we should obviously look into that.
Is the Minister aware that, when the last Conservative Government successfully regenerated the Hulme estate in Manchester, they found that, in order to create a sustainable community, it was essential for at least 30 per cent. of the original residents to return to the estate from where they came? What work is the Minister doing in that respect?
In all those areas, we cannot dictate to people where they should live. We have to create areas that people want to live in, and that means addressing not only issues involving housing but those relating to schools, infrastructure and crime. It is worth noting that there has been a dramatic reduction in crime in many of those areas, which encourages people either to stay or to move back in. The important thing is that there should be a stable and sustainable community, and our objectives are not just about housing but about the community as a whole.
Consultation (Northumberland)
We are consulting widely across the private, public and voluntary and community sectors. My Department’s website lists the key consultees, and explains that anyone may request an e-mail list of particular local bodies that we are consulting in each region. I have arranged for the north-east list to be sent to the right hon. Gentleman.
Why does the Government’s list of key stakeholders consist entirely of national and regional bodies that might have an interest in having fewer local authorities with which to deal? Is it because the Minister accepts that the people of Northumberland, in a referendum undertaken by this Government, have already voted for two districts rather than one?
The right hon. Gentleman knows that it would be unwise of me to comment on the proposals for his area, but let me take the opportunity to dispel the idea that we are interested only in regional and national bodies. This is a devolutionary measure, and it is up to councils also to consult local people and organisations—which I know they are doing in the right hon. Gentleman’s area.