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Mr. Raynsford: I am grateful to the Minister for giving way again.
Mr. Deputy Speaker: Order. This is a Back-Bench Adjournment debate, and it should not be abused by Front Benchers.
Mr. Clappison: I hope that I have answered my hon. Friend's points and the concerns that he expressed about local authorities. While I do not want to go into all the details, we think that local authorities have an important role to play and we want them to meet high standards.
We regard empty property strategies as important, and we encourage local authorities to include a means of dealing with those properties in their housing strategies. We have given them every encouragement in that regard.
My hon. Friend mentioned the Empty Homes Agency, which was launched in 1992 by my right hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, Acton (Sir G. Young), the present Secretary of State for Transport. My Department is part funding the agency for three years to work with local authorities to develop empty property strategies. The agency has made considerable progress: it is in contact with more than 250 authorities, some 160 of which are now taking specific action to reduce the number of empty properties in their areas. I am confident that that number will continue to grow.
We are playing an active role in addressing the problem on several fronts. It is a very important subject, and my hon. Friend has done the House a service by raising it this evening and by advancing his interesting, innovative and well-thought-out ideas.
Question put and agreed to.
25 Feb 1997 : Column 255Adjourned accordingly at twenty-four minutes past Ten o'clock.
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