3 The work of the Committee in 2005-06
14. Housing issues and the Department's role in tackling
the problems arising from the increasing disparity between the
number of households in the country and the number of homes available
have dominated our agenda since the Committee was appointed. In
October 2005 we announced a series of three consecutive major
inquiries into aspects of housing policy. The first, upon which
we reported in June 2006, considered affordable housing; the second,
which is currently in progress, is looking specifically at the
supply of rented housing. The third and final stage of this programme
will be an inquiry, which is expected to take place once we have
received the Government reply on rented housing, into shared ownership
issues. Our aim in this ambitious undertaking is twofold: to scrutinise
the Government's current policies and effectiveness in implementation
and to influence subsequent policy development. By conducting
a thorough analysis of the current position on housing we are
establishing a firm foundation for both a critique of the Government's
current policies and the effectiveness of their implementation
and to influence housing policy.
15. Some of our other inquiries, examining other
aspects of the Department's interests, have complemented our housing
work: our Report on the Government's proposals for a planning-gain
supplement included analysis of the impact of the proposals on
the provision of affordable housing through developers' contributions.
Housing, particularly houses of multiple occupation, has similarly
featured, albeit to a lesser degree, in our current work on coastal
towns.
16. Insofar as our objectives in this work are to
effect policy change, the nature of much of that change is likely
to be gradual and long-term. Nevertheless, we have been able to
detect some early signs of impact. The Government endorsed many
of the conclusions in our Report on Affordability and the Supply
of Housing, some of which have subsequently been captured
within Planning Policy Statement 3; and, while it rejected a number
of our specific recommendations, we welcome the commitments it
gave on issues such as the future development of household projections
and increasing the stock of social housing. Our report was debated
in the House in December 2006.
17. The various announcements made in relation to
the planning-gain supplement proposals and the launch of further
consultations in the Chancellor's 2006 Pre-Budget Report were
in line with our recommendations on the topic, suggesting that
our Report influenced the Government's thinking on aspects of
implementation such as the rate of application to brownfield sites
and the consideration of thresholds for small-scale non-residential
developments.[6] This was
confirmed by a broadly positive Government Response in December
2006.[7]
18. The Government's response to our Report on Re-Licensing
was at first glance less satisfying: in the formal reply, the
Government disputed many of our conclusions and the premise behind
some of our recommendations. We found that "The Government
failed in its duty to support implementation of its legislation
by providing local authorities with the appropriate guidance in
a timely fashion".[8]
We recommended that guidance should be provided earlier with regard
to future legislation such as the Gambling Act 2005: local authorities
have responsibility for licensing premises under the new Act,
and for issuing permits for gaming machines in venues such as
pubs and clubs.
19. In September 2006 Rt hon Richard Caborn MP, the
Minister for Sport, announced that, in view of concerns, the "appointed
day" for receipt of new licence applications under the Gambling
Act would be deferred by three months, from 31 January to 30 April
2007, and the date for existing operators to apply for continuation
rights would be similarly deferred from 30 April to 31 July 2007.
The final date for implementation of the Act would remain the
same. While the Government did not accept the Committee's conclusion
that its guidance was late in the case of the Licensing Act, the
concession in the current case might be taken to imply that there
is now greater recognition of the work local authorities have
to carry out when implementing new legislation.
20. The tables in the annex provide a rounded picture
of our activities since July 2005 and set out some of the ways
in which we have pursued recommendations and followed up on other
aspects of our work. The Appendix contains a memorandum from the
Government, produced at our request, regarding its response to
our recommendations and conclusions on re-licensing in particular.
6 Fifth Report from the Communities and Local Government
Committee, Session 2005-05, Planning Gain Supplement, HC
1024. Back
7
Government Response to the Communities and Local Government
Committee's Report on Planning Gain Supplement, Cm 7005, December
2006. Back
8
Second Report from the ODPM Committee, Session 2005-06, Re-Licensing,
HC 606, para 39. Back
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