Division
No.
56] Question
accordingly negatived.
Mr.
Curry: On a point of order, Mr. Amess. I just
wish to point out that neither Whip was present in the room until very
recently and that we have made astonishing progress in their absence.
Perhaps the Government Whip might consider withdrawing to facilitate
our continued progress.
The
Chairman: The right hon. Gentleman has not made a point of
order, but he has amused us.
Clause 121
ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses
122 to 134 ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause
135Requirement
for construction contracts to be in
writing Question
proposed, That the clause stand part of the
Bill.
Mr.
Jackson: The Committee may know that we tabled an
amendment to clause 135, but, sadly, it was not selected. This and
following clauses will amend the
Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act
1996colloquially known as the construction Actto
overhaul the aspects of the legislation that deal with cash flow,
adjudication and unreasonable delays in payment.
On the face
of it, clause 135 is quite straightforward, and this issue has had
quite an airing in past years. To give them their due, the Government
have tried to move on from the significant consultation that took place
in respect of the 1996 Act to make the improvements outlined, beginning
some years ago with the Latham review on unreasonable delays in payment
and adjudication and the payment provisions arising from the Act. The
matter has been taken forward by both the former Department of Trade
and Industry and the Welsh Assembly and has been subject to two
separate and exhaustive public consultations and a significant amount
of lobbyingno doubt, for members of the Committee and before
that. Although
our amendment to the clause has not been selected, I shall just make a
simple point that bears repetition. The Construction Confederation has
raised issues relating to the clause and makes this
point: It
will undermine industry best practice of encouraging
contracts to be in
writing. It
will inevitably lead to the examination of who agreed what with whom,
with each party making representations to the
adjudicator. It
raises the question as to how such a procedure (which will inevitably
require oral representation and examination during the course of an
adjudication) can be incorporated within what is already the short
statutory timescale for adjudication (usually two
months). The
confederation makes this pertinent
point: Swift
adjudication remains the most effective way to tackle non-payment.
Introducing oral or part oral contracts within its scope will increase
costs and delay the
process. The
clause did not have a very significant outing in the other place, but I
would like to ask the Exchequer Secretary about it. Incidentally, I was
remiss in not congratulating her at the outset on her promotion. We are
getting quite giddy at new Communities and Local Government Ministers
on the magic roundabout that is Government reshuffles, but she had not
been long in her
role.
Mr.
Goodman: This is a helpful suggestion to the Government
Whips: given the repeated helpful and learned interventions of the
right hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich, perhaps he could fill any
temporary vacancy by coming to the Ministers
place.
Mr.
Jackson: My hon. Friend makes an astute observation.
However, I am not sure that a soufflĂ(c) always rises
twice. 10.25
am The
Chairman adjourned the Committee without Question put (Standing Order
No.
88). Adjourned
till this day at One
oclock.
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