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X; and
(c) at the end of subsection (2), there is inserted Xand investigation may be made, in considering violence other than domestic violence, of allegations or evidence of collusion between the victim (or a person associated with him) and the other person as mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1A)"."

The noble Baroness said: In introducing this amendment, I wish to make clear exactly what it involves. Paragraph (c) would come at the end of proposed new Section (1A). The words from subsection (2) refer to a proposed extension to Section 177(2) of the 1996 Act. If that was understood before I started, I am extremely sorry to have stated it again.

Clause 10 would permit any violence, or threats of violence—currently under the 1996 Act, they are domestic violence only—to provide a basis of the homelessness duty. Given the greater attractiveness of becoming homeless provided by other clauses of the Bill, it would seem sensible to guard against fraudulent or collusive allegations of violence or threats of violence. This is a very wide open category and it could potentially be open to a great deal of abuse. While I accept, without reservation, that there are people who would need to be considered under the Homelessness Bill because of a threat of violence, it is an easy area for people to make up a situation. While I am sure there are not many, there will undoubtedly be those who would take advantage of this section, so there ought to be some caveats, and I see no other opportunity for providing against this within the Bill. I beg to move.

Baroness Hamwee: I was a little puzzled by this amendment, since most local housing authorities take considerable steps to investigate any allegation or stories that are brought to them. I wonder whether it would imply something that is not at all the case if this provision were simply to apply to allegations of violence. I am not sure that it should be treated differently than any other tale that is taken to a local housing authority.

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: I agree with what the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, has said both explicitly and by implication. Authorities need to

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safeguard themselves against any claims for housing which are based on inadequate facts or made up facts. That will include any allegation made in relation to violence. Authorities already have the power to make investigations where they have reason to believe that there may have been collusion. Section 184 of the 1996 Act provides that, if an authority has reason to believe that an applicant is homeless or is threatened with homelessness, they must make such inquiries as are necessary to satisfy themselves, among other things, whether any duty—and, if so, what duty—is owed under Part 7; that is, under the homelessness legislation. Where the question of whether the applicant is homeless depends on the possibility that it may be unreasonable for him or her to continue to occupy his or her home because that would lead to a risk of violence, the authority is empowered to make such investigations into that question as may be required. I am quite sure that Amendment No. 16 is well intended but, because it is already covered, and for the reasons given by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, I hope the noble Baroness will not feel the need to press it at the next stage.

Baroness Hanham: I thank the Minister. Since that explanation will be recorded in Hansard and thereby available to people in future, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Clause 10 agreed to.

Baroness Maddock moved Amendment No. 17:

After Clause 10, insert the following new clause—

XSECTION 202: REVIEWS
After section 202 of the 1996 Act (right to request review of decision) there is inserted—
X202A SECTION 202: REVIEWS
(1) This section applies where an applicant has the right to request a review of a decision by an authority or authorities under section 202.
(2) If the applicant is dissatisfied with a decision by the authority—
(a) not to exercise their power to continue to secure that accommodation is available for the applicant's occupation pending a review under section 188;
(b) in a case where the authority have secured that accommodation is available for the applicant's occupation under section 190(2)(a), to cease to secure that accommodation is so available before the time available to the applicant to bring an appeal under section 204 has expired (or, if sooner, the day on which an appeal is brought by the applicant);
(c) not to exercise their power to secure that accommodation is available for the applicant's occupation pending a review, under section 200(5); or
(d) to exercise their power under either section 188 or 200(5) for a limited time ending before the time available to the applicant to bring an appeal under section 204 has expired (or, if sooner, the day on which an appeal is brought by the applicant) or, in either case, to cease exercising their power before that time,
he may appeal to the county court against the decision.
(3) An appeal under this section may not be brought after the time available to the applicant to bring an appeal under section 204 has expired (or, if sooner, after the date on which an appeal is brought).

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(4) On an appeal under this section, the court—
(a) may order the authority to secure that accommodation is available for the applicant's occupation until the time available to the applicant to bring an appeal under section 204 has expired (or such earlier time as the court may specify); and
(b) shall confirm or quash the decision appealed against,
and in considering whether to confirm or quash the decision the court shall apply the principles applied by the High Court on an application for judicial review.
(5) If the court quashes the decision it may order the authority to exercise any of the powers mentioned in subsection (2) in the applicant's case for such period as may be specified in the order.
(6) An order under subsection (5)—
(a) may only be made if the court is satisfied that failure to exercise the power in accordance with the order would substantially prejudice the applicant's ability to pursue the review against the authority's decision in his case;
(b) may not specify any period ending after the time available to the applicant to bring an appeal under section 204 has expired.""

The noble Baroness said: The purpose of this amendment is to increase access to justice by providing homeless applicants with the right to appeal to the county court against a decision of a local housing authority not to accommodate him or her during the review of a decision.

An applicant has a right to request an internal review of a decision made by a local authority concerning their homelessness, as to whether they are intentionally homeless or whether they qualify as being in priority need. The power is available for the authority to provide accommodation during this process. However, despite guidance setting out when this power should be used, it is very rarely operated by authorities, no matter how strong the applicant's case appears to be. This makes it very difficult for homeless people to exercise their legal right of review. If an authority refuses to provide accommodation during a review, the applicant can obtain an order from the court to require them to do so. Currently, however, the applicant must go to the High Court to do this and this new clause would simply transfer this power to the county courts.

The Government have accepted that, at a subsequent stage in the Bill, where an applicant can appeal the review decision on a point of law, the equivalent power to require an authority to provide accommodation should lie in the county court. An amendment was included in the Bill to achieve that. This amendment mirrors exactly the Government's amendments at a subsequent appeal stage.

There have been a number of arguments about this in another place in the passage of this Bill. However, many people feel that an appeal in the county court is much easier to deal with than having to go to the High Court. If one does not have any accommodation, taking an appeal to the High Court is quite a difficult task.

I know that the Minister is worried that, if this is dealt with in a county court, many cases will come forward. I shall not go into this in great detail but there

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is evidence to show that that is unlikely to be the case. Shelter could provide a good deal of information on that point.

This new clause seeks to provide a similar right to appeal against a decision by a local authority not to accommodate an applicant during a review as that introduced by Clause 11 of the Bill. It would give the county courts exactly the same powers to confirm or to quash a decision by an authority, and order that accommodation be provided as already provided in Clause 11. It sets out the full circumstances in which an applicant may appeal against a decision not to provide accommodation during a review.

This is a technical amendment and it is lengthy because it needs to cover the four circumstances in which an authority may accommodate an applicant temporarily when it reaches an adverse decision on a homelessness application and decides to withdraw accommodation. Those four circumstances are, first, not to exercise its power to continue to secure that accommodation is available for the applicant's occupation pending a review under Section 188. That is a straightforward example of where an authority decides that an applicant is not in priority need and therefore it is no longer under a duty to house the applicant once it has made its decision.

The second circumstance is that in a case where the authority has secured that accommodation is available for the applicant's occupation under Section 190(2)(a), it ceases to secure that accommodation is so available before the time available to the applicant to bring an appeal under Section 204 of the Act has expired (or, if sooner, the day on which an appeal is brought by the applicant). That is where an applicant is found to be intentionally homeless and has been accommodated under the duty under Section 190(2)(a). This duty requires an authority to provide accommodation for a reasonable period (usually 28 days) while the applicant looks for alternative accommodation.

The third circumstance is not to exercise its power to secure that accommodation is available for the applicant's occupation pending a review under Section 200(5). This is where a local authority believes that an applicant has a local connection with another authority and proposes to refer the applicant to that authority.

The fourth circumstance is to exercise its power under either Section 188 or Section 200(5) for a limited time ending before the time available to the applicant to bring an appeal under Section 204 of the Act has expired (or if sooner, the day on which an appeal is brought by the applicant), or, in either case, to cease exercising its power before that time. This mirrors the provision in Clause 11. If we are going to give proper access to justice for people who are homeless, it is important that they should not have to appeal to the High Court.

There are circumstances under which the process might take anything up to three months, and we are talking about three months in which people are trying to get an appeal on a decision made about their right to accommodation and trying to appeal in the High Court.

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Evidence shows that this is not an easy thing for homeless people to deal with. The purpose of this amendment is to bring it in line with other parts of the legislation and to avoid homeless people having to apply for judicial review in the High Court. I beg to move.

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