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Housing Corporation (Delegation) etc. Bill

One thing that is quite obvious—it has happened since the formation of housing associations—is that a huge amount of private sector money has gone into building social housing. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman would agree that that is an extremely good thing. I do not have the figure to hand, but I recall that it is about £28 billion, as opposed to about £4 billion of public money, enjoyed in the context of the whole set-up, including the Housing Corporation. I am sure that he will recognise that it is the total amount of money that goes into funding local and social housing that is important, not necessarily how that funding takes place. The hon. Gentleman touches on an important subject that I tried to address in my points about accountability. As he indicates, there are a huge number of bodies involved in the management of the situation. I worry that the accountability that should correctly come straight down to this place through the Minister is muddied in many ways during a process that involves the Housing Commission, the Audit Commission, the Charity Commission, the Financial Services Authority, the Public Accounts Committee and the finance, management and policy review body. I wonder what would happen if, for example, the finance, management and policy review body, which considers these matters every five years, decided that the Housing Corporation was doing part of its job very badly, but the Public Accounts Committee decided that the Housing Corporation was doing that part of its job well. Where does the accountability lie? Is it with the Minister, or with the House in general? There are rather too many bodies involved for my liking. I wonder whether the Bill might have taken the opportunity to tidy that up somewhat. That may be the great missed opportunity that my hon. Friend the Member for Wellingborough referred to.