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Housing and Regeneration Bill

I thank the Minister although I am not sure that that helps. The power seems very sweeping indeed. Time and again we have Ministers who say, ““It is not intended to do this or that. We are a benign Government and we have benign Secretaries of State and we do not do things which all you people with your inquiring, occasionally cynical, minds might think might happen””. We are making legislation, which is not for the present Government. The present Government may last for ever, or they may not. Who knows? The response of Ministers that, ““We do not intend to do this or that””, goes a certain distance in reassurance, but only that distance, because the legislation will be on the statute book for someone else to come along and perhaps do other things. It is reasonable for the Government to say that anything at this stage of the Bill has to be within the objectives set out at the beginning of the Bill—I agree to that extent. I am intrigued by the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, about the clause being minimalist. The Bill is hardly minimalist—it is a 220-page, expanding-all-the-time, maximalist Bill. Nevertheless, it is always curious to see in which areas the Government want to tie everything down to detail and in which areas they want simply to provide general powers. There never seems to be any overall sense to why this happens in different places. However, I have received an answer and I will read it again. Clause 31 agreed to. Clause 32 [Powers to form companies etc.]: On Question, Whether Clause 32 shall stand part of the Bill?