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Housing and Regeneration Bill

At this stage, that is a gracious explanation. I will not reply to the amendment in that case. I turn directly to the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Mawson, with which I have a difficulty. I agree with everything he says, because he speaks not only with authority but with genuine wisdom about how social innovation happens. What he said about the role of housing associations in that context is absolutely right. The point about the voluntary sector is that it occupies a particular space in the statutory or individual functions, which gives it an extraordinary power to change things on the ground to enable people to work differently, to relate and come together differently to make things happen. His nine points are well worth reading again, and I shall do so when I read Hansard tomorrow. The noble Lord will not be surprised to hear me say this. First, he addressed objective 6, which already requires the regulator to encourage social housing providers to contribute to the environmental, social and economic well-being of the areas in which they operate. I will try to put his concerns, which I know are not confined to him, to rest. We want the non-housing activities to flourish. We recognise how much they have grown and developed in an innovative way in recent years, and we want to see that happening. There is absolutely no intention that the regulator should set detailed standards on RSL voluntary activities, not least because we think that there are enough protections. For example, the Bill prohibits the regulator from setting standards on issues that are unconnected to social housing. The Bill requires the regulator to consult, to act proportionately with minimal interference and to comply with a better regulation code, which says that standards should be outcome-based wherever possible. We have amended the Bill in the other place to ensure that the regulator must have regard to the desirability of housing associations being free to choose how to conduct their business. On the one hand, we positively want to encourage them to do that, and on the other we have put protections in to enable them to do that. The reason why it is where it is in the Bill is not least because, as the local government Bill went through the other place last year, we were talking about how to strengthen duties of partnership and how we need to keep standards on local well-being so that RSLs can co-operate with local authorities in a reasonable and proportionate way and one that is in keeping with their non-public status. We would like to see that happening within the framework of new partnership agreements and so on, so that they can play a maximum role in society and in their community. Secondly, I have made the point about having a small number of high-level objects, but the amendment pushes too far in terms of the legitimate interests of the regulator. It widens its scope. The noble Lord talked about regulation creep. I think that this would be a case of objective creep, if it were included. The regulator must act proportionately. I do not believe that adding social innovation to the objectives would help, and in fact I would question whether it would not inhibit or at least make it more difficult for the regulator to deliver balanced and proportionate regulation. There is a real danger that an active role for the regulator would stifle and not support innovation. There is a genuine issue, given the way in which the noble Lord described the dynamics of the best that could happen on the ground. I do not think that would help. I hope my comments have been helpful to the Committee. I am grateful for that debate and hope that the noble Earl will be able to withdraw his amendment.