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Housing and Regeneration Bill

I welcome the private investment for social housing achieved through the vehicle the Minister describes. However, I firmly believe that the primary reason why the Government are so obsessed with encouraging a shift in social housing from the public to the private sector is the fear that it otherwise shows up in the public sector borrowing requirement. That provides a technical reason to explain why local authorities are being pretty much forced into shifting social housing out into the private sector—however little they may actually want to do that in practice. Does the Minister accept that?