Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 (Consequential Provisions) Order 2010

My Lords, first, I thank the Minister and his team for the very clear explanation of the draft statutory instruments. He will know that we supported the Housing and Regeneration Act in principle. The new regulations on the Tenant Services Authority are very much in line with our position. When we look at the issue of social housing, it would be appropriate to pay tribute to the organisation Shelter, which, since the days when my good friend Des Wilson was in charge of it, has done much to campaign for the cause of the homeless and decent housing for those who otherwise might not have it. Shelter says that it strongly welcomes the approach of bringing together the standards for service delivery to local authority and housing association tenants into a single regulatory framework. This is based on Professor Cave’s excellent work, and it must be the right approach. Shelter makes the point that having one regulator will make life simpler for tenants and prospective tenants in identifying what they can expect from their landlord and will ensure greater transparency and consistency in providing services. Can the Minister comment on the issue that Shelter raised in its response to the TSA discussion paper—that temporary accommodation should be included in the scope of the TSA’s new regulatory framework? We accept the need for stronger regulation of the private rented sector. I understand that private registered providers remain subject to regulation only if they voluntarily register with the TSA. Should not the TSA take on this regulatory function for all privately registered providers? The Local Government Association has also welcomed the establishment of cross-domain regulation, but has expressed some concerns about the new regulatory framework under the TSA. Will the Minister comment on the LGA’s assertion that the length and complexity of the standards cast some doubt on whether they focus on meaningful outcomes and will be comprehensible to tenants. I ask the Minister to say a little more about the relative roles of the TSA and the Audit Commission. We looked last week at the code of practice for the Audit Commission in relation to local government. Can the Minister assure us that the value-for-money standard for the TSA does not duplicate or significantly overlap with the use- of-resources judgment of the Audit Commission?