My Lords, I support a great deal of what the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, has said about the importance of infrastructure in relation to housing. I am greatly worried that there is now such a housing crisis in this country that we are doing exactly what the noble Earl suggested and failing to learn the lessons of the past. At times in the past in the post-war years, large numbers of houses were built but infrastructure and services were not put it and local authorities spent a long time playing catch-up. In some cases they did not succeed because of the problems which existed on those estates. So what has been said is absolutely right. There is a huge danger that under the pressures to find ways of building more and more houses the proper overall planning of houses as part of future communities is being forgotten in too many areas.
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However, I do not think that Amendment 50F is the right way forward. It is an extraordinary amendment which would give the Secretary of State the duty to produce an infrastructure plan for every new estate built in England, which must then be laid before the House of Commons and the House of Lords. I am huge believer in the importance of the House of Lords and the work that we do here, and I do not think that our powers should be reduced, but I really do not think that we should be scrutinising infrastructure
plans for every new estate. I forecast that this is not an amendment that the Labour Front Bench will bring back on Report.