Decent Homes (Hillingdon)

Lord Stunell Excerpts

Thursday 15th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Andrew Stunell)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) on introducing the debate and bringing the subject to the House. He has a long record of diligent and assiduous research and work on behalf of his constituents, and today’s debate is a good example of that.

I agree that it is important that we get efficient and effective housing services, that we do not waste public money and that the people we serve actually get a service and are not treated merely as targets to fulfil. As well as ensuring that the workmanship is right, we must have the right standards of integrity, prudence and legality. The hon. Gentleman has raised some serious concerns about whether that is the case for Hillingdon Homes. He has also made a stout defence of his constituent, Mr Fagan, and the residents on the Avondale estate.

The hon. Gentleman painted a nightmare picture, which clearly needs to be considered carefully. He has outlined some concerns, which I will tackle shortly. First, let me provide some context. In Hillingdon, the council and its tenants chose to set up an ALMO. I understand his point that perhaps they had a financial pistol pointed at their heads by the previous Government through the suggestion that an ALMO was the way of accessing extra funding to invest in their homes. Indeed, Hillingdon Homes invested £59 million between 2003 and 2008 and reduced the number of non-decent homes from more than 3,000 to just 23. I understand that statistics show that current non-decency is limited to only 48 homes out of the borough’s stock. I hope that the hon. Gentleman agrees that that is a good record.

As the hon. Gentleman also reported, earlier this year, after a tenant consultation, Hillingdon council decided to take management of the homes back from the ALMO and to disband it, which is due to happen at the end of the year. The council claims that it will save £300,000 a year, which will be reinvested in services to tenants. Perhaps, therefore, the story will have a happy ending.

Let me deal with the hon. Gentleman’s points and questions. He made some important points about the poor workmanship, but I am sure that he accepts that that matter should be pursued elsewhere. I am sure that he will be diligent in doing that. He has brought to the House’s attention what he perceives to be irregularities about visa applications, or possibly the failure to make visa applications when they should have been made. He reminded us that the then Secretary of State was contacted and that a letter was referred to the immigration enforcement unit. Of course, that is not my ministerial responsibility, but I will ensure that his words are drawn to the attention of officials and the Department concerned.

The hon. Gentleman raised concerns about the cost and value for money of the installation. He said that the initial price quoted was £10,000 that not until tenants started to get stroppy did a new figure of £7,900 emerge, and that even now, there is a belief that that figure may be seriously over the top. He also drew attention to the record in the courts of Apollo London Ltd on price fixing. Those matters should concern the House. We need to be satisfied that public money has been properly spent and that a good service has been given.

The hon. Gentleman also reported that he debated the matter in the House back in 2007, when he asked my predecessors to carry out an investigation. I am sure he will understand that it is more his job than mine to defend the record of the outgoing Administration, and I am not going to take a rap for their performance, but I would welcome the opportunity to meet him with my officials to discuss some of his concerns. He feels that his constituents have been let down by Hillingdon Homes, the council and Ministers, but I should make it clear that up to now, I have not let him down, and I will see what we can do in future.

The hon. Gentleman asked a broader question about whether the problem he described is universal and whether it applies in many other areas. That is not our experience in the borough of Stockport, which also has an ALMO. He is right to ask that question and to draw attention to the NAO report on the problems.

I conclude by saying to the hon. Gentleman and the House that the Department and this Government are very strongly committed to ensuring that we get value for money. We all know that resources will be even tighter in future, and that it is estimated that £3.2 billion will have to be spent to get the remaining housing stock to a decent homes standard. There are many other calls on Government money, so we support anything that will weed out inefficiency or anything worse than inefficiency, which is what he hinted at. I look forward to the opportunity of discussing with him how we achieve that in Hillingdon. If there are broader lessons to learn, I am sure that my Department and the Housing Minister will be very willing to do so.

There seems to a rule that we speak right up to the bell, but I think I have covered the main points and I hope that that is satisfactory to the hon. Gentleman. I look forward to taking the matter forward in due course.

Question put and agreed to.