Caravan Site Licensing (Exemptions of Motor Homes) Bill

Lee Rowley Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 3rd February 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Lee Rowley)]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope) for introducing the Bill and for the important points that he has made. As he said at the beginning of his speech, there has been a lot of water under the bridge since 1960, when the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act was passed following the 1959 report to which he referred.

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

The Minister is, as usual, giving an excellent summation. He has just mentioned the time that has elapsed between the initial legislation and this Bill. Does he agree that we should continue to look back at historical legislation to ensure that it is fit and proper for the present day?

[Lee Rowley]

My hon. Friend is correct: we should always look to update our legislative canon. We should always seek to ensure that it works for the challenges and the opportunities that face us at the current time. To the point of my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch: we should always look for opportunities to deregulate and remove legislation where we are able to so and where it is no longer relevant or proportionate.

With regards to the 1960 Act: I do accept that it has been around for many years—for much longer than I have been alive—and that it has worked in many instances. Equally, though, things have moved on. As my hon. Friend knows from his tireless work as chair of the all-party group on park homes, of which that is an element, there has been a need to move the regulation on in recent years, especially with the Mobile Homes Act 2013 and then the work that has been done in relation to park homes since then.

Before I come on to the specifics of the Bill in front of us today, let me just say that, at least on park homes, there has been a significant change in operation, in activity and in how owners of park homes work. It is fair to say—I hope my hon. Friend will agree—that the operation of park homes has got ahead of what the historical law said, which is why changes need to be made.

[Danny Kruger]

The Minister is right that the operation of park homes has, in a sense, outlived the legislation. One thing that has not changed is that most of these homes still receive their energy off grid. Can he respond to the point that we discussed earlier about the arrangement for supporting homes, including houseboats—particularly those on the Kennet and Avon canal that runs through Wiltshire? We want to see those homes receive the subsidy that has been promised to them as soon as possible. I understand that there have been some significant delays in implementing the new scheme, which is not the Government’s fault. Can he give us any update on that?

[Lee Rowley]

Like my hon. Friend, I also want to see the money that was announced some months ago to go to residents of park homes and to others who are off grid at the earliest possible opportunity. I know that my colleagues in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are working hard to do that, and they have recently made information available to us all, and I am passing that back to the residents of my constituency who live in park homes in Clay Cross, Old Tupton, Staveley, Marsh Lane, New Whittington and elsewhere. They are as keen as my hon. Friend’s constituents in Devizes are to make sure that progress is made on this payment and that we can support them during this difficult period with regard to energy.

In the short time that I have left, I wish to do two things, the first of which is to respond to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch about the Bill itself. Secondly, I must say that I was the duty Minister back in November when my hon. Friend’s initial Bill on park homes was introduced. It was so universally supported in this place that, for the first time since 1997 or 1998, there was no need for anybody from the Treasury Bench to stand up and even argue why we thought it was a good idea. It is immensely pleasing that, where we can make collective progress on such issues as park homes, we are able to do so. I congratulate my hon. Friend on both introducing the Bill and on the progress that it has made—particularly today, when his Bill saw its Second Reading in the Lords.

[Mr Mohindra]

My hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch also spoke about the support for the motor home sector. Does he agree that part of this change of legislation will benefit the wealth creators, including that particular sector?

--- Later in debate ---

[Lee Rowley]

That is an excellent opportunity for me to pass very quickly to the actual Bill itself. My hon. Friend highlights the important point outlined by my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch about supporting the domestic tourism industry, the importance of setting people free, the importance of ensuring that regulation does not stand in the way of allowing people to make choices about what they want to do, how they want to do it, where they want to go on holiday and how they want to find places to do that within the United Kingdom. At the same time, as with all legislation—I speak as somebody who, as my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch kindly points out, is very keen on deregulation—

[Mr Mohindra]

Will my hon. Friend give way again?

[Lee Rowley]

I will not, if my hon. Friend does not mind.

Like my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch, I am also very keen on deregulation. The question is always how to do that and how to unpick the legislation that is in place, which, in some instances, can be 60-plus years old. While I have a lot of sympathy with my hon. Friend’s point, and he raises immensely important questions about where it is proportionate for the law and regulation to start and to stop in these areas of economic activity, the Government are not today supporting the Bill. However, I and colleagues responsible for the portfolio in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities are extremely happy—