Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Bill

Sarah Newton Excerpts

Friday 13th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Newton (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)]

In the light of the number of people who want to speak, I will curtail my comments. I must start, however, by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Watford (Richard Harrington) on how he has introduced the Bill and on picking such an important subject. I am sure that by getting the Bill through Parliament he will make a real difference to many hard-working families and some of the most vulnerable people in our society. That will be something of which he and his whole family will be proud and a legacy of his time in Parliament. I look forward to working with him and all other Members who have volunteered their time to support the Bill and its safe passage through Parliament in the months ahead.

Like my hon. Friend, I have many constituents who are desperate to put a decent roof over their families’ heads. There cannot be a single Member who does not, in their weekly or monthly surgeries, face heartrending stories of people who have been languishing on council waiting lists for long periods—hard-working people who are trying to do the right thing to look after their families but who cannot get decent accommodation—so any measure that enables us to use better the housing stock we already have must be welcomed.

I completely agree with my hon. Friend that it is shameful that people who have benefited from a decent council home provided by a housing association are denying someone else that opportunity. Any measure that cracks down on that and introduces proper and effective deterrents is therefore to be welcomed.

The issue that I would like to raise with my hon. Friend is perhaps one that we can discuss further in the Bill’s progress. In my research for today, I noticed that some parts of the country are particularly good at identifying fraud. He mentioned London, but sadly there are other regions, such as the one that I represent, that are very bad at identifying fraud and taking action, yet I am sure that the research that has been carried out will show that the problem is occurring all over the country. The Government have recognised the problem and have launched the unlawful occupancy fund for 2011-12, to help local authorities with the resources needed to introduce mechanisms to detect such crime. The fund is worth £19 million and about 51 authorities are benefiting from it, but for such measures to be effective we need to see prosecutions all over the country.

If there could be just one prosecution in each local authority, the message would go out loud and clear to those thinking of entering into such fraud that they will be found out and that they will be prosecuted. I agree that the deterrents that are being introduced—fines and potential custodial sentences—will send out a strong message. However, I wonder whether in Committee we could look at ensuring that every local authority—particularly those in the south-west of England, which are clearly not making the most of the opportunities that already exist to detect such fraud—are encouraged to do so and given any available resources from the Government, so that we can quickly reach the point where there are prosecutions that act as a genuine deterrent.

That was the main point I wanted to make. I again congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Watford, and I look forward to ensuring that the Bill gets on the statute book, so that we can get on with securing more homes for people who really need them.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Williamson]

The hon. Lady will concede that the hon. Members who have spoken so far have made the point that there is a desperate shortage in social housing and we therefore need to find ways to increase that supply. The need for the Bill is brought into sharp relief by the fact that there is such a dearth of social housing, particularly in certain parts of the country, where the waiting list runs into the thousands. For many people, the prospect of ever obtaining a social housing dwelling is virtually zero. It is therefore important that we set the proposal in its wider context. Members alluded to the suggestion that the Bill would go a long way towards eliminating and eradicating the problem of the insufficient supply of social housing. Clearly, it will not go anywhere near that so we need to take further measures to address the problem faced by millions of people in the country today.

[Sarah Newton]

I do not think that anybody on the Government Benches suggested that at all. The whole purpose of the Bill is to ensure that we make better use of the social housing that already exists. We are all absolutely aware that other measures need to be taken to address the wider issues that the hon. Gentleman is raising, and the Government are taking many of them, but today is not about a general debate on housing. The hon. Gentleman can raise that question in an Opposition day debate during their parliamentary time and it is very disappointing that he is bringing partisan points into something that is, generally speaking, a widely accepted and positive step forward.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. Before the shadow Minister responds, I should tell him that although he is being masterful in doing so, he is straying into a wider debate on housing. I ask him to focus his attention on the contents of the Bill.