The UK's Communities and Local Government Committee conducted an inquiry which lasted a little over an hour on the functions of the new Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) on February 18.

Throughout the session, Chief Executive-designate Sir Bob Kerslake drew on his role as Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council to illustrate his commitment to regeneration and to highlight relevant experience.

Sir Bob maintained a calm demeanour throughout questioning and politely sidestepped a question by Paul Beresford MP (Con, Mole Valley) on what the HCA would do if the government’s targets on house building turn out to be "ill-conceived".

It is important for the HCA to strike a balance between local ambitions and central targets, he replied.

Committee Chair Dr Phyllis Starkey MP began the session by asking Sir Bob the main challenges he faces in establishing the new Agency, and the time within which he expects the Agency to be fully functioning.

Key issues, he responded, include clarifications of the transfer of functions, establishing a start up team, and accelerating the process of starting the Agency. Timings depend on the progress of the Housing and Regeneration Bill, and there will be a phasing-in period, perhaps between November/December of this year and April 2009

A key challenge is to create an Agency that has its own culture, Sir Bob stated.

The HCA needs to bring something other agencies don’t have; it needs to make best use of its public resources and create strong ties with local government.

The HCA also has some challenging targets to deliver and has got to understand the market well.

Responding to a question on how the HCA replaces the functions of English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation, and the problems with balancing concentration on housing and regeneration, Sir Bob said the new HCA will be able to deliver powerfully as it links up existing activities – two-thirds of the functions currently exercised by the various organisations can be linked.

Housing and regeneration go "hand in hand", and will not stretch the HCA’s concentration, he added.

The HCA will succeed if it works to help local authorities, Sir Bob said.

The overall programme of the Thames Gateway needs strong leadership.

The HCA has a key role in providing leadership – but it will to do this through partnership. Very few public bodies deliver through coercion, he added.

Responding to a question raised by Dr Starkey on the differences between what the HCA will do, and what existing organisations are already doing, Sir Bob said the HCA will be able to take a wider view, use resources across the board, and it will have strong delivery expertise.

Will the Agency have to coerce local authorities to meet targets, a Committee member asked. Only in most exceptional circumstances, Sir Bob replied.

The HCA will have a lot of leverage on a local level due to its control over funding. 

The Committee then moved on to discuss tensions between the HCA’s function of delivery and enabling delivery, and of achieving government targets while facilitating local authorities.

Sir Bob assured the Committee there will be an "active conversation" between the HCA and local authorities, and that he will look to exploit every possible avenue to achieve outcomes in affordable housing, and establish strong regional teams.

Combining this with national agencies will increase the prospect of success, he added.

On private house builders, the Agency needs to have strong links and an understanding of the private sector market, Sir Bob stated.

The HCA’s role will include working with private sector developers to understand land banking and to create opportunities for land development.

The Committee then discussed delivery of housing for the disabled.

Sir Bob said a common concern is the HCA might lose sight of the need to create communities and deal with sustainability. He added, "I don’t think it can or should".

The HCA may publish a corporate plan and an annual report on performance, Sir Bob told the Committee.

The calculation of when the Agency will be fully functioning has taken into account the fact that the Bill is largely ‘skeletal’ and will be based on secondary legislation.

Key elements of secondary legislation will have to be in place before the Agency achieves this, Sir Bob said.

The reality is that the Agency needs to develop its corporate plan over time.

He told the Committee he did not think there would be anything in secondary legislation that would alter the nature of the HCA drastically.

The balance between growth and renewal has to be struck, Sir Bob concluded.

There will always be some dimension of renewal. The emphasis on some areas may be on growth, others on renewal. "I am very alert to this fact," he stated.

The Committee also discussed Sir Bob’s salary (£220,000 basic), the total budget of the Agency (approx £5bn) and the structure of the organisation.

Other questions on staffing, budget and functions were also covered.

For more information on the inquiry, or to view the uncorrected text, please visit the Committee website, available from the External websites panel on this page. 

RICS will be inviting Sir Bob to a high level meeting in order to discuss key issues around housing and regeneration.