If we are to give criminals ... priority over some of these people, it will make it even harder for ordinary decent people

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

Junior minister Sally Keeble rejected the argument, accusing the Tories of lacking both pragmatism and compassion.

The bill, debated on Monday, is designed to give greater help to the vulnerable and unintentionally homeless when they need housing.

Mr Clifton-Brown called for people who had been released from prison less than six months earlier to be excluded from priority housing under the bill because of the effect on "decent people".

"If we are to give criminals ... priority over some of these people, it will make it even harder for ordinary decent people who for one reason or another are at the bottom of the pile and have never been high enough to be considered for priority for housing."

The Tory spokesman, however, recognised the need to rehabilitate offenders and said local councils should be allowed more flexibility to deal with individual cases.

Foster: Too much accommodation is sub-standard

Mr Clifton-Brown also argued the Rough Sleepers' Unit should be abolished and its powers given instead to local authorities.

While he praised the unit's performance, he branded it "bureaucratic and expensive".

Responding to Mr Clifton-Brown, Ms Keeble said excluding ex-prisoners from the provisions of the bill would "weaken the safety net".

"It's a bill that mixes pragmatism with compassion, both things that the Opposition is clearly short of."

'More protection'

The minister said the core purpose of the bill was to offer more protection to "those who are genuinely homeless through no fault of their own".

"It's about achieving more equitable systems for the allocation of social housing and ensuring that authorities think strategically about the needs of all groups in their area."

Ms Keeble also rejected the Conservative suggestion that automatic priority should be given to people who had lived in an area for a year.

That policy would discriminate against groups such as refugees and foreign nationals, she argued.

Unit's progress

The minister came to the defence of the Rough Sleepers' Unit too, which she said had made "excellent progress" since being set up in 1999.

Different views on the issue of housing former prisoners were also expressed on the back benches during what was the report stage of the bill.

Conservative Andrew Turner said his Isle of Wight constituency faced disproportionate housing pressures because ex-offenders often stayed on the island, which has three prisons, when released.

But he accepted the need to support prisoners.

Quality worries

It was the quality of housing offered to homeless people that worried Lib Dem frontbench spokesman Don Foster.

Often homeless people lived for months in "sub-standard" accommodation, including bed and breakfasts, he argued.

Mr Foster called for temporary housing to meet certain standards - something Mr Clifton-Brown said was a good aspiration that was unrealistic in practical terms."