Well, I've finally had a letter back from Ian Austin MP, Communities and Local Government Minister in response to my call for action on empty homes.
His reply came shortly after I blogged that the Labour government had gone quiet on empty homes since the May local elections.
Mr Austin says, in his letter which I received today:
"Thank you for your letter...I am pleased that you found the seminar hosted by my predecessor, Iain Wright MP, useful. The seminar was well received...I too am keen to tackle the problem of empty homes and to encourage local authorities and local communities to do more to reduce the number of empty homes across the country. In particular, I am keen for local authorities to make full use of this power if appropriate."
He goes on to say:
"I will be working closely with officials to consider what further action the Government can take to help encourage local authorities to tackle empty homes in their area and to address any barriers preventing them from taking action."
I'm delighted that Mr Austin has, belatedly, joined the campaign for action on empty homes.
I have been actively campaigning locally since 2006, prompted shortly after my election by a call from the Empty Homes Agency to draw my attention to the poor record of Labour-run Reading Borough Council on this issue.
A quick check on UK Parliament website TheyWorkForYou.com reveals that Mr Austin has only mentioned the issue of empty homes once since entering Parliament in 2005.
The first and only time he discussed the issue was one month ago - following his appointment to CLG.
Locally, Labour councillors backed measures to reduce the number of empty homes only after being embarassed into action by a highly successful, long-running local Lib Dem campaign.
Before this they were virtually silent on the issue despite apparently winning awards over a decade agofor their work in this area when Cllr Tony Jones (then a Labour councillor) was responsible for housing in Reading.
Only a few weeks ago he slammed the lack action from Labour on this issue which has led to an increase in the number of empty properties across the Borough.
It must be particularly galling for him after the success he enjoyed in this area a few years ago.
The main reason for the higher than average number of empty properties in Reading has been the fact that for years there was no strategy or resources to tackle the build-up of empty homes.
I will be keeping a close eye on what the government does next on this issue to see if Mr Austin's words are backed by action.
I must admit I was disappointed that his officials only sent me a copy of minutes of the seminar I attended, rather than anything like a detailed action plan.
Locally, I will continue to lead the campaign for action to ensure that Reading Borough Council is doing everything it can to reduce the number of private properties currently lying empty in the town.
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