Ms Caren Gallagher:

I wish to make a broader point about us as a federation and our members and to raise awareness about the role, functions, accountability and governance of the sector.

We have been reaching out to all the strategic policy committees, SPCs, on housing and opening ourselves up to any questions or issues that are arising for particular local authorities. We have written to the chair of every housing SPC. We are trying to emphasise the added value the housing associations can bring. We are also emphasising the partnership approach with local authorities, as well as addressing some of the issues that elected members are facing. We also hope to clarify some of the questions about the sector and, in particular, Deputy Funchion's issue about policy for local authority tenants and tenants of housing associations. Part of this is also to increase awareness about the operation of the sector in terms of how it works in conjunction with local authorities.