Mr. Gordon Hill:

This is very much in line with Deputy Joan Collins's point. The homelessness rate now compared with when this was introduced is dramatically different. It is not that the payment is responsible for that but it has a significant impact on keeping young people in that situation, that is, in that poverty trap. Whether it was an employment activation measure during recession, the numbers are dramatically different now. The numbers in employment have also gone up dramatically recently, so we estimate that the impact of the cost on the budget should be negligible because the numbers on jobseekers has come down. We hope that meeting the needs of particularly vulnerable groups needs would have a negligible impact on the overall figure.