Ms Caroline Timmons:

Under section 58 of the Housing Act 1966, it is the responsibility of the local authority to manage and to maintain its housing stock. It is supposed to use the rents that come into it under the rents system to manage and to maintain its stock. In fact, therefore, the voids programme is additional to what the local authorities should be doing. We have introduced a policy change to encourage them to move to a planned maintenance programme, and that is in conjunction with the County and City Management Association, CCMA. We have worked through that policy and have set aside funding, so if a local authority is happy to bring forward its surveys of its housing, we will provide funding to do so. Then it can engage in a planned maintenance programme throughout a number of years. That reduces the time for voids to be left in place. Voids are a temporary measure that should not be a long-term goal of the local authority to fund in that sense.