Mr. Mike Allen:

At the moment there are 26 agencies working in public housing that all work with the local authorities and there are probably more agencies. Recently rationalisation took place which means town councils are no longer involved. More than 300 approved housing bodies also exist. Having a national body does not mean there should be another agency or player. There must be some way in which the combined efforts of all of the many players are made more effective. One of the biggest problems faced by approved housing bodies and local authorities when delivering social housing is the scale needed to get the system going. I refer to private funding, credit rating and so on. Bringing that work together in some form of a national housing agency is a very positive idea and needs to be explored further. I refer to a way of reducing the number of agencies, not to add another one.