Ms Maria Graham:

In terms of CPO, the Law Reform Commission is looking at CPO legislation. Large portions of it date back to the 19th century. Deputy McAuliffe rightly said it is quite cumbersome and it needs to be modernised. Some aspects of it will come up in the context of the planning review. It has been highlighted as an area of difficulty. In the meantime, one of the measures the Housing Agency has put in place is a dedicated procurement unit with CPO advice so that it can advise local authorities. It produces guidance around that and will continue to do it. Bridging finance will come from the Housing Finance Agency, in particular if local authorities want to compulsorily purchase properties, as we envisage under Housing for All, and put them out to the market. As Deputy McAuliffe says, quite often it is the case the individual who owns a property does not have the wherewithal for a number of reasons to bring it back into use. We do need to look at what risks a local authority might face in that regard and ensure we mitigate the risks so that local authorities can move with a degree of confidence even in a complex process. That is what we are trying to work on at the moment and then see what comes from the Law Reform Commission in terms of revamping the CPO legislation.