Mr. Richard Shakespeare:

On the cleanliness issue, a very visible head can drive particular agendas, which is not to say that the executive and councillors do not do so at present. It is partly about resourcing, modernisation and that whole transformation, and the use of technology to try to improve the service.

On affordability, the individual must have the powers to borrow money. Affordability requires subsidy at the moment through the Department's various schemes. That is possible, but the office would need to be properly resourced or have the ability to go down that road to make it quicker. We are at one end of it, the Department is at the other, and a whole range of steps have to be gone through for approval. If approval could be expedited, it would lead to better outcomes.