Chamber and committees

Would you like there to be double or three times the amount of money that is set out?

Right. Ms Oldham, do you have a figure that you would like to see? Are enough resources being provided?

Mr MacRae, can we get other bodies involved?

That is helpful. We can ask the Government for its response to that.

Is it fair to say that there is a mixture? The bill will mean that some people have to spend an extra 15 or 20 minutes with somebody, and it might be even longer for others. For some people, it will take just a few seconds to ask them whether they have a house. Will it vary a lot?

That would apply to GPs as well. It has been mentioned that it would be good to have GPs in there. Presumably, we could pay GPs to do it or employ a link worker or something like that.

The Government says that the intention is to not have everybody being referred to local authorities. The question is whether that can be achieved in practice. What else do we need in order to ensure successful implementation of the duties?

I will build on what Mr Balfour said. Mr Mills, ALACHO’s submission talks about

“when the household themselves feel or understand themselves to be at risk of homelessness.”

Obviously, some people are worriers and come to me and others worried about homelessness. Other people are the opposite. They might realise that they have debt problems, but they do not really believe that they will be made homeless until the very last minute. Is that a problem?

I am sorry, but if we do not have the money, we cannot build more houses, can we?

I realise that we are short of time.