Boris fails on pledge to end street homelessness

Boris Johnson is very good at big announcements and warm words. But the bolder the pledge, the more serious the issue, the more important it is that you deliver.

In 2009 Johnson made a very bold pledge that he said he would end rough sleeping in London by the end of 2012.  This is a pledge that he repeated during the Mayoral election campaign just six months ago.

With just over a month to go until the end of the year, Johnson admitted at Mayor's Question Time last week that he would not be able to keep his pledge.  In fact, the number of people sleeping rough has increased every year since he became mayor, with more than 2,000 more people spending at least one night out on the streets than in 2008.

 

 

 

(acknowledgement to Tom Copley AM for source information)

 

Affordable homes built by Boris drop by more than half

As reported by the BBC yesterday only 7,500 affordable homes will be completed in London during 2012 despite Tory Mayor Boris Johnson’s election pledge to build 55,000 over the next 4 years, which is an average 13,750 per annum.

It compares with 16,000 completed last year ahead of the election, when Boris Johnson claimed he had delivered record housing.

And this ignores that this Tory led Government has changed the official definition ‘affordable’ as between 60% and 80% of market rent , which reduces the public investment required but is actually unaffordable to many households on low incomes.

Changes to the mayor's housing strategy means there will no new social (council) housing schemes in London.

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The private conversations between this Government and the City

To see why we should be worried about corporate lobbying of government view this short video produced by Spinwatch

To find out more about lobbying and the Government's response come to our meeting in Uxbridge on 28 November. Click  here for more details.

The unequal relationship in private renting

An article in this week’s Uxbridge Gazette highlights again a major problem of the current housing crisis.

The article “Mum gets notice to leave ‘damp’ home” describes a mother who shares a bed with her three year old daughter because of damp in her home. Having complained to her private landlord about the dampness and failing, in her opinion, to obtain an adequate response, the tenant approached Hillingdon Council who attempted to mediate between the landlord and tenant.  The unhappy outcome of this story is that the tenant has now, after three years' tenancy, been given two months’ notice to leave and find somewhere else to live.

Private rented housing

Without making judgements on the tenant's and landlord’s counterclaims, this example illustrates that when a tenant has a grievance with a private landlord it is all too easy for the landlord to solve ‘their problem’ by giving the tenant notice under an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement. The tenant has no appeal against this notice and is faced with the disruption, cost and uncertainty of having to find another home.

When Assured Shorthold tenancies were introduced in 1989 they were seen as a way of increasing the supply of rented housing for the young mobile professionals who did not qualify for social housing or were yet ready to buy.  In many ways this was successful.

More than twenty years later we now have a Government which seems bent on abolishing  social housing and many young families are unable to buy their homes due to the credit crunch. Therefore most newly forming households are left to the mercy (or lack) of the private rented sector.

As homelessness increases relentlessly the Government’s principal response has been to dismantle the homelessness safety net.  As from this month homeless families who previously have had the right to be offered a council or housing association home will have to accept private rented accommodation.  Throughout this year newspapers and magazines have carried many stories about Councils, especially London boroughs, discharging their duty to homeless families by directing them to a private tenancy long distances from their last homes.

 

The Government’s disingenuous public stance is   "It is neither acceptable, fair nor necessary for local authorities to place families far away from their area” local authorities in London are locating homeless families all over the South and Midlands in order to discharge their homelessness duties.

 

By definition homeless families for whom Councils have a legal duty are families with children or people who are vulnerable in some way.  To be ‘discharged’ into the high cost, low security private rented sector accommodation many miles from where they have lived previously, with no family support and lower prospects of employment is undermining the Government’s other policy goals of getting people on benefits into work and improving educational attainment.



Home space needed for homework

Many children in these families will have to change schools for homes that provide no long term security, risking repeated moves at the whim of their landlord and disrupted education which in turn undermines their long term life chances.

As exampled in the Gazette article, private renters too often fall victim to the decisions of their landlords. Not all landlords are bad people. Many are 'reluctant landlords' - people who find they cannot sell their home so rent it out instead. However when dealing with a tenant and a sum of money is at stake most, otherwise reasonable, people are unlikely to be impartial in an unequal relationship.

Unfortunately there are even mote unscrupulous landlords and letting agents who quite deliberately exploit their tenants vulnerablity for high fees, hidden charges and broken agreements. There are far too many complaints of unreasonable charges to renew a tenancy agreement, or refusal to return of hundreds of pounds in deposits by landlords without real justification or any accountability.

Now that private renting, historically the tenure of last resort, has become the only housing option available for many families we need to do more to make private renting a secure long term option. Better regulation can protect tenants and responsible landlords.

 

Labour is exploring a code of conduct for lettings agents, greater transparency in fees and charges and new standards people must meet before they open a lettings agency. Such rules have been in place for estate agents for a long time.

 

This is a start but only addresses the tip of the much larger problem of finding an affordable housing supply.

 

 

Labour and the question of money in politics

At our next Constituency meeting at 8.00pm on Wednesday, 28 November we will be debating the issues of Introducing a Register of lobbyists and  Party Funding.

Venue: Christ Church, Redford Way, Uxbridge, GreaterLondon UB8 1SZ just a few minutes walk from Uxbridge Underground Station.

 Our guest speaker this month is Labour Party Member and Unlock Democracy's Deputy Director Alex Runswick.

LOBBY REGISTER

Lobby companies, funded by powerful commercial  interests, are accused of distorting our democracy by having disproportionate access and influence on our legislators.  

To neutralise Lobbyists influence through  transparency the Government has committed to introducing a statutory register of lobbyists. Following a public consultation held earlier this year the Government is now reviewing their proposals prior to publishing a White Paper and draft Bill during this session of Parliament.

Why and how will a lobby register work?

 

Should Trade Unions and other campaigning voluntary organisations be considered to be  the same as the commercial lobby organisations?

 

These are questions for all democratic Party Members to consider.

 PARTY FUNDING

Last year a  report on Party Funding  issued by the Committee on Standards in Public Life made  three headline proposals:

·         an annual donation cap of £10,000  from any individual or organisation including trade unions;

·         a change whereby trade union members would have to actively opt in to funding the Labour party;

·         public funding of  £3 per vote each Parliament

While the donations cap would seriously undermine the Tory Party’s funding, Labour’s initial response was opposition to the trade union member’s opt in for fear of a collapse in their own funding. All parties stepped away from the third proposal for public funding from fear of backlash from a jaundiced electorate, recently made worse by the MPs expenses scandal.

The argument in defence of trade union donations to Labour is they are made up of millions of small donations where each individual has consented for their money to be given to the party, but some commentators say that this system is often not as transparent as it ought to be.

As cross party talks on Party funding commenced In April this year, Ed Miliband made a strong defence of working people funding Labour via the annual £3 political levy and  surprised many with a  proposal for donations to be capped at £5,000, which will include discretionary contributions from the unions.  

 

COME AND SHARE YOUR VIEWS

 

This will be an ideal opportunity for members to debate these two current issues which are affecting the type of democracy in which we live.

Our meetings are open to all party members and those eligible to become party members and we welcome new supporters and interested individuals.

 

For more information email the Branch Secretary, sruislipandmanorlp@blueyonder.co.uk