Reading Labour play politics with Welfare - again

It's disappointing to see that less than two months into the job Labour's new Lead Member for Housing, Cllr Eden, seeking to make political capital out of Welfare in Get Reading this week, a tried and tested tactic of her Party.

A lead councillor in Reading is calling on the town’s two MPs to oppose plans to put a cap on housing benefit.



Councillor Rachel Eden, lead member for housing and neighbourhoods, said Government welfare reforms could make 40,000 families homeless and put a huge burden on council finances.


The reforms cap the level of housing benefit which would mean in expensive areas, the benefit may no long meet the actual cost of rent.


Cllr Eden said: “Here in Reading we’ve known for months that the Government’s proposals would be likely to strain the council’s resources, while causing problems for many residents. I am calling on Reading’s MPs to meet with us and to withdraw their support for these proposals .”

The issue of changes to Welfare is an important one and we should be concerned about.

I and many other Liberal Democrats have real concerns about the impact some of the changes to welfare policies families and vulnerable people.

I and others have raised these issues with our MPs and Ministers and they are well aware of the need to get them right.

Labour councillors and MPs, on the other hand need to face facts: they went into the last General Election planning to cut welfare and pledging specifically, to cut housing benefit.

The way to address genuine concerns about these changes is to engage properly with MPs and to champion these issues in Parliament as a number of Lib Dem MPs such as Jenny Willott and John Leech have continued to do.

The way not to do as Cllr Eden has done is via cheap newspaper headlines which seek to spread concern amongst some of the poorest people in our community.

When I was Lead Member I worked hard to build good relationships with both Reading MPs because I felt strongly, and still do, that the the needs of residents should come ahead of party politics.

The approach I and other Lib Dem councillors took led to increased funding for a number of key housing projects including the regeneration of Dee Park and building of much needed extra-care homes on the former Avenue School site in Katesgrove.

Cllr Eden, in her failure to articulate a) her Party's real position and b) accept her Party's responsibility for the financial crisis that has led to a need to reduce public debt so dramatically does nothing to to move the debate forward or help those who may be affected.

I'm sure this is a well intentioned error by Cllr Eden who is new at her role and as such does not shoulder the entire blame for this mistaken position.

Hers is simply the latest in a long line of hypocritical attacks by Reading Labour politicians.

Last November, when I wasLead Member for the same area and proposed reforms to housing benefit were announced Cllr Pete Ruhemann, the Labour Group's longstanding 'official press spokesperson' took to the airwaves claiming that London Boroughs were already block-booking rooms in Reading as a result of people being forced to move out of London due to benefits changes.

He did not have the imagination to think up this line it was being spun by the Labour Party nationally too: I was rung up by the Daily Mail on the back of this story and when I investigated with officers at the Council it proved to be whollywithout foundation.

All Cllr Ruhemann's comments did was to increase fears amongst people living on some of the lowest incomes in Reading.

Which is just what Cllr Eden is doing.

Disgraceful.

Let's be clear, these attitudes are expounded by councillors from a political party that was committed to making £44 billion pounds worth of cuts going into the last general election.

Ex Welfare Minister James Purnell admitted Labour planned to make cuts to Welfare and he wished he had gone further.

And both Cllr Eden and Cllr Ruheman come from a Party which fought the last General Election on a platform of pledging to cap housing benefit.

So, in future, when it comes to Welfare a bit more honesty, a bit less piety and a lot less politicking from our Labour councillors would make a nice change

Lib Dems win key changes to Welfare Reform Bill

More evidence today of Liberal Democrat influence in Government with the news that Nick Clegg blocked plans to cut Housing Benefit for people who have been unemployed for more than one year.

This is a really welcome development and I am certain it would not have been brought about had it not been for Liberal Democrat MPs in the Coalition.

The original plan was unduly punitive and I was concerned about the impact it could have on people living in Reading already struggling to find a job.

Last year I blogged my thoughts about housing and  planned reforms to benefits. It's worth remembering that Labour also planned to reform Housing Benefit - it was in their manifesto.

I hope the reforms announced today will be an improvement on the broken welfare system which traps too many people in poverty.

As Lead Member for Housing I will be keeping a close eye on the impact of any changes to benefits and ensuring the Council is doing all it can to support people who find themselves on hard times or in housing need.

Lib Dem Minister for Pensions Steve Webb MP explains over on Lib Dem Voice argues that the new Bill is a 'radical improvement' on the current framework for benefits:

"Universal Credit will be flexible and dynamic, taking into the account the month-by-month changes every person experiences. This will be in marked contrast to the fiendishly complex tax credits system where people faced recovery of overpayments years after they received the cash. In all, this new system will lift 950,000 people – including 300,000 children – out of poverty and 2.7m households will be better off as a result."

I really hope he is right - we'll have to wait and see.

Some thoughts on housing

A few weeks ago I blogged about housing and the Coalition government's plans. Since then a couple of things have happened: firstly, a consultation paper was published on social housing, secondly the government has decided to review some of its proposals re housing benefit. As someone who is deeply interested and committed to housing issues it has been positive that people have been discussing housing and housing policy but frustrating that a number of Labour politicians, both locally and nationally have sought to inflame the debate rather than help to find solutions to the massive shortage of affordable housing we face in a very difficult economic climate.
As I said in my previous post on this issue I am actively monitoring announcements from government in relation to housing to ensure we get the best and fairest deal for Reading residents. I am keeping an open mind about proposals as far as possible whilst draft policies are put forward and seeking the opinions of others to test my own against. To reiterate, it is a Coalition government so I don't expect to like every policy that is published or even agree with it. That said no one Party won the election so it is important that politicians work together for the good of residents.
One size certainly does not fit all in relation to housing policy. In relation to the first paper, on social housing, Having looked at it and thought about it  I am not very keen on the proposal to introduce shorter fixed term tenancies for Council homes (2 years has been mooted) and would need to be persuaded that this was a good idea before I would consider putting it forward as a proposal in Reading. I would be concerned about upheaval for families and the impact it might have on neighbourhoods.
I personally would like to have seen more emphasis in the paper on tackling the problem of housing supply - this is the main reason housing waiting lists have increased. That said I am very pleased to see that the housing revenue account is set to be reformed and that empty homes may be counted towards new homes in future. We need to do more to increase housing supply after Labour so comprehensively failed on this despite 13 years to do it.
It's worth saying that at this point this is simply a consultation paper and the government is seeking feedback. Thankfully,  unlike the previous Labour government the Coalition Government is not forcing councils to implement every proposal it publishes. That is what localism means after all.  In relation to social housing the CLG consultation paper makes it quite clear that it will be up to councils and elected councillors to decide what is right for their areas. We are currently examining the detail of this paper - there is some welcome new thinking in relation to overcrowding, under-occupancy, empty homes and council house waiting lists which we should consider to ensure we are getting the most out of our social housing stock. The current system of social housing allocation and funding left by Labour is not unproblematic and there might well be things we can do to make it fairer and more equitable to local residents. It is good that these proposals are out to consultation and I look forward to reading others' responses.
In relation to housing benefit, I attended a  meeting a few weeks ago with a group of Liberal Democrat councillors with an interest in housing  to convey some concerns to ministers about some aspects of the proposed housing benefit reforms. Unlike Labour councillors I avoided speculating publicly and in the face of rumours circulating about rented rooms in Reading being block booked I preferred to go on what frontline officers were telling me. Which was...that rooms were not being block booked.
That said some aspects of the reforms do cause me concern and I am pleased that the government has listened to some of the thoughtful comments made by MPs, stakeholders and councillors and decided to delay the implementation of changes to housing benefit for existing claimants. I was concerned that the original timescales might be too short to enable tenants in private rented housing to seek alternative cheaper accommodation, particularly in Reading where rents are high.

Other changes the government announced today  include:

• Temporarily widening the discretion of local authorities to pay housing benefit directly to landlords. This power will be used to secure tenancies where landlords are willing to reduce rents, helping to push down prices and minimise disruption to families.
• The government has agreed new funding totaling £190m over 5 years (including £50m announced today) to smooth the transition for families who can no longer afford their rent and need help to adjust. The government has also committed to work with local authorities to ensure that these funds are used to help the most vulnerable, including the elderly, the disabled, and those with children at local schools.
• The government has also said it will continue to examine options for improving ease of access to the private rented sector for housing benefit recipients.

That said we must not forget that Labour planned to reform housing benefit, however hard they try to deny it.
Despite the difficult economic circumstances we are in, housing projects are continuing to move forward across Reading: extra care and affordable housing is being constructed on Dee Park,  construction of new extra care housing on the old Avenue School site is set to begin soon, and empty homes continue to be brought back into use to name a few projects. In terms of improving existing housing, work continues to bring Council housing up to Decent Homes standard and enforcement activity continues in the private rented sector
As an administration we will continue to work hard to increase the overall supply of housing and ensure support exists for new and existing tenants in both the private rented and social housing sector. We are also in regular contact with tenants, residents, both our MPs, officers, and other stakeholders, to build local support for this vitally important agenda