Cameron

Bedroom tax: ministers ‘overstated likely savings by a third’

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http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/14/bedroom-tax-ministers-likely-savings

Analysis suggesting savings could be £160m less than official projections of £480m dismissed as ‘vested interests’ by employment minister

The government faced fresh calls to overhaul the unpopular bedroom tax on Monday, after new research into the first five months of the scheme suggested ministers may have significantly overestimated the savings it is likely to generate.

The analysis – which ran real data collected by four housing associations since April through a model used in 2012 by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to assess the likely impact of the policy – found that savings were likely to be £160m less than the official projections of £480m for the first year.

But employment minister Esther McVey dismissed the findings, which she claimed reflected the housing associations’ “vested interests”.

Despite heavy criticism – the Labour party has vowed to repeal the bedroom tax and opinion polls suggest it is unpopular – ministers have persistently argued that it was essential to push ahead with the policy, officially known as the spare room subsidy, to bring the UK’s soaring housing benefit bill under control.

But Monday’s report, written by Professor Rebecca Tunstall at the University of York’s centre for housing policy, says flaws in the DWP model means that it is likely to have overstated the likely savings by a third.

Tunstall said: “The savings estimated by DWP assume that of the 660,000 households affected, none of them will move to a smaller home, but we know from our own research that over a fifth want to downsize to avoid the penalty.

“Tenants are already on the move, and with nearly half of those who have chosen to stay already in rent arrears, we can only see that figure going in one direction.”

In particular, the DWP appears to have underestimated the number of tenants who move from social housing into private rented housing in order to avoid the bedroom tax penalty. Rents in the private sector can often be double those in social housing, therefore generating higher housing benefit payments.

The DWP estimated that between 10% and 30% of social housing tenants would move into the private sector. But the research suggests that figure is likely to be nearer 41%.

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Continue ReadingBedroom tax: ministers ‘overstated likely savings by a third’

Forcible relocation of vulnerable women and children

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Let’s call it what it is – they have no option but to be moved hundreds of miles.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/14/young-single-mothers-focus-e15-newham-rehoused

Young mothers evicted from London hostel may be rehoused 200 miles away

Image of Newham mothers facing eviction

Twenty-nine young single mothers facing eviction from the UK’s largest hostel for homeless young people in London have been told they may be rehoused as far away as Manchester, Birmingham and Hastings as a result of cuts and welfare reforms.

The exodus, which represents potentially one of the largest displacements of vulnerable people since the coalition’s social security reform programme began, was triggered after housing support funding for young parents at Focus E15, a specialist hostel in east London, was cut by Newham council.

The mothers and mothers-to-be – all under 25, many of them teenagers – have been served with eviction notices by the housing association that runs the hostel. They have been warned that the scarcity of affordable homes locally means they may have to move to temporary accommodation between 70 and 200 miles away from their home borough.

Newham council said that although it would do everything it could to rehouse the women locally, the pressure of welfare reform coupled with high housing demand meant it would have to look outside the borough.

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Continue ReadingForcible relocation of vulnerable women and children

Grand alliance of unions and lobbyists want Lords to kill Government lobbying bill

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Image of dog's breakfast in dog food bowlhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/grand-alliance-of-unions-and-lobbyists-want-lords-to-kill-government-lobbying-bill-8877469.html

A unique alliance of trade unions, professional lobbyists and constitutional reform activists has been formed to pressurise the House of Lords into wrecking the Government’s “flawed” reforms of Britain’s lobbying industry.

The lobbying transparency bill, piloted by Andrew Lansley, was passed by the Commons last week despite almost universal criticism outside Parliament describing it as a “dog’s breakfast”.

However the new alliance, called “1% is not enough”, which will formally launch this week, wants the Lords to recognise the “deep flaws” in the legislation that was supposed to honour David Cameron’s pre-election promise to put an end to lobbying scandals.

<original posting snipped>

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27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.

I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.

Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.

dizzy

Continue ReadingGrand alliance of unions and lobbyists want Lords to kill Government lobbying bill

NHS ‘unsafe and unsustainable’ says health service chief for London

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nhs-unsafe-and-unsustainable-says-health-service-chief-for-london-8877263.html

Problems revealed by the medical director for the NHS in the capital are a symptom of country-wide issues, he says

Image of Andy Mitchell, NHS Medical Director London

The medical director of the NHS for the capital has warned that services are at “breaking point” and that patients are unsafe.

Dr Andy Mitchell has said that London’s health system is “unsustainable” the day before NHS England will publish a report stating that it can no longer afford to staff all of its hospitals at safe levels.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Dr Mitchell stated that the public must face up to the reality that hospitals are overstretched and that patients receive an inadequate service.

“They don’t understand how watered down these services are. What we cannot do is carry on with the idea that all hospitals provide a whole range of services. That is completely unsustainable and would become, frankly, unsafe, and is becoming unsafe in many areas.

“The public isn’t really sufficiently aware, that many places don’t meet acceptable standards of care. The expectation is that, as they walk into hospital, they get high-quality service, and in fact, they don’t in many places,” he said.

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27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.

I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.

Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.

dizzy

Continue ReadingNHS ‘unsafe and unsustainable’ says health service chief for London

Postal workers push ahead with strike plans over pay and conditions

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http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/oct/13/postal-workers-strike-ballot-pay-conditions

Postal workers union says staff concerns are about longer term issues not Friday’s 38% rise in the price of free shares

Image of post office van next to postbox

Royal Mail staff are pushing ahead with plans for strikes in the run up to Christmas as the battle over privatisation intensifies.

The Royal Mail’s 150,000 workers were handed £2,200 worth of free shares as part of the privatisation, handing them at least an £800 instant paper profit on the first day of trading.

Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said the 38% rise in value would not make “one scintilla of difference” to employees, who are expected to vote for strike action on Wednesday. Staff are prevented from selling their shares for three years.

The union is planning a nationwide strike as early as 23 October – before balloting for further strikes in the run up to Christmas.

“It is likely to be an all-out strike first, then rolling strikes in the run up to Christmas,” a union source told the Guardian.

The union, which represents more than 100,000 postal staff, had wanted to hold the strike – the first since 2009 – before the privatisation but the government started the sell-off sooner than expected. More than 95% of Royal Mail staff were opposed to the privatisation in a consultative ballot earlier this year.

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[Royal Mail privateers get thousands of pissed-off posties.]

 

Continue ReadingPostal workers push ahead with strike plans over pay and conditions