If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
Many of the survivors of the 1960s still think the battle against poor housing is worth fighting. Will a new generation have the passion and persistence to join them?
In the early 1990s social and healthcare was 'revolutionised' following the publication of the Griffiths Report. In its wake, legislation introduced the complexities of market place into health and social care operations - extending activities into the internal workings of Health and Local Authority. It introduced the purchaser /provider split.
London needs a Mayor who takes the housing crisis seriously. A Mayor who responds to desperate times with creative solutions. A Mayor who doesn't put the interests of profiteering landlords before the needs of the millions who are overburdened with housing costs.
Recently the Prime Minister's Office let it be known that Prime Minister David Cameron sees Letchworth as a model community wanting to apply the principles of Garden Cities throughout the UK.
Last week, the Government published its new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Most commentators claim that they have squared the circle by protecting the green belt whilst simultaneously giving a presumption in favour of sustainable development.
This is the time for decisive and sustained action. Not only is the most appropriate order in the circumstances to "damn the torpedoes" but it should be quickly followed by a plea to the government to stop firing.
The Cumbrian Housing Strategy was launched yesterday. 70 Cumbrian movers, shakers, politicians, builders and social landlords all discussing our counties housing crisis.
We can't be scared of being told, 'That has been done before' or 'what a silly idea'. Banging on the doors of government is no different, easier or harder than doing business and building relationships with other businesses. We just think that it is. But it's not.
Unlike a pure Keynesian approach of investment in infrastructure to promote employment and through this economic activity, I am suggesting that we use investment to redistribute cash and create activity which leads to jobs.
The consultation will run until 27 April. If we are to ensure that the government delivers on its promise to be the greenest government ever, then I hope Liberal Democrats across the country will respond to the consultation positively, and ensure we can move further down the path to Zero Carbon Homes.
In 2008 economies across the globe crashed as a worldwide shortage of cash liquidity brought the financial system to a standstill. Rather like a car that has run out of petrol, subsequent attempts to restart the engine have failed.
The subletting of council homes for financial gain prevents those in real need from getting a home and should be stopped. Labour is committed to ending this abuse and before the 2010 election we set out plans to make the unlawful subletting of social homes a criminal offence.
Boris Johnson is the darling of the Tory grassroots. From the pulpit of his Telegraph column he has hurled bread to his Tory base. His support for...
We've heard a lot about the Government's headline-grabbing benefits cap, which threatens to plunge 50,000 larger families into poverty. But a separate and lesser known plan to punish social tenants for 'under-occupying' their homes is just as unfair and will hit more than 10 times that number of low-income people. This bedroom tax will have disastrous implications for a huge number of people already struggling to make ends meet in this tough economic climate, including grandparents, disabled people and smaller families.
We've heard a lot about the Government's headline-grabbing benefits cap, which threatens to plunge 50,000 larger families into poverty. But a separate and lesser known plan to punish social tenants for 'under-occupying' their homes is just as unfair and will hit more than 10 times that number of low-income people. This bedroom tax will have disastrous implications for a huge number of people already struggling to make ends meet in this tough economic climate, including grandparents, disabled people and smaller families.
I share an ambition with the communities secretary to provide more affordable, more sustainable homes for the future. The question is, at a time when private sector rents are set to rise by 20% over the next five years, how are we going to achieve this?
