“Homelessness is an emergency whatever the weather but in winter and freezing weather, people are in even greater danger. Hannah Faulkner, Head of Pan-London Rough Sleeper Services at St Mungo’s explains how we help bring people in from the cold during…Read more…
Why you didn’t get a xmas card from me (again!)
Apologies to friends, colleagues and family who have sent me Christmas cards and have not received any back.
I have made a donation instead. This year to the Housing and Homeless Charity Shelter. https://england.shelter.org.uk/donate
My first ro…Read more…
One of the reasons why we have chronic poverty & homelessness in this country
“Almost one in five of Britain’s biggest companies paid not a penny of corporation tax in the UK last year, it can be revealed.
The Mail on Sunday has managed to obtain the details of the tax paid by 69 of the FTSE 100 group of largest companies …Read more…
UNISON Welfare Trustee Board and UNISON Staff Pension Trustee Board meetings
I am back home after a couple of busy days in my role as a UNISON National Executive Committee (NEC) appointed Trustee.
On Tuesday I travelled up to Grantham in Lincolnshire to a meeting of the UNISON Welfare Trustee Board. This board is a mix of…Read more…
‘National emergency’
At least 450 homeless people in the UK have died on the streets or in temporary housing over the past 12 months, according to an investigation that exposes the “national emergency” of homelessness….Read more…
Being Scrutinised at Scrunty
Recently as Cabinet member for Housing Services I was called to answer questions by the Newham Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
This is a statutory committee of Newham Councillors whose role is to hold the Councils Executive members to account and mak…Read more…
“Newham at forefront of Housing Crisis”
Hat tip Newham Recorder for a pretty full on report on the housing crisis in our borough.
The new mayor of Newham has slammed the loss of nearly 10,000 council homes under Right to Buy since the 1980s – saying the policy has exacerbated the bitter hou…Read more…
Inaugural meeting of Newham Homelessness Forum
Picture college of yesterday’s well attended initial meeting of stakeholders from across Newham including residents who have experienced homelessness, faith groups, Government agencies, NGOs and Council officers. It took place in the historic for…Read more…
Deathly cold
For many of us, the UK’s latest cold snap – dubbed the Beast from the East – is an inconvenience of travel delays, school cancellations and slippery roads. But for those sleeping rough, even one…Read more…
Where ‘guardians’ dwell
Walk past a boarded up or disused building in London and you may spot a sign informing passers-by that the property is “protected by live-in guardians”. Used primarily to deter squatters and…Read more…
Tory council demonises homeless
A Unite Community activist who volunteers with the homeless has blasted shameful Tory councillors for neglecting rough sleepers and “demonising” them in a tasteless advertising campaign. …Read more…
Homelessness and the Housing Revenue Account
Swindon Council’s second raid on the housing account As Swindon Council faces the decline of central government Revenue Support Grant year on year, it has scrabbled around desperately looking for ways of saving money. Its imposition of parish councils on the town without a democratic mandate…Read more…
A home is a human right
Families evicted by private landlords are becoming homeless in record numbers because they can’t afford a place to live, shocking new government figures show. Nearly a third of the 15,170…Read more…
#Budget2016 ignores housing crisis
Sadly although Chancellor Osborne once again asserted that his party were “the builders”, today’s budget largely ignored the housing crisis. The best that can be said is that there bit was a commitment of £115 million to help the homeless and rough sleepers, who must be the…Read more…
When the homeless are criminalised
Hundreds of people took to the streets of London yesterday, bringing traffic to a standstill as they marched on Parliament to raise awareness of the treatment of homeless people in the UK, Ireland…Read more…