After a boiling hot week spent rushing to and from work/Council Chamber via buses, tubes and trains this evening I will be chairing what should be a very interesting meeting of the Housing, Health and Community Care Panel.
Tonight the Panel's discussion will be focussing mainly on housing issues in Reading. Regular readers of this blog will know that as Lib Dem housing spokesperson this is a subject I spend a lot of time on.
Top of the agenda is an update report on how housing in Reading is being affected by the credit crunch. I first asked the question about a year ago.
Some key headline findings we''ll be discussing ahead of tonight's meeting:
Officers are seeing a sharp rise in numbers applying to the housing register
There has been a sharp increase in the numbers of people accessing debt advice through RBC's rents service.
We are seeing a sharp increase in the number of people claiming housing benefit - something the Lib Dems identified as an issue back in April.
The number of empty homes in the Borough has risen by nearly 10% to nearly 500 across the Borough - notably in Abbey, Battle and Southcote wards. Proof that it were needed that is worth having a strategy, dedicated officer resource and regular monitoring reports to keep the issue high on the Council agenda.This is an approach that Cllr Tony Jones endorsed earlier this week.
The picture in Reading, as always, is mixed however, with some positives to focus on too:
- the number of people in arrears in Reading has fallen
- there has been no significant increase in homelessness
- and no increase in the use of temporary accomodation
As more than one Council officer has said to me the recession has also led to improved partnership working with new partners such as Job Centre Plus and helped bring a more flexible approach to problem-solving.
As discussed yesterday I think it's vitally important that as councillors we investigate issues which resonate beyond the Council offices and housing is surely one. No sooner had the press release gone out about this meeting and Radio Berkshire were on the phone requesting an interview.
Nationally, Labour politicians have sought to grab the initiative on housing issues by announcing plans for extra council houses.
Great - well, until you read the detail which stacks up to about 20,000 additional houses (to be built across the UK!) and the money to pay for them will be coming... out of existing budgets (so this means cutting something else).
It's not the first time Labour has announced 'new 'cash which in reality is 'recycled' from other front-line services.
It's been all go on the housing front this week. I'm pleased to say that after months of delay Labour's housing minister John Healey announced earlier this week the reform of council housing finance to allow councils to keep their own rents.
Like my colleague Cllr Prue Bray, Leader of the Lib Dems in Wokingham we have been actively campaigning for an end to the 'tenant tax' in Reading for ages, with Labour and the Tories following some way behind.
Before anyone gets too excited however, it's worth remembering that in true New Labour fashion rather than producing a Bill ahead of the next election we are offered...another consultation.
I have written to the Lead Member and the Head of Housing urging them to respond positively to the consultation and to tell the Labour government to stop stealing Reading tenants' money sharpish!
Ok, so I made that last bit up, but let's face it, it's what we're all thinking!
Loads more to blog about as lots going on this week including an update meeting I had yesterday to look out how we can engage local universities to improve student housing following our successful PRS scrutiny review.
There's also lots of other interesting stuff on our agenda tonight which I'll get round to at some point.
Now to get across London in the heat...
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