Labour Unveils Home Building Scheme

Labour has unveiled a package of measures designed to help boost home construction by small building firms and give more young people the chance of getting on to the housing ladder. The party's housing spokeswoman Emma Reynolds said Labour would introduce a Help to Build scheme to allow small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to access lower-cost bank lending backed by Treasury guarantees, as well as fast-track planning for small sites of fewer than 10 homes and a requirement for councils to include a higher proportion of smaller sites for housing in their five-year plans. Read more on Yahoo News.

Universal Credit 'On Life-Support'

Universal credit is on "life-support" with only 247 days of guaranteed funding left, Labour MP Chris Bryant has claimed. Bryant, the shadow minister for welfare reform, taunted Iain Duncan Smith in the House of Commons after the Work and Pensions Secretary repeated his claim - also made two months ago - that the 'full business case' for the new benefits system would be signed off "very shortly". Chris Bryant said: "The truth of the matter is that this programme—the Secretary of State’s pet project—is being kept on a life-support system, and all he can say is that the Treasury has guaranteed another 247 days of funding, with nothing beyond the end of this Parliament.

Iain Duncan Smith: replied "There are no sticking points, but these matters need to be agreed carefully. This test-first-and-then-implement process is the way all future programmes will be implemented.” Read more on 24dash.