Social Housing Sell-Off Could Force Councils To Flog Libraries And Parks

Councils could be forced to flog libraries and parks to plug a black hole in the Tories' social housing sell-off, Labour has warned. Shadow Housing Minister John Healey sounded the alert as protesters staged a march through Westminster against the Housing Bill. Campaigners fear the law will destroy social housing by extending Right to Buy to housing associations, ending lifetime council tenancies and classing £450,000 Starter Homes as 'affordable housing'. Now it could have another consequence as town halls grapple with fresh cuts in the Budget. The government is already selling £4.5billion of land to balance the books - and Mr Healey told the Mirror councils could be forced to follow suit. Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

Floundering DWP Move Universal Credit Goalposts

The DWP has moved the goalposts to make it appear that more people have signed up to its new universal credit (UC) system. Previously, a UC 'starter' was defined as someone who had completed the UC claim process, attended a UC interview with a personal adviser, and received a UC payment.

However, the DWP has now removed the condition that an individual must have received a payment to be classified as a 'starter' and has added the condition that they must have signed a claimant commitment, instantly bumping up the number of people who appear to be integrated in the UC system. The DWP says that the move more closely reflects the number of individuals who have actually started UC. Read more on 24dash.