Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Government Ministers Called To Give Evidence

Government ministers have been called to give evidence to the Grenfell Tower public inquiry in a move that means senior politicians could be cross-examined about their actions in the run-up to the disaster and its aftermath. Key figures have already been asked to provide written statements and some will face detailed questioning in public. The inquiry has not yet decided which politicians will be asked to give evidence in person. Theresa May was prime minister at the time of the fire that killed 72 people. Others who may be called include the former housing minister Gavin Barwell and the former communities secretary Eric Pickles, both now Conservative peers. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/29/grenfell-tower-inquiry-government-ministers-called-to-give-evidence

Council Ends Controversial Agreement

Winchester Council has voted to terminate a development agreement that was called in by the previous secretary of state and led to the resignation of the council leader last year. The controversial 287-home Silver Hill development was frozen by Eric Pickles last year after the council agreed to allow the developer, TH Real Estate, to drop a 40% affordable housing commitment down to zero without running a new procurement exercise. The scheme was subject to a judicial review launched by a local campaign group. The Conservative council leader resigned in February last year following the High Court judgment that found the council had acted unlawfully. TH Real Estate is appealing the judgment and had requested the council delay terminating the agreement until at least nine months after its appeal proceedings had finished. Read more on the Winchester City Council website.

Pickles Confirms End of Code for Sustainable Homes

Eric Pickles has confirmed that the Code for Sustainable Homes is to be scrapped in his long-awaited conclusion to the Government’s Housing Standards Review. The review aimed to slash the number of standards applied to the construction of new homes with the Government claiming that building new homes to a high standard will become easier and cheaper. Pickles released a statement outlining how the new standards for housing in England which are being introduced as part of the Deregulation Bill will be implemented. Local planning authorities should not set any “additional local technical standards or requirements relating to the construction, internal layout or performance of new dwellings” in their emerging Local Plans, neighbourhood plans, or supplementary planning documents he said. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Pickles Given Right to Veto Private Landlord Licensing Schemes

The Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales has slammed new powers that will give Eric Pickles the right to veto local authority private landlord licensing schemes. Two years after becoming the first local authority in England to introduce a borough-wide scheme for the private rented sector, Newham Council has licensed 100% of its rental properties. But, just as this key milestone was reached, the government announced proposals that aim to restrict councils from introducing similar schemes, without any formal consultation. From 1 April, any council looking to introduce a licensing scheme covering more than 20% of their area, or 20% of local privately rented homes, will need to obtain permission from Eric Pickles. Read more on 24dash.

Betts Questions Effectiveness of Housing Programme Funding

Following receipt of a letter from Eric Pickles Clive Betts MP said:

"At a time when the country urgently needs to deliver more housing, I am very concerned that public money for key house building programmes is sitting idle in the Government’s coffers.  The fact that money dedicated for housing is swishing around the Department’s bank account will be of little comfort to those people desperate to have their own roof over their heads. The Build to Rent Fund was supposed to provide equity finance to get much-needed private rented housing off the ground. However, the Government has now announced that some 80% of the fund will be ‘reprofiled’, meaning spending will be deferred to future years rather than starting to help people now. Read more on the Parliament website.

Homeless Mother Wins Landmark Supreme Court Battle

A homeless mother of five has won a Supreme Court battle, which will affect councils looking to place families outside their areas. The UK’s most senior court has announced a unanimous ruling in favour of a mother of five in her fight against Westminster Council. The full judgement of the court will be handed down after Easter, with other cases involving out of area placements set to be stayed pending the full judgement. The woman was appealing after losing her case in the Court of Appeal in October. Eric Pickles, the secretary of state for communities, intervened on Westminster’s side when the case reached the Supreme Court, with homeless charity Shelter backing the appellant. Read more on Inside Housing.

New Housing Ombudsman

Denise Fowler has been appointed as the new Housing Ombudsman by Eric Pickles. She takes up her appointment on 11 March and will be responsible for the independent complaint resolution service between tenants and landlords, which covers all social housing and landlords registered from the private sector. Fowler has worked as a government lawyer since 2002 at the DCLG, the DWP and the Department of Health. She is currently Deputy Legal Director, Head of Planning Law Reform at DCLG. She has previously worked as a housing adviser, a housing lawyer, and partner in private practice and a member of the senior management team of the Housing Ombudsman between 2000 and 2002. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Thousands of Bedroom Tax Victims Also Hit By Cuts to Council Tax Benefits

Tens of thousands of victims of the bedroom tax are also being clobbered by cuts to council tax support, new research shows. The analysis found 270,000 people penalised for having a spare room have suffered an additional blow by seeing their council tax benefit slashed. The New Policy Institute (NPI) said the victims of the hated bedroom tax have seen their housing benefit cut by £15.61 a week on average. And they are also having to pay £2.86 a week in rates since Eric Pickles cut council tax support in 2013. Many of them are disabled, former service personnel and army widows. Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

Pickles 'Breached' Green Belt Gypsies' Human Rights

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles "unlawfully discriminated" against Romany Gypsies wanting pitches in the Green Belt, the High Court has ruled. A judge said human rights were breached by "calling in" cases normally considered by planning inspectors. The ruling is likely to affect other members of the travelling community. Mr Justice Gilbart said Mr Pickles was operating a legally flawed policy of "recovering" for his own consideration appeals by travellers who claim there are exceptional circumstances for allowing them Green Belt sites. Read more on the BBC website.

Pickles under Attack over Plan for Referendums on Council Tax Rises

Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, is facing opposition from the home secretary, Theresa May, and the Liberal Democrats over plans to force all councils and police authorities to hold a council-wide referendum if they propose a council tax rise of more than 1%. At present, councils are free to raise council tax by up to 2% without being required to stage a referendum. The new threshold would leave councils facing real-terms cuts in their budgets due to inflation. Pickles is planning to announce the lower threshold for 2015-16 on Wednesday, the same day as the local government finance settlement. Read more on the Guardian website.

Pickles Slammed For 'Inhumane Treatment' Of Gypsies & Travellers

Eric Pickles has been slammed for his "inhumane treatment" of Gypsies & Travellers. Labour representatives Lucy Anderson MEP and Tom Copley of the London Assembly have claimed that new legislative proposals from Pickles' will take away fundamental human rights from Gypsies & Travellers by insisting that those who live in a fixed residence - whether out of choice or because of reasons of health, education or old age - will permanently lose their Gypsy or Traveller status. According to Anderson and Copley, the legislation will have knock on effects on the number of people who are officially recognised as members of the Gypsy and Traveller community and as such will impact on the provisions made by local authorities for these communities. Read more on 24dash.

Pickles Orders Councils to Publish Stock Valuations

Councils will be forced to publish valuations of their social homes from April, despite the majority warning that it would lead to ‘misinformed debate’.  Eric Pickles has accused councils of ‘sitting on millions’ which could be used to fund building work elsewhere. The communities secretary has ordered them to publish the most recent valuation of their stock annually, listing how much the properties are worth and how many are occupied. However, responses to a government consultation on the proposals, first announced in July, show the majority of respondents did not support the proposal. Read more on Inside Housing.

Councils Must Protect Our Precious Green Belt Land

Eric Pickles and Brandon Lewis have said that thousands of brownfield sites are available for development, and should be prioritised.  New guidance, published on 6 October, reaffirms how councils should use their Local Plan, drawing on protections in the National Planning Policy Framework, to safeguard their local area against urban sprawl, and protect the green lungs around towns and cities. The guidance explains that, once established, green belt boundaries should only be altered in exceptional cases, through the preparation or review of the Local Plan. It also states that housing need – including for traveller sites – does not justify the harm done to the green belt by inappropriate development. Read more on the CLG website.

Troubled Families Programme Expanded To Help Younger Children

Eric Pickles has announced details of an expansion of the government’s Troubled Families programme. Work will begin this year in 51 of the best performing areas, ahead of a national 5 year programme from 2015 to help more troubled families who cost the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds per year without intervention. Recent research shows that troubled families that have been worked with so far have an average of 9 serious problems such as truancy, crime, anti-social behaviour, worklessness and domestic violence. As well as expanding from working with school-age children to those under 5, the wider programme will also have a particular focus on improving poor health, which new data published today highlights is a particular problem in troubled families, with 71% having a physical health problem and 46% a mental health concern. Read more on the CLG website.

£1 Billion Programme To Help Unlock 200,000 Homes

Eric Pickles has announced the first wave of projects to benefit from a £1 billion scheme that will unlock or accelerate the provision of over 200,000 new homes across the country. He published a shortlist of 36 large-scale housing projects in line to receive a share of £850 million of funding to get work going onsite and housebuilding started. The £850 million of funding for shortlisted projects forms part of the government’s £1 billion, 5 year large sites infrastructure programme, and will be used to build the infrastructure needed to provide schemes of at least 1,500 homes. The money will go towards the building of road improvement, schools and parks to support the extra homes being planned. Read more on the CLG website.

Ditched Housing Minister to Carry On Homelessness 'Work'

Freshly axed housing minister Kris Hopkins has been asked to carry on his 'work' on homelessness. By specifically requesting that Hopkins dedicates himself to the task at hand, communities secretary Eric Pickles reckons he has reflected the 'importance of the issue'. The government says that since 2010 it has maintained over £500 million in funding to help those facing the threat of losing their home or sleeping rough. Read more on the Homeless Link website.

New Fund to Help Councils Fight Fraud

Eric Pickles has announced a new multi-million pound fund to help councils claw back the taxpayers’ money lost every year to fraud. Councils are invited to bid for a share of the £16 million fund but to be eligible they must demonstrate how their proposals will recoup money owed or tighten safety nets to prevent criminals ripping them off. Official figures show councils are losing £2 billion a year to fraud and error. The fund will give councils 2 years of support to step-up how they tackle unnecessary losses from non-benefit related fraud, such as Council Tax fraud, blue badge fraud or theft of grants. Read more on the GovUK website.

MP Claims Evictions Are Hampering Government's Troubled Families Programme

Eric Pickles has been forced to defend the government's Troubled Families programme after a Labour MP claimed the housing crisis had hampered the scheme's impact. Siobhain McDonagh, Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden, told the Communities Secretary that vulnerable families were being forced to move out of her constituency and live in private rented accommodation in other parts of London.  She told the House of Commons: "Many of those families live in private rented accommodation.  Large numbers of people are being placed in temporary accommodation as a result of eviction, some of which is quite distant from their home borough.  Every Friday, I see families going from south-west London to Wembley, Tottenham and other parts of London. As I see them leave, I am troubled about the future for their children."  Read more on 24dash.

Pickles Unveils Plans to Boost Housing Supply

Eric Pickles has unveiled to the CIH annual conference plans for more investment to boost the supply of new homes.  Pickles said: "The investment we’re announcing will help us drive up the supply of new homes in every corner of the housing market. From new places for rent to people designing to those building their own properties – we will support and deliver the homes this country needs." Read details of the programmes to be funded on the CLG website.

Towns Are Targeted For New Housing

Ministers are to sweep away planning restrictions on disused urban sites in a bid to reduce the impact of new house building on the countryside. Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said that the Government planned to ‘augment’ its controversial planning reforms with the introduction of ‘practical ways of removing red tape’. These will include a ‘relaxation’ of the rules that make it difficult to convert warehouses and industrial premises into flats and housing estates. This could lead to the construction of a string of new housing developments on edge-of-town sites, reducing the need for house building in open countryside. Plans also include a package of measures to ‘regenerate’ so-called brownfield sites, which have been developed before. Read more on the Daily Mail website.