Abandoned British Gas Scheme Restarted

A £20m home insulation scheme which was controversially cancelled in Nottingham has restarted. Changes to the Energy Companies Obligation led to British Gas pulling funding towards a scheme which would have insulated hundreds of houses. Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood said she was delighted it was going ahead after months of campaigning. British Gas said the decision followed extensive talks with the housing association Nottingham City Homes. About 2,000 people living in council-owned and privately-owned homes in Clifton signed up to the scheme only to be disappointed in January when British Gas announced it could no longer afford to provide funding. Read more on the BBC website.

MP Speaks Out Over Bedroom Tax

Nottingham MP Lilian Greenwood has criticised the Government's bedroom tax in parliament. Speaking to the Commons during a debate about the tax, she said it was affecting "thousands of disabled people, causing arrears and debt, and leaving vulnerable families in despair". She continued: "Nearly 5,000 households in Nottingham are affected by the bedroom tax.  "The vast majority are tenants of the city's ALMO, Nottingham City Homes.  Since the introduction of the tax in April 2013, over 2,000 of those tenants have fallen into arrears totalling more than £250,000. Two-thirds of the households affected by the bedroom tax simply cannot find the money to pay their rent." Ms Greenwood added: "The truth is that the Government knows that most people cannot afford to pay the bedroom tax.” Read more on the Nottingham Post website.

Under-occupancy Penalty (Nottingham) – Parliamentary Debate

Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab): “Nowhere to go”—that is how today’s Nottingham Post describes the crisis facing thousands of social tenants in our city. Why? Because two weeks today the Government are set to play the cruellest joke on more than 6,000 of our city’s poorest households. On the same day as they deliver a huge tax cut to the UK’s highest earners, they plan to take £4.23 million from the pockets of those people in our city who are least able to afford it. Whether we call it the bedroom tax, the under-occupancy penalty or the spare-room subsidy, it is a heartless policy which, the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research concluded, will create “severe hardship” for affected households. 

In Nottingham, 6,103 people face the bedroom tax in two weeks’ time. The key website is Homelink, which advertises properties for the arm’s length management organisation, Nottingham City Homes, and most of the local housing associations. This week, 21 one-bedroom properties and 14 two-bedroom properties are available. So even if they were all allocated to households that are currently under-occupying, that would help only 35 households—fewer than 1% of those affected. That is before one considers the 2,269 families in Nottingham waiting for a two-bedroom property, or the 7,333 individuals or couples waiting for a one-bedroom property.

In my constituency, 1,423 households are affected by the bedroom tax. In the whole of the last 12 months only 175 of Nottingham City Homes’ one or two-bedroom properties became available to let in Nottingham South, and on average people had waited 78 weeks on the list.

Read more on the Parliament website.

Home Crisis for Thousands Hit By 'Bedroom Tax'

Thousands of people in Notts will be pushed into a financial crisis following the introduction of the Government's "bedroom tax", it is claimed. But a Post investigation has shown a lack of available houses means that many tenants will have nowhere to go.  Among 12 housing associations in the city, only 21 one-bedroom and 14 two-bedroom properties are available – but 5,506 households need to downsize or be hit by the cuts.  And outside the city, lettings website Homesearch says only 10 two-bedroom and 12 one-bedroom properties are available in Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe. Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood is urging the Government to reconsider the changes.  Read more on the Nottingham Post website.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing - Parliamentary Written Answer

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance he has issued to local authorities in relation to discretionary housing payments allocated to those affected by the under-occupancy penalty.

Steve Webb: The Department has consulted with local authorities on the discretionary housing payments guidance which will be published before 1 April. The revised guidance includes advice on how the additional £30 million allocated to the discretionary housing payment scheme can be used to support those affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy.

Housing Benefit: Nottingham – Parliamentary Written Answer

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what additional funding for discretionary housing payments has been allocated to Nottingham city council for 2013-14.

Steve Webb: Nottingham city council has been allocated £696,000 towards discretionary housing payments for 2013-14.

MP Urges U-Turn On 'Bedroom Tax'

A city MP has called on the Government to backtrack over its controversial "bedroom tax" plans.  Thousands of low-income families across Notts will be forced to pay more rent or move out of their homes when it is introduced on April 1. Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood said: "The Government urgently needs to look again. This unfair and arbitrary policy is already having a huge impact in Nottingham."  Chris Hobson, East Midlands lead manager for the National Housing Federation, added: "The bedroom tax is flawed and will unfairly penalise thousands of people who have lived in their homes for years, raised families and contributed to their communities.”  Read more on the Nottingham Post website.

Nottingham MP Slams Housing Minister

Housing Minister Grant Shapps promised to visit Nottingham's Meadows estate, but now says he cannot due to "diary commitments".  He was invited by Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood.  Speaking to the Post last May, a spokesman at the department said: "The Minister has received a letter from Lilian Greenwood asking for a visit and it will go ahead, but at the moment the exact time has not been set." However Ms Greenwood has now received a letter from Mr Shapps that states: "I am very sorry but current diary commitments prevent me visiting the estate."  He did not commit to visiting on any date in the future. Ms Greenwood said: "It beggars belief that the housing minister cannot find time to visit. After cutting The Meadows' regeneration funding, he could at least have the decency to fulfil his commitment and see for himself the consequences of that decision. "The Meadows urgently needs investment, and Grant Shapps made a personal commitment to visit. After the funding cuts this snub will add insult to injury."  Read more on the Nottingham Post website.

Decent Homes Programme (Nottingham)

On 26 June, Lillian Greenwood, MP for Nottingham South, secured a Parliamentary debate on Decent Homes funding, referring frequently to the recent evaluation of Decent Homes work in Nottingham. Read the full debate on the House of Commons website.

Shapps Warned Of Charity's 'Sixfold Increase in Rough Sleeping'

Housing minister Grant Shapps has come under fire from a Labour MP who has claimed that a homelessness charity in her constituency recently reported a "sixfold increase in rough sleeping" and feared Government cuts would worsen the situation. During Communities and Local Government (CLG) question time in the House of Commons, Labour MP for Nottingham South Lilian Greenwood, said homelessness charity Framework reported the increase over the last year. She said: "Framework, recently reported a sixfold increase in rough sleeping in Nottingham over the past year. How does he respond to chief executive Andrew Redfern’s warning that the Government’s deep cuts and welfare changes risk undermining Framework’s 10 years of success in tackling homelessness?" Mr Shapps said the statistics the Government had for her local authority showed the levels of homelessness have fallen over the past two years. Read more on 24dash.

Hope for Meadows Scheme As Minister Agrees On City Visit

The Minister for Housing has agreed to come to Nottingham after city politicians complained about a £200 million regeneration project being scrapped. Grant Shapps faced lobbying from Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood and the city council after the Government cut a plan which would have seen 1,900 homes in the Meadows rebuilt or revamped. While Mr Shapps would not comment until a date for the visit had been set in stone, civil servants at the Department for Communities and Local Government confirmed that the visit will go ahead. The Meadows Neighbourhood Plan was to have been completed under a Private Finance Initiative, but in November last year the coalition said it would not provide any more funding. The council has been exploring other ways of raising money to complete the regeneration – including raising council rents. Ms Greenwood said: "First we need Grant Shapps to see the huge potential The Meadows has. Then we need him to see some of the problems that are caused by the current layout."