Ministers Sat On Accessible Housing Research For Up To Four Years

Ministers delayed publishing a report that called for more research into the benefits of accessible housing for up to four years. The report, by architectural firm PRP, was finally published last week by the MHCLG, but none of the research and evidence referenced in the document is dated later than March 2016. Payments for the research appear to have been made as long ago as April 2016, and PRP said this week that it was finalised in 2017. The report examined evidence on the benefits of accessible housing, and the effectiveness of guidance relating to other buildings to see how well it was meeting the needs of disabled people. Read more on Disability News Service.

https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/ministers-sat-on-accessible-housing-research-for-up-to-four-years/ 

Freud Quizzed Over Bedroom Tax Report

A delayed interim review of the bedroom tax will be published by the summer recess, Lord Freud has said. Baroness Quin quizzed the welfare minister in the House of Lords as in October last year he had said the report would be published by spring. Lord Freud didn’t respond twice when challenged about why it was delayed, also by Lord Richard, however a spokesperson for the DWP said that the timeline for the report to be published had always been ‘in due course’. Kris Hopkins, housing minister, also said last November in a bedroom tax debate in Westminster Hall that the report would be published in April.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Council Report on Poverty 'No Cover Up'

The leader of Kent County Council (KCC) has defended his decision to rewrite a report that links poverty in the county with benefit changes. Paul Carter said the KCC report, released in November, was published without his knowledge and he was unhappy with some of its conclusions. "We are not trying to cover up anything," said Conservative Mr Carter. "The officer that wrote it was a junior officer and didn't draw in my view appropriate conclusions from the evidence." The first report said increases in homelessness, a rise in people in temporary accommodation, increased use of food banks and rising crime in some areas could be linked to the government's welfare changes. The new one states other factors including the state of the economy, the cost of living and housing issues, are also to blame. Read more on the BBC website.

From Right to Buy to Buy to Let

Tom Copley, Labour’s housing spokesperson on the London Assembly and chair of the London Labour Housing Group, has compiled an astonishing report on the disaster of the right to buy in London. Tom concludes: ‘As a policy, Right to Buy is possibly unrivalled in representing such poor value for money to both taxpayers and local authorities. For taxpayers, they not only funded the initial building of the council home, they then subsidised the substantial discounts offered to tenants and then – once the homes were sold – missed out on the rental income that would have covered the build costs.’ Tom focuses on the evidence he has collected that shows that a minimum of 36% of all homes sold by councils across London are now let by private landlords. Many are let at extremely high market rents to tenants who need support from housing benefit. Tax payers have to pay again. To add insult to injury, some of the homes are let back to councils or housing associations to house homeless households for which the councils have statutory responsibility. Read more on the Red Brick blog.

Conservatives 'Suppressing Garden Cities Report'

The Conservatives have been accused of suppressing a report which recommends building two new garden cities to combat the housing shortage. Liberal Democrat president Tim Farron said his coalition partners feared alienating voters in southern England ahead of the general election. Mr Farron said he believed the report identified two potential sites - in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. The Conservatives denied any delay and said plans would be outlined for 2015. Read more on the BBC website.

Universal Credit Project Riddled With Problems

The National Audit Office said universal credit, the £2.4bn project meant to consolidate six welfare payments into one, has been beset by "weak management, ineffective control and poor governance".  Ministers have already written off £34m wasted on failed IT programmes for the project run by the Department for Work and Pensions and may be forced to delay its national launch beyond 2017, the NAO says.  The report was seized upon by Labour as evidence that Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, has covered up significant problems that could put welfare claimants and their families at risk. Liam Byrne, the shadow work and pension secretary, described universal credit as a "Titanic-sized IT disaster". Download a copy of the report from the NAO website.

Response to the NAO Report 'Universal Credit: Early Progress'

In response to the National Audit Office report Universal Credit: early progress on 5 September 2013, a DWP spokesperson said:

    *Universal Credit is a vital reform that will ensure we have a welfare system that means people are always better off in work than on benefits and we are a country that truly backs those who work hard and want to get on.

    *We are committed to delivering Universal Credit on time by 2017 and within budget, and under new leadership we have a plan in place that is achievable.

    *The report does not cover the significant developments we’ve made since April including the go live in Greater Manchester, our progress on the IT challenge, the latest plans for expansion from October, or the fact that we brought in 2 of the country’s leading project management experts to lead Universal Credit.

    *The National Audit Office itself concludes that Universal Credit can go on to achieve considerable benefits for society.

Read more on the Govuk website.

Direct Payment Projects Warn Of Creeping Arrears

The creeping of arrears in the Government’s direct payment demonstration projects is further evidence landlords will need to provide a range of payment options for tenants and systems that can quickly recover outstanding rent.  The findings from the first four months of the direct payment demonstration projects will be unsurprising to most - 8% of rent uncollected, a creeping of underpayments and a lack of understanding about financial products.  Download a copy of the Direct Payment Demonstration Project: Payment figures report from the DWP website.

DWP Worklessness Co-design – Final Report

The Worklessness Co-design Pilot was launched in June 2010. The aim was to bring together DWP and Jobcentre Plus with a small number of local authorities in England to explore how to work together better to tackle worklessness and develop a shared understanding of the evidence on what works. In January 2011 an Interim Report set out the progress being made. This report sets out the conclusions of the work and outlines opportunities to work with Jobcentre Plus and the range of services available to support the co-design of local solutions to worklessness. Download a copy of the report from the DWP website.

Current Use of Systems and Technology by ALMOs

This is the fifth report produced by the Tribal Group and HouseMark looking at the use of ICT in ALMOs and the associated costs. The report incorporates data from HouseMark, updated data from the leading suppliers to the sector and further analysis by Tribal. Download a copy of the report from the HouseMark website.