Kensington Council Failure To Spend £270m Reserves On Housing

The council responsible for Grenfell Tower has been accused of carrying out “unacceptable” financial practices after it emerged the borough had stockpiled £274m of usable reserves following years of chronic underspending.  Labour MP for Tottenham David Lammy said very serious questions needed to be asked about why the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) was running a budget surplus despite repeated warnings from residents that the block posed a fire risk. The shadow Communities Secretary Andrew Gwynne said “If some of this money was spent on sprinkler systems and non-flammable cladding we wouldn’t be where we are today.” Read more on the Independent website.

Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Dr Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the entire discretionary housing payment budget has been allocated for 2013-14.

Steve Webb: The discretionary housing payment budget for 2013-14 is £180 million of which £160 million has been allocated. The £180 million includes the extra funding of £35 million that was announced on 30 July 2013, of which £10 million was for transitional payments, £5 million was for the 21 least densely populated areas and £20 million was set aside as a reserve fund. The reserve fund will be allocated to those local authorities who are able to provide a robust business case to receive extra funds.