Daily Archives: 28 Jan 2018

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

28 Jan 2018

Posted under

Accountability, Affordable and Social Housing, Developers/ Development, Inequality, Misc

“Hundreds of thousands living in squalid rented homes in England”

Owl says: the sixth RICHEST country in the world …. where landlord MPs refused to pass a law about habitable housing because … well just because they can.

“Rented housing so squalid it is likely to leave tenants requiring medical attention is being endured by hundreds of thousands of young adults in England, an analysis of government figures has revealed.

Rats, mouldy walls, exposed electrical wiring, leaking roofs and broken locks are among problems blighting an estimated 338,000 homes rented by people under 35 that have been deemed so hazardous they are likely to cause harm.

It is likely to mean that over half a million people are starting their adult lives in such conditions amid a worsening housing shortage and rising rents across the UK which are up 15% in the last seven years.

Visits by the Guardian to properties where tenants are paying private landlords up to £1,100 a month have revealed holes in external walls, insect-infested beds, water pouring through ceilings and mould-covered kitchens.

A 30-year-old mother near Bristol said her home is so damp that her child’s cot rotted. A 34-year-old woman in Luton told of living with no heating and infestations of rats and cockroaches, while a 24-year-old mother from Kent said she lived in a damp flat with no heating and defective wiring for a year before it was condemned. …

Government figures suggest as many as 2.4 million people in England live in rented homes – both in the private and social sectors – with category 1 hazards. That includes 756,000 households living in private rented properties – almost one in five of the whole private rented stock – and 244,000 households in social housing.

Sajid Javid, the housing secretary, said he was determined “to do everything possible to protect tenants” and pledged government support for new legislation that requires all landlords to ensure properties are safe and give tenants the right to take legal action if landlords fail in their duties..

“In practice you have fewer rights renting a family home than you do buying a fridge-freezer,” said John Healey MP, Labour’s shadow secretary of state for housing. “Too many people are forced to put up with downright dangerous housing. After the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower, it’s even more important that ministers back Labour’s plan to make all homes fit for human habitation.” …

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/28/hundreds-of-thousands-living-in-squalid-rented-homes-in-england?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

28 Jan 2018

Posted under

Accountability, Conflict of interest, Lobbying, Misc, Scrutiny, Sleaze, Standards Committee, Transparency

Comments

3 Comments

Tory ex-Ministers hawk their influence for cash

Owl says: Does this disgraceful behaviour go top down, bottom up – or both? Owlis of the opinion it is the latter!

“Former cabinet ministers have been exposed attempting to profit from a new cash for Brexit gravy train in Westminster, following an undercover investigation.

Lord Lansley, the former health secretary, was secretly filmed offering to use his knowledge and connections from within West­minster to provide “intelligence” on Brexit to a Chinese company offering him tens of thousands of pounds.

The peer, who has previously been accused of “ripping the heart” out of a bill to regulate lobby­ing, showed he was willing to pick up information from a key Brexit cabinet minister. He advised how the deal could be kept secret from the authorities by employing him through his wife’s company.

Peter Lilley, the former deputy Conservative Party leader, was also willing to approach key ministers on the Chinese company’s behalf. As part of his pitch for the job he described how he attended two advisory groups with influence over the Brexit minis­ters, one of which has never previously been revealed.

A third former minister, Andrew Mitchell MP, also appeared happy to give paid Brexit advice to the Chinese company. He charges £6,000 a day and disclosed that he was looking to work up to 10 weeks a year for private clients despite being paid £74,962 as an MP. “My constituents don’t mind what I’m paid,” he said.

The three men were secretly filmed as part of a joint undercover investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches into politicians improperly making money from Britain’s negotiations to leave the European Union. …”

[there follows several pages of sleazy revelations]

Source: Sunday Times (pay wall)

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

28 Jan 2018

Posted under

Accountability, Austerity cuts, Education (local), Misc, Scrutiny, Transparency

Who holds academies (and every other privatised service) to account?

” An Observer piece questions the growth of academy schools, warning that: “There is no evidence that, on average, academy chains do any better at managing schools than the local authorities they replaced. Instead, the reforms have created a structural mess, opening up profound gaps in accountability and governance.” The paper also reports that six out of 10 of the biggest academy trusts have raised “warnings over pressures on pay, staffing levels, building maintenance and mounting deficits”, which “raises the spectre of what would happen if a major academy chain were to go bust”.

The Observer, Page: 46

 

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

28 Jan 2018

Posted under

Accountability, Education (local), Misc, Privatisation

Comments

1 Comment

Academy schools – the next privatisation domino to fall?

“More than half of the major operators of the government’s flagship academies programme have sounded the alarm over school funding, heaping further pressure on Theresa May to ease the squeeze on public spending.

An Observer investigation into the Conservatives’ treasured education initiative found that six out of the top 10 academy trusts, which operate hundreds of schools across England, have raised warnings over pressures on pay, staffing levels, building maintenance and mounting deficits.

The revelation will worry Tory MPs, many of whom blame pressures on school budgets for the party’s disastrous election result last year. It comes with the prime minister already under intense pressure over NHS funding and facing internal criticism over a lack of focus on domestic issues.

An analysis of the most recent accounts of leading multi-academy trusts reveals that eight of the top 13 largest groups have issued warnings. One said that funding was failing to keep pace with costs and inflation, creating risks of “unsustainable deficits” and staff cuts. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jan/27/schools-academy-trusts-warn-pay-staffing-public-spending?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other