Download The coming battle on housing

Norwich City Council
Labour Group News
News and weekly updates from the Norwich City Council
Labour Group. For Norwich Labour Party members and activists.
ISSUE 48
The coming battle on
housing...
Since the 1920’s Norwich
City Labour councillors have
developed a proud tradition
of building council housing
as both a means to tackle
the vagaries of the private
rented sector, provide
secure and stable tenancies
and break the link between
low pay and poor housing.
Nearly 30,000 council
homes were built in Norwich
thanks to Labour!
The Tories Right to Buy in the early 1980s has devastated the city’s housing stock,
resulting in a virtual halving of our stock. Their enhanced discounts since 2010 has
seen a vast rise in the RTB and subsequent loss of council homes. However,
through careful investment and working in partnership with housing associations, we
have still been able to facilitate the building of new social housing. Housing
Associations in Norwich are crucial valued partners and
This week’s significant providers of affordable homes for thousands of
people.
news!
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
The coming battle
on housing...
Free recycling for
electric items.
New visitor permit
parking system
explained.
10 reasons to back
the Labour City
Council!
Labour Group
contact details
2015-16
Since the election — key points to remember..
In their Queen’s Speech shortly after the election, the Tories
announced the extension of the right to buy to housing
associations and further attacks on council housing.
A) Our country is in the midst of an urgent and growing
housing crisis. In England, we are building less than half the
number of homes we need to keep up with demand.
NORWICH CITY COUNCIL LABOUR GROUP
NEWS, CAMPAIGNS AND UPDATES
Over the past five years, David Cameron and his government were asleep at the
wheel. The last government presided over the lowest level of house-building (home
completions) in peacetime since the 1920s. As a result home ownership is becoming
a distant dream, more people are renting in an unstable and expensive private rented
sector, there is an acute shortage of affordable homes and rough sleeping and
homelessness have soared.
The Tories plans for housing don’t add up
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Replacing the homes: The Government claims every home will be replaced one
for one but the Government made the same commitment in the last Parliament
but they’ve failed miserably with only one home started to be built for every 10
homes sold. Nobody will believe their promises now.
Fewer affordable homes: Housing experts and the Institute of Fiscal Studies
(IFS) have said the Government’s proposals could lead to fewer affordable
homes.
Uncosted: The Government claim that this policy will be funded by selling off
high value council homes but the Government has no idea how much this will
raise and whether it will cover the cost.
Impact on housing associations ability to build: The credit rating agency Moody’s
have said this could impact on the financial viability of housing associations and
their ability to build.
Legal implications: Legal experts have raised serious concerns about forcing
independent charities to sell off their assets.
Leader of Norwich City Council, Cllr Alan Waters says “To increase home ownership,
the priority right now must be to build more homes, including badly needed affordable
homes. The Tories should be judged on their record on home ownership and
affordable housing in the last parliament. Home ownership is at its lowest level for 30
years and affordable house building has fallen to the lowest level for at least five
years and the homes built for social rent dropped to their lowest level in over two
decades”
Labour City Councillors will oppose the Tory attacks on housing in Norwich and
campaign to save social and council housing within the city. Labour City Councillors
are moving a motion on tomorrow at Full Council calling on the below ;MOTION
Proposed by Councillor Vaughn Thomas and seconded by Councillor Harris.
“The Queen’s Speech included plans for legislation to extend the right to buy to housing associations, freeze working age benefits for two years, lower the benefit cap and
remove automatic entitlement to housing benefit for 18-21 year olds.
NORWICH CITY COUNCIL LABOUR GROUP
NEWS, CAMPAIGNS AND UPDATES
Council, RESOLVES to ask the
leader of the council to write to
the Prime Minister and the
Interim Leader of the opposition
saying that :1)
it believes such moves will;
- a) have a huge impact
both on housing associations and on local authorities, as councils would
have to sell off their most
valuable homes to fund replacements. b) make it
harder for people on lower
incomes who are already
struggling to access a
decent home at a price they
can afford and result in the
loss of vital social and
affordable homes.
Reproduced
from the EDP
and Evening
News
2) freezing working age benefits for two
years, lowering the benefit cap and removing automatic entitlement to housing
benefit for 18-21 year olds fails to reflect
the reality of the housing crisis. Britain is
not building enough homes, which means
the cost of housing and therefore the
housing benefit bill is going up.
3) millions of people have no choice but to rely on housing benefit to secure a roof
over their head. That includes an increasing number of people in work – the number
of people in work who still have to claim housing benefit has more than doubled from
around 445,000 to just over a million in the last five years.
4) cutting housing benefit for under 21s fails to take into account the reality of many
young people’s lives. It could have a serious impact on vulnerable young people who
have left home, including those who have been rough sleeping and may be forced to
return to it. It could also mean that young people would be unwilling to take risks such
as moving for work because there would be no safety net for them. 5) the best way of
helping people on lower incomes into home ownership is by increasing the supply of
affordable housing.
NORWICH CITY COUNCIL LABOUR GROUP
NEWS, CAMPAIGNS AND UPDATES
Free
recycling
boost —
Don't bin
it, bring it!
Labour City Council know the
importance of recycling and
keeping Norwich clean.
Before Labour took power in
2006, Norwich was the ‘dirty
city’ of Norfolk with low recycling rates. Now it is one of the highest.
City Academy in Earlham Road on Saturday 27 June. The event is free and
open from 8am to 1pm. Access is from Bluebell Lane
Unwanted hairdryers, toasters, kettles, blenders, vacuum cleaners and other small
and medium electricals can once again be recycled to raise money for charity at our
latest Don’t bin it, bring it! event.
This is the fourth in our series of Labour Norwich City Council-run free recycling
events and they have all been a great success so far. More than £10,000 has been
raised for Norwich’s local British Heart Foundation store in Castle Meadow and six
tonnes of electricals have been saved from landfill.
Electricals in both working and non-working order can be brought along. The working
items are donated to the charity store for re-sale and the cash raised is used
nationally to fund its life-saving work. The non-working electricals are recycled,
generating recycling credits for the city council’s waste and recycling services.
The Council will accept most small household electrical items including: computers,
games consoles, music systems, vacuum cleaners, small kitchen appliances,
hairdryers and phones. Unfortunately we cannot accept large items that cannot be
easily lifted including: fridges, freezers, washing machines, and commercial or
industrial items.
NORWICH CITY COUNCIL LABOUR GROUP
NEWS, CAMPAIGNS AND UPDATES
The new City Council visitor
permit scheme
The use of visitor permit is subject to terms and
conditions. Please make sure that you have read and understood these as by using your permit you will be
deemed to have accepted them, and you might receive a
penalty charge notice, or have your permit rescinded if
you use a permit incorrectly.
Visitors' permit terms and conditions (24 Kb pdf)
The visitor permit scheme offers both a ‘short stay’ permit,
which allows for visits of up to four hours, and/ or up to
sixty ‘day scratchcards permits’ per year, which are
validated at the time of use, and are valid up to 10am the
following day.
Residents’ ‘short-stay’ visitor permit
You can have a permit for any period between one and
eighteen months (whole months only). The permit charge
is calculated by adding the administration charge to the
monthly parking fee.
Admin
Charge
4-hour 'short stay' visitor
permit
£10
Replacement clock
£10
Monthly parking
fee
75p
Example cost for a 12 month permit
£19
Permits are supplied with a ‘clock’ similar to that supplied to blue badge holders, that needs to be
set to the time of arrival.
Residents’ visitor ‘one-day’ scratchcards
Up to sixty of these are available to each eligible household per year. They are valid for a year from
the date of purchase, and are validated by scratching off the appropriate panels.
Price
each
Residents’ Visitor ‘one-day’
£1
scratchcards (City Centre)
Residents’ Visitor ‘one-day’
50p
scratchcards (outer area)
Maximum issue per
year (rolling twelve
months)
Minimum purchase
60
£10 (ten permits)
60
£10 (twenty permits)
Please contact the City Council customer contact team for more information.
Those with care needs. If you are visited regularly for a short period, your carer might have a
permit on their own vehicle, and you will not need to worry. If, however, you have longer
term care needs in your home, please contact the Council. They may be able to issue a
permit to cover your needs. Please see our terms and condtions page for more information.
NORWICH CITY COUNCIL LABOUR GROUP
REAL ACHIEVEMENTS ACROSS NORWICH
10 Reasons to back Labour in Norwich

Your Labour City Council is now building the first new council
properties in nearly 30 years. Working with others since 2008 Labour has
delivered 2,238 new homes, including 655 new affordable homes, 300 of
which were built on former council land.

Despite the massive Tory/Lib Dem cuts in funding, Labour has
protected significant frontline council services through effective partnership
working and efficiency savings.

Labour has focussed on seizing every chance to develop jobs, growth
and investment into Norwich, through stimulating the local economy.
Investing in infrastructure, unlocking growth; developing new homes,
amenities and modern business accommodation are key to stimulating local
labour markets and tackling unemployment. Labour work with partners and
stakeholders, including businesses,
New Anglia Local Enterprise
Partnership (NALEP), Visit Norwich
and the universities, to raise the
city’s profile and attract visitors,
students, new businesses and
investment to the city. An example of
this has been Labour’s support for
the new engine testing facility for
KLM UK at Norwich International
Airport, helping to secure the future
of 341 jobs.

Labour set up the Community
Wardens which cover Norwich,
backed up with 100 mobile CCTV cameras, alley-gates and the use of powers to tackle anti social behaviour.

Labour is running a 100% Council Tax benefit scheme – rather than a local scheme which the Tory
government wanted. This would have drawn people on low incomes into paying Council Tax.

Norwich City has been paying its staff a living wage for over 25 years but recently became an accredited
Living Wage Council and is working towards ensuring that all it's contractors pay a Living wage to their staff.

Labour is tackling homelessness in Norwich through the innovative Learning, Employment and
Accommodation Project (LEAP). This gives unemployed homeless people the opportunity to learn new skills
and get a job and a home.

Labour has taken decisive action to bring over 100 empty homes back into use through the use of incentives
and enforcement, including the use of compulsory purchase.

Labour has more than doubled Norwich’s recycling rate in a two-year period, which is now at over 40 per
cent. Norwich City Council is in the top 10 authorities in the country for reducing the amount of waste sent to
landfill.

Norwich City Council was the first city in the UK to run a collective switching programme. This has enabled
households across Norwich to easily get the best deal for their energy as part of the council’s work to reduce
fuel poverty. The overall average saving per household was £171 a year with £501 being the maximum
saving offered. 66% (two thirds) of those who signed up were offered with a saving on their utility bill.
All this has been achieved at a time when the Tory-led Government
has slashed council funding to give tax cuts to the rich.
NORWICH CITY COUNCIL
LABOUR GROUP ~
USEFUL CONTACTS 2015 / 2016
NORWICH CITY COUNCIL LABOUR
GROUP CABINET 2015-16
LEADER
CLLR ALAN WATERS
[email protected]
07774 229776, 64 Heartsease Lane, Norwich, NR7 9NS
Economic Development & Culture, Championing the City,
Marketing and communications, Strategy and policy,
Strategic partnerships, Council performance,
Transformation and organisational development
HR
DEPUTY LEADER, HOUSING AND WELLBEING
CLLR GAIL HARRIS
[email protected]
01603 661102 / 07810223174, 6 Raven Yard, King Street.
Norwich, NR1 1PQ
Health and wellbeing, Housing options and homelessness, Housing
management, Housing property, Tenant Liaison
ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINBLE
DEVELOPMENT
CLLR BERT BREMNER
[email protected]
01603 471134, 12 Morello Close, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7NF
New homes building, Private sector housing, Sustainable
Development, Environmental Strategy, Waste Strategy, Transport,
Planning, Parking, Strategic Housing
FAIRNESS AND EQUALITY
CLLR VAUGHAN THOMAS
[email protected]
07877885194, 6 Northumberland Street, Norwich, NR2 4EZ
Financial and social inclusion, Living wage, Equality and diversity
Digital inclusion, Housing Benefits and Council Tax Reduction scheme,
Affordable warmth and Energy efficiency, Sport and Halls
NEIGHBOURHOODS AND COMMUNITY SAFETY
CLLR KEITH DRIVER
[email protected]
01603 632320 / 07717503366 , 29 Mansfield Lane, NR12JT
Neighbourhood development, Community enabling, Waste, Clean
Streets, Refuse and Recycling, Graffiti Removal, Trees,
Environmental protection, Licensing & the Night Time Economy,
Public protection, community safety and safeguarding, Emergency
planning Food Safety
PARKS, MARKETS AND OPEN SPACES
CLLR PAUL KENDRICK
[email protected]
33 Boundary Road, Norwich, NR6 5JF
Parks, Open Spaces, Play areas, Allotments, Cemeteries, Markets
RESOURCES AND INCOME GENERATION
CLLR MIKE STONARD
[email protected]
500268, 16 Recorder Road, Norwich, NR1 1BP
Finance and investment management, Commercial property, Asset
management, Procurement, ICT, Democratic services, Member
Development, Customer access, Customer services, Legal
Revenues, Freedom of information
NORWICH CITY COUNCIL
CANDIDATES ~ MAY 5TH 2016
The self nomination process for standing as
a City Council candidate for May 2016 will
open soon. Keep an eye out for updates
from the Norwich Labour Party Secretary
NORWICH NORTH
Catton Grove
Crome
Mile Cross
Sewell
NORWICH SOUTH
Bowthorpe
Eaton
Lakenham
Mancroft
Nelson
Thorpe Hamlet
Town Close
University
Wensum
NORWICH CITY COUNCIL LABOUR
GROUP OFFICERS 2015-16
Leader of the Labour Group. Cllr Alan Waters
Deputy Leader of the Labour Group.
Cllr Gail Harris
Group Chair. Cllr Marion Maxwell
Vice Chair. Cllr Sue Sands
Group Whip. Cllr Sally Button
Deputy Whip. Cllr Patrick Manning
Secretary. Cllr Paul Kendrick
Treasurer. Cllr Bert Bremner
Political Assistant. Sam Earl