Day: November 21, 2013

Blooming marvellous! The end’s in sight – in a roundabout way

Drylaw Telford Community Council’s final meeting of the year takes place next Wednesday. The meeting could also see an end to one of the organisation’s longest-running sagas – the Groathill Road North roundabout.
The state of the roundabout has been making some local residents cross almost since the railings were removed there three years ago. Neighbourhood Partnership funding was allocated to Drylaw’s gardening group to undertake environmental improvements on the site, but a catalogue of problems with successive subcontractors has seen the roundabout become an untidy eyesore.
Drylaw Telford CC’s chair Alex Dale has had a series of meetings with North’s Environmental Manager Steven Cuthill to resolve the long-running issue, and a proposal to transform the troubled roundabout will be tabled at next week’s meeting.
Alex Dale said: “Steven produced the proposal at Inverleith Neighbourhood partnership’s last Clean, Green & Safe meeting and explained that this is a proposal and is still being  costed. Steven will be attending our community council meeting on the 27th to discuss this  proposal or listen to any other ideas the community would like to take forward  instead.
“We have the choice to accept this or offer Steven an alternative plan. It  will all be up for discussion on the night and if we can agree on something then it should bring the long ongoing saga to a conclusion!”
So there you have it – if the proposal is accepted Groathill Road roundabout will have ‘complete ground cover during summer within two seasons’ – blooming marvellous!
The meeting takes place in Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre on Wednesday 27 November at 7pm. All welcome.
that roundabout

Tenants urged to take up rent payment help

Nearly half the Council tenants in Edinburgh subject to the UK Government’s under-occupancy charge – better known as the ‘bedroom tax’ –  have not applied for extra help to pay their rent despite facing growing arrears and debt, it’s been revealed.

Almost 3,000 Council tenants are under-occupying their home and face paying between £14 and £25 per week as their housing benefit doesn’t pay for their extra room, but only around 1,500 of these tenants have applied for extra help available from the Council through Discretionary Housing Payments.

The Council was awarded extra funds from the Scottish Government in September this year, bringing the total available for Discretionary Housing Payments to over £3 million.

Recent figures from the Council’s housing service showed an estimated £1.25 million of arrears are attributable to people not paying the under-occupancy charge, which has been dubbed the ‘bedroom tax’.

City Housing Leader Councillor Cammy Day said yesterday: “It’s critical that hard-pressed tenants seek the extra help the Council is offering in the form of Discretionary Housing Payments, otherwise they face getting deeper into debt.

“Staff from the Council and advice agencies have been holding special surgeries and writing to, visiting and calling tenants over the last few months but ultimately tenants need to apply for the assistance available or they will lose out. I would urge any tenant who hasn’t yet applied for extra help to get in touch with their local housing office without delay.”

The under-occupancy charge was introduced to encourage tenants with a spare room to move to a smaller home. On average there is only ever one single bedroom property available to let for every 80 under-occupying households in the city.

Council tenants affected by the under-occupancy charge are encouraged to contact or call in to their local housing office for advice.cooncilhooses

 

£50 million boost for childcare

The Scottish Government is providing an extra £50 million to councils in 2014/15 for more free and flexible nursery care.

The Children and Young People Bill, which will be debated in Parliament today, will save parents of three and four year olds and the most vulnerable two year olds up to £700 a year, by providing more free time in nursery.

Councils will also have to ask parents about the nursery care they want for their child and offer a choice – for example two full days instead of a few hours every day – to help parents who want to return to work.

Minister for Children Aileen Campbell said:

“The £50.8 million we are giving councils will pay for more nursery care for local children, including all three and four year olds and the most vulnerable two year olds. We are working hard to help families and this will save parents up to £700 per child per year while the UK Government takes away from families, cutting their benefits by on average £700.

“This saving will help families manage household costs without compromising the quality of care their children receive or forcing parents to make difficult choices about whether they can afford nursery or other necessities.”

“By next year, all councils must ask parents what they want and offer more choice. Together with the extra hours, this could mean two full days of nursery a week instead of a few hours a morning or afternoon – giving Mums, in particular, more choices and supporting more women back into work or training.

“This is the best nursery care ever given to Scottish families. We are doing a great deal with the powers we have, but we want to do more. We want to have a childcare system among the best in Europe. The Bill is a first step towards this, but while the UK Government remains in control of tax and welfare, we will always be fighting the impact of decisions taken elsewhere.

“That is why we have also asked the Council of Economic Advisers to consider how we can use the powers of an independent Scotland to give an even better deal for children, parents and our economic future.”

kidsplaying

Local group’s fury over ‘Bedroom Tax’ vote

North Edinburgh Women’s International Group has written to Labour leader Ed Miliband following a vote in the House of Commons last week:

Dear Mr Miliband

I am writing to you on behalf of North Edinburgh Women’s International Group  regarding reports in the  news that  46 Labour MPs failed to  turn up to the House of Commons  to vote for a motion  which  could have led to the scrapping of the bedroom tax.

We are unable to understand  how this situation could have come about.  We can only assume that the 10 Scottish MP’s who failed to vote were unaware of the 150% increase in people using foodbanks in Scotland during the last year as a result of the current programme of welfare reforms.    They  must also be unaware of  the warning from Shelter  that “for many, the safety and security of a home is under threat like never before.”

We understand that  Labour’s motion on  the scrapping of the bedroom tax was defeated by only 26 votes.  We would have thought that the  recommendation by the UN  Special Rapporteur  on Housing  calling for the bedroom tax to be suspended immediately would have had an impact on  members of the Labour Party.   This does not appear to have been the case.

We were under the impression that an important part of an MP’s job involves turning up to their workplace (ie the House of Commons) and  voting on issues  which affect the people  they represent.  We  believe that 46 of your Party’s MPs   have not been doing their job and we find this completely unacceptable.

The inaction of these MP’s demonstrates  that the Labour Party does not represent the interests of ordinary people.  It also suggests that the Labour Party does not care about the suffering and hardship experienced by many families as a result of the bedroom tax.

We are interested in finding out what the Trade Union Movement’s response is to the inaction of  the 46 MP’s who represent the Party which they fund.

We are disgusted, angry and disheartened at what has become of the Labour Party. It  is no longer the Party of  ordinary people.   Your Party has taken working class people’s votes for granted.  You  have insulted our intelligence by assuming that people would  forgive and forget  this terrible betrayal.  This is a serious error which will cost the Labour Party at election time. The excuse of Labour MPs having been paired will not be accepted.

We look forward to your reply

Your sincerely

Anna Hutchison

On behalf of North Edinburgh Women’s International Group 

One week on, the group is still awaiting a response.

Cammy Day Ward 4 Forth Ward

Forth Labour Councillor Cammy Day comments:

Responding to letter by the Edinburgh North International Women’s group

I agree with the Edinburgh North International Women’s Group in their letter dated 19th Nov in their deploring of the evil bedroom tax. As the deputy convenor of the Council’s Health, Social Care and Housing Committee I have seen first hand the damage it’s done,  but I think your letter unfairly puts the blame of the existence of the bedroom tax on the Labour Party. It was the Labour Party who voted against the introduction of the bedroom tax from the beginning. It was the Labour Party who has campaigned to bring an end to it and promised that a Labour government would scrap it right away. This policy was brought in by the Coalition Government, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. They are the ones who made this unfair and pernicious tax, a law.
At Council level the Labour Party has prevented evictions in cases caused by the bedroom tax, something I was proud to be a part of in Edinburgh. At Holyrood they have voted against it and sought to bring in legislation to prevent it. I feel your letter leads people astray in their thinking, last week’s opposition debate by the Labour Party sought to highlight and reverse the government’s position. You are correct when you say that some Labour MPs did not vote for the motion. This was a result of pairing – where MPs from both opposition and government are paired when they cannot attend (either because they are ill, or because they have constituency or foreign business). This is part of our parliamentary system.
I hope you will reconsider your verdict on the Labour Party’s position on the bedroom tax. Only a Labour government in 2015 has committed to scrapping the bedroom tax and only a Labour government will continue the fight for the ordinary working class people you speak for. That’s why I am a member of the Labour Party and the trade union movement. We must stay together in this battle for a fairer society and show the coalition government of Liberal Democrats and Conservatives for what they damage the have done by legislating for the bedroom tax to exist in the first place and their wider attack of welfare reforms.
Cammy Day
Councillor – Forth Ward
Readers – it’s over to you!