Over 300 people from organisations across civic Scotland will meet in Edinburgh today to put questions to the Cabinet about Scotland’s Future.
The Scottish Government has invited hundreds of people – from large and small businesses, trade unions, the voluntary and public sector, charities and other Scottish organisations to the event at the EICC.
The Scottish Government says it wants to provide as much information as possible to allow people in Scotland to make an informed choice in next year’s referendum. This event will see Cabinet ministers answer any questions Scotland’s key organisations might have about the detail in Scotland’s Future, and any issues they would like more information on.
The event will also be broadcast live online so anyone can watch.
Speaking yesterday, First Minister Alex Salmond said: “The publication of Scotland’s Future marks a significant moment in the referendum campaign as we set out a detailed prospectus for an independent Scotland, providing answers to the host of reasonable questions people have about the what a vote for independence will mean and the opportunities that will flow from that.
“We have a responsibility to provide as much information as possible to the people who will cast their vote in the referendum, allowing them to make an informed choice about the future of their country. This major event, bringing together representatives of Scotland’s key trade union, business, voluntary and public sector bodies, presents an ideal opportunity to do exactly that and my Cabinet colleagues and I are thoroughly looking forward to it.”
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has recorded a video message to mark the beginning of the Holy month of Ramadan.
Mr Clegg’s message to the nation’s Muslims:
Salaam alaykum.
As Muslims during Ramadan around the world fast for self-discipline and improvement. Spend time in prayer and contemplation, and come together, united in a spirit of sacrifice, generosity and hope, I know the thoughts of many will turn, again to the suffering of the Syrian people. With thousands of people killed and wounded and millions driven from their homes. The British government is doing what it can to help alleviate this humanitarian crisis: supplying food packages, medical assistance, clean water supplies and other essential relief items to help those people and families in most urgent need of support. And we will continue to push, with our allies, for forces on both sides to come together to agree a peaceful end to this conflict. The values of peace, empathy and charity are an essential part of this holy month of Ramadan. And evident within the invaluable contributions made by British Muslims to support and strengthen local communities across the UK. And this year, I want to praise our Muslim communities for leading in a show of unity and support following the horrors of Woolwich. Their committed voice for peace helps to make Britain the tolerant, open and wonderfully diverse country it is today.
Ramadan Mubarak.
Foreign Secretary William Hague added his ‘warmest wishes’:
“Ramadan is a time for reflection and contemplation, for charity and compassion, and for friends and families to turn their thoughts to those less fortunate. In particular, we must not forget the appalling suffering in Syria, affecting all Syria’s communities. Our thoughts are particularly with Syrian refugees marking Ramadan far from friends and family across the Middle East. The British Government has pledged support of £348million in humanitarian and development aid since the start of the Syria crisis. While humanitarian assistance can bring some relief, it cannot solve the Syrian crisis. That is why the UK Government will continue in our tireless work to see peace, security and stability restored to Syria, and to support all those suffering from poverty, repression and conflict around the globe”.
Pensioners of today and tomorrow, be aware: the government is laying the ground for further attacks on pensions and pensioners benefits.
First, they have to divide opposition, for example by saying they wish to be fair by stopping the wealthy getting the winter heating allowance. It sounds fine, but does that mean the introduction of a means test for everyone to qualify? And who sets the level?
Other benefits, such as travel passes, television licence and free medicine prescriptions – things to help pensioners maintain some quality of life – are threatened: the government is looking to see if the nation can ‘afford’ them.
The campaign of setting one section of people against another is well-prepared, with millions of words and pictures; every person working or retired is the target. Just a few figures:
31% of the population are of retiring age; not all get a full pension as many qualifying conditions apply
The government is raising the age of retirement for women from 60 to 65 by 2018 and for both men ad women to 66 by 2020, with increases to 67 and 68 later on
The ‘full’ state pension is only approximately one sixth of the average age
The amount paid out in pensions from the total wealth produced in one year is approximately 5%, yet the percentage of the population’s pensioners is 31% (and most have contributed to a pension scheme throughout their working lives).
Just two further points: today’s working population, who now produce all the nation’s wealth, were raised, loved and cared for by our pensioners. Today’s working population and pensioners combined have massive voting power: use it!
Social tenants and landlords are set to benefit from a number of reforms announced yesterday by Housing Minister Margaret Burgess. The reforms will change the way social landlords allocate and manage their housing. They will allow social landlords to address the specific needs of the local community, ensuring best use of available social housing, tackling antisocial behaviour and providing further protection for tenants.
Speaking at the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations’ Annual Conference, the Housing Minister outlined the measures, which are likely to form part of a forthcoming Housing Bill.
This includes:
Replacing prescriptive and outdated priority groups with a broader framework that gives landlords and their communities more local flexibility
Allowing landlords to consider any property that a social housing applicant already owns when allocating housing
Introducing a qualifying period before succession to a tenancy following the death of a tenant
Allowing a minimum period to be put in place before antisocial tenants are eligible for the allocation of social housing
Introducing a new right for tenants to appeal a landlord’s decision to suspend them from being allocated a property
Allowing landlords to give Short Scottish Secure Tenancies to applicants and tenants with a history of antisocial behaviour
Simplifying eviction procedures for tenants convicted of a serious offence
During the SFHA Conference Mrs Burgess also announced that initial or probationary tenancies will not be included in the Housing Bill.
She said:
“The changes I am announcing today will ensure that we deliver first-rate homes and services to tenants, residents and homeless people – the most vulnerable in our society. By giving landlords greater flexibility at a local level they will be able to respond to the needs of their local community.
“In order to provide affordable warm homes for people in Scotland it is vital that we continue to find ways to increase supply and quality across all tenures. Despite Westminster’s cuts to our capital budget, we have taken every opportunity to increase our investment in housing. By the end of April we had allocated £200m additional funding for housing supply, bringing total investment to almost £860m in the three years to March 2015.”
It could become the most hated piece of legislation to be inflicted on British people since the infamous Poll Tax. And it’s now only weeks away …
In April, a new measure is to be introduced that will apply to all tenants of working age – welfare reforms will cut the amount of benefit that people can get if they are deemed to have a spare bedroom in their council or housing association home.
Under the legislation, size criteria will restrict housing benefit to allow for one bedroom for each person or couple living as part of the household. Children under sixteen years old will be expected to share with others of the same gender, while children under ten will be expected to share regardless of gender.
Under the new legislation – labelled the bedroom tax – all claimants who are then deemed to have at least one spare bedroom will be affected and face an ‘under occupation’ penalty: a cut to their housing benefit.
The cut will be a fixed percentage of the Housing Benefit eligible rent, which the Westminster government has stated will be set at 14% for one extra bedroom and 25% for two or more extra bedrooms.
Those affected – around 660,000 working-age social housing tenants (over 30% of existing Housing Benefit claimants in the social sector) in the UK – will lose an average of £14 per week, with Housing Association tenants expected to lose around £16 per week.
The architect of the scheme is investment banker and Welfare Reform Minister Baron Freud of Eastry – who incidentally lives in an eight-bedroom Kent mansion when he is not staying in his four-bedroom townhouse in London’s Highgate. The noble Lord believes that ‘spare council house bedrooms are a luxury the country can no longer afford: “It’s not fair or affordable for people to continue to live in homes that are too large for their needs when, in England alone, there are around five million people on the social housing waiting list and over a quarter of a million tenants are living in overcrowded conditions. It’s only right that we bring fairness back to the system and make better use of the social housing stock.”
He went on: “Nearly a third of working-age social housing tenants on housing benefit are living in accommodation which is too big for their needs, in spite of the fact of severe overcrowding. We are stopping the practice of the state paying for rooms beyond claimant needs, and that should go in some way to help tackle the social housing shortage that has been blighting too many lives.”
Baron Freud
Lord Freud and his ministerial chums hope that more households will chose to ‘downsize’ to smaller, more affordable properties – and in the process slash £500 million from the Housing Benefit bill. So the government reduces the national debt and tenants get suitably-sized homes: a win, win situation, then – everybody’s happy?
Sadly not. There’s a desperate shortage of suitable, smaller accommodation, as Shelter Scotland Director Graeme Brown explained: “The UK Government is simply failing to listen to the voice of reason being put forward by housing professionals, social landlords, MSPs and individuals. Penalizing low-income people for having an extra room assumes that there is a ready supply of smaller properties for them to move to. This is simply not the case. So the only consequence will be people stuck in homes with mounting rent arrears and a further descent into debt. Even at this late stage, we urge the UK Government to modify its proposals.”
According to the latest Scottish government figures, there are 586,000 households in the social rented sector in Scotland, and 105,000 of these – roughly one in five – will be affected by the Bedroom Tax, each losing an average of around £50 per month.
Advice organisations have already seen a significant increase in demand for their services, and the imminent welfare reforms will inevitably lead to even more desperate cries for help.
Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) Chief Executive Margaret Lynch gave evidence about the impact of welfare changes on advice services at the Scottish Parliament earlier this month.
She said: “We expect demand for benefit advice, to increase even further along with an increased need for other areas of advice such as debt, housing, and budgeting due to changes in benefits. This increase in casework, as well as the increasing complexity and time-consuming nature or many issues, is of course having a knock-on effect on the ability of our service to help our clients.
“We are already at breaking point so desperately need to be adequately resourced to enable us to help those who need it most as we aim to mitigate the impact of welfare reform as much as possible. The recent benefits uprating bill debate highlighted the statistics showing how the poorest are paying the price for cuts. The evidence we are publishing today is not just statistics but is based on the real lives of real people. It is not just about the numbers of people affected, but the severity of the individual cases. We have seen a big rise in the number of people in crisis situations, either because of the direct impact of a benefit cut or because they have fallen through the gaps in the safety net that is meant to protect them.
“The evidence we are publishing shows who is really being hit hardest by current policies and it includes thousands of people who are genuinely sick, disabled, and vulnerable and deserve support. The impact of current policies don’t just hit the individual claimant but can also have a huge effect on children and others being cared for. Pushing people further into poverty and financial difficulties will lead to an increase in other problems such as homelessness, health inequalities, and family breakdown, as well as lead to rising debt and an increase for food hand-outs. Tackling these issues in future years will only add to the overall public spending bill, not reduce it. The UK government must heed this evidence and question whether they really want to continue on a track of devastating reforms which can only damage more lives.”
Shelter Scotland has issued advice to tenants likely to be hit by the imminent benefit cuts, and urge them to ACT NOW:
If you’re going to be affected by a deduction to your housing benefit then it’s very important that you prepare for the change before April 2013.
There are several things you can do:
take in a lodger – renting out a spare room would bring in extra income, but make sure you get the agreement of your landlord first and check whether this will affect any other benefits that you’re currently receiving
ask for a contribution to your rent – your family members may be able to pay more towards your rent
move to a smaller property – you may be able to transfer to a smaller property, speak to your council or the housing association you’re renting from to see if you can apply to do this
apply for a discretionary housing payment – your local council may be able to give you temporary support to help you stay in your home through a discretionary housing payment.
If you can’t pay all your rent after the reduction you may have to think about finding somewhere else to live or you will risk falling behind with your rent and possibly being evicted. Speak to an adviser in your area as soon as possible if you’re worried that this may happen to you.
For Local advice:
Granton Information Centre 134-138 West Granton Road. Telephone 552 0458 Email info@gic.org.uk
