News items by Tag: News Category

Newham Council's private landlord licensing scheme hits 30,000 applications

Newham Council has received license applications from 30,000 private landlords as part of its pioneering scheme to improve housing conditions in the borough.

Since January 1 this year, the council has carried out 750 enforcement visits, issued 1,200 warning letters, and handed out 50 cautions. Thirty prosecutions, at various stages of the legal process, have been pursued since the scheme started. 

Welsh minister slams Universal Credit

The Welsh government's minister for tackling poverty has warned that the coalition's Universal Credit (UC) system has thrown a question mark over the state's ability to deliver support to most vulnerable people.

Huw Lewis told assembly members in the Senedd how UC will have a knock-on impact on Welsh government support such as free school meals. 

Work programme 'failing homeless & disabled'

The government's Work Programme (WP) has been slammed by the Works and Pensions Committee, which has concluded that it is "unlikely" to help the most disadvantaged long-term unemployed.

“The performance of the WP in its first 14 months was poor. There are signs that it is now improving significantly for mainstream jobseekers. However, it has proved much less successful to date in addressing the problems faced by jobseekers who face more serious obstacles to finding a job – people with disabilities, homeless people, and those with a history of drug or alcohol abuse," said Dame Anne Begg MP, the committee's chair. 

Universal Credit direct payment pilots to be extended for further six months

The Universal Credit direct payment demonstration projects will be extended for a further six months, Minister for Welfare Reform Lord Freud announced today, as new findings from the projects are published.

The Department for Work and Pensions says the extension will help to further develop the support needed for social housing tenants moving onto Universal Credit. The projects will now run until the end of the year. 

Lord Freud: Bedroom tax suicide 'desperately sad'

Welfare reform minister Lord Freud has described a suicide linked to his controversial bedroom tax policy as a "desperately sad event".

Giving evidence to the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee, which is investigating the impact of housing benefit reforms in Wales, Lord Freud extended his condolences to the family of Stephanie Bottrill, who left a note in which she blamed the government for her death.