Manchester housing providers highlight "escalating human cost"

Blog home
Recent Posts
Categories
Blog Archive
Popular Posts

• 06 Sep

  Five months after the introduction of bedroom tax Manchester housing providers have highlighted the "escalating human cost" of welfare reform.

  A meeting at the council's economy scrutiny committee had providers warning that rent collection had dropped and only 7% of bedroom tax hit tenants could pay their rent.

  Northwards Housing estimated £500,000 in rent arrears and housing associations reported that reduced revenue would see them having to push more resources towards rent collection and away from other areas of their work. Statistics discussed showed that homeless presentations had risen by 6.7%.

  The Citizens Advice Bureau also attended the meeting and explained how they'd seen a 54% increase in debt advice between April and June this year.

  Sue Murphy, deputy leader of Manchester City Council, said: ‘The picture of welfare reform is much wider than rent arrears alone, and this meeting will give a background to the impact of welfare reform from the perspective of organisations who work front line with residents - including the city council, housing providers, employment and advice centres and health care groups.

  ‘We always knew that these welfare reforms would not impact overnight - it would take some weeks and months for the real picture of the bedroom tax and benefit cap to become apparent, and indeed, another hurdle in Universal Credit is only months away - further compounding the problems facing Manchester residents.'

  By Laura Matthews

Related articles

• 08 Nov

  

  

  NHS BOSS SETS OUT A CASE FOR CASH BOOST

  The speech by Mr Stevens at the NHS Providers' annual conference of health managers is being made at the time when three reputable health think-thanks- the Health Foundation, the King's Fund and the...

  By Abimbola Duro-David
• 09 Jun

  

  

  THERESA MAY PLEDGES TO REPLACE THE MENTAL HEALTH ACT 1983

  According to Ms May, the new bill would introduce the following:According to the Tories, the proposals were described as the biggest change to mental health treatment law in over 30 years.Ms May...

  By Abimbola Duro-David
• 30 May

  

  

  THE PRESENT FIRST PRIME MINISTER OF SCOTLAND IS TO PLEDGE AGAINST ANY PLANS TO PRIVATISE THE NHS

  It is also expected that Sturgeon will do the following as proof of her party's commitment to fighting against further austerity:Sturgeon said this before Tuesday's manifesto launch:"While the polls...

  By Abimbola Duro-David
• 17 Mar

  

  

  402 MILLION POUNDS WILL BE INVESTED IN COUNCILS WITH THE GREATEST HOMELESSNESS DEMAND FROM APRIL 2017

  Presently, funding is only used for homeless households and not for the prevention of homelessness in the first instance.The funding by the Department for Communities and Local Government is set to...

  By Abimbola Duro-David
• 15 Mar

  

  

  RULES AROUND PERSONAL INDEPENDENCE PAYMENTS MAY CHANGE ON THURSDAY

  Ministers have advised chief executives of over 30 charities which claimed that people will be left without vital financial support, to restrict access to a disability benefit.The Disability Benefits...

  By Abimbola Duro-David
• 06 Mar

  

  

  THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN URGED BY THE BMA TO INCREASE HEALTH SPENDING BY 10 BILLION POUNDS

  This increase in health spending to a proportion of GDP that matched that of the 10 leading economies across Europe could pay for at least 35,000 extra beds a day and many more GP's, according to the...

  By Abimbola Duro-David
• 05 Sep

  

  

  MANY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE REFUGES AT RISK OF CLOSING DUE TO HOUSING BENEFIT CAP

  Women who have been victims of domestic violence as well as their children are at risk of falling into the hands of their violent partners if the government caps housing benefit in the social sector...

  By Abimbola Duro-David
• 03 Sep

  

  

  Data on disability benefits refused by DWP

  DWP officials have refused a second request for basic information on disability benefits using the “Section 22” exemption they used previously, reports The Independent.The Department had been...

  By Laura Matthews
• 02 Sep

  

  

  UN to investigate how welfare reforms will affect disability rights

  A disability charity in Scotland has said it’s been contacted by the UN’s Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as part of an inquiry into Britain’s treatment of people with...

  By Laura Matthews
• 01 Sep

  

  

  Benefit cuts affecting 48,500 families in Liverpool

  Analysis from Liverpool City Council has found that around 48,500 households are likely to lose their benefits due to new government reforms, reports the Liverpool Echo. Councillor Jane Corbett has...

  By Laura Matthews