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Morning Briefing: leaked email reveals Conservative MP called homelessness charity ‘a magnet for undesirables’
A Conservative MP who was suspended from his ministerial role last month for pushing a Greenpeace activist has referred to a homelessness charity in his constituency as a “magnet for the undesirables”, The Guardian reports this morning
The paper had been handed a leaked email sent by Mark Field, MP for Cities of London and Westminster, which appears to show him describe The Passage, a Westminster-based homelessness charity, as a “magnet for these undesirables to flood into Victoria”.
The remark was made in response to an email from a neighbour who complained about the level of anti-social behaviour in the area. Mr Field is reported as writing: “It is high time that The Passage… started to take a little more responsibility for its ‘clients’.”
Responding to The Guardian, Mr Field said he was “reiterating in verbatim from the strength of local opinion” he had “received from residents and constituents with regards the marked deterioration in and around Westminster Cathedral Piazza”.
Mr Field was suspended as a foreign office minister in June after he was filmed pushing and grabbing the neck of a Greenpeace protester as she protested the chancellor’s Mansion House speech.
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Lakanal House fire, where six people died following a devastating fire in the council-owned high rise in south London.
A number of papers report on research carried out by the Labour Party which found that 95% of tower blocks still don’t have sprinklers despite advice from the coroner following the fire, which recommended that social landlords should consider retrofitting sprinklers into their high-rise blocks.
Here is Inside Housing’s piece on the research.
The Guardian runs a speech by James Jamieson, Conservative chair of the Local Government Association (LGA), in which called on the government to give local authorities powers to increase council taxes to help with an unprecedented funding crisis caused by austerity.
Mr Jamieson, who was making his inaugural speech as chair, called for the council tax referendum cap that was introduced by the coalition government in 2012 to be abolished, and that residents should be given the choice if they want to pay for extra services.
The leader of Central Bedfordshire Council was last week elected as the new chair of the LGA to take over from Lord Porter who held the role for four years.
In local news, Bristol Live reports on a deal struck between housing association LiveWest and builder Keepmoat that will see 350 homes built in Bristol. The project now has outline planning consent and will see 30% of all homes built being an affordable tenure.
Midlands news website Coventry Live looks into claims by a councillor that residents have missed out on cash and green space because the council had forgotten to claim £500,000 from developers.
According to Ed Ruane, former cabinet member for housing and current councillor, Coventry City Council failed to collect money from a £700-per-home roof tax on around 700 homes built in the city, which amounted to £490,000 in unclaimed cash.
A council spokesperson said they were aware of the outstanding contributions but did not confirm the sum or reason why it had not been drawn down.
Bromley Council has unveiled plans to build 1,000 modular homes in the next three years to combat London’s homelessness crisis, writes the News Shopper.
The south London council has said it will be looking to build the modular homes on sites it would have previously sold, and the use of modular homes would be cheap and quick to assemble. The average wait for a two-bed house in the borough is 42 months which leaves many families in temporary accommodation.
On social
Ten years ago, six people were killed following a fire at Lakanal House in south London:
#WeRemember the tragic loss of life at Lakanal House 10 years ago today. The government refused to learn the lessons from that tragic fire. We will not let it happen again.
— Fire Brigades Union (@fbunational)
Sign the petition: t.co/tK39j1I8Jht.co/A9BvG81KWL#WeRemember the tragic loss of life at Lakanal House 10 years ago today. The government refused to learn the lessons from that tragic fire. We will not let it happen again.
— Fire Brigades Union (@fbunational) July 3, 2019
Sign the petition: https://t.co/tK39j1I8Jhhttps://t.co/A9BvG81KWL
These are the names of the six people who died 10 years ago today in an avoidable tower block fire at Lakanal House.
— Peter Apps (@PeteApps)
No one was ever charged with manslaughter following their deaths and the key policy changes recommended to prevent it happening again were largely ignored pic.twitter.com/F0esVNhBJbThese are the names of the six people who died 10 years ago today in an avoidable tower block fire at Lakanal House.
— Peter Apps (@PeteApps) July 3, 2019
No one was ever charged with manslaughter following their deaths and the key policy changes recommended to prevent it happening again were largely ignored pic.twitter.com/F0esVNhBJb
10 years ago today, six lives were lost in the Lakanal tower block fire, and 6 years ago the Coroner’s special report added to calls to retrofit high-rise blocks with sprinklers – 95% still don’t! Good work + FoI to uncover this shocking story by Shadow Housing Minister @LabourSJ t.co/a8la6WdWJB
— John Healey MP (@JohnHealey_MP)10 years ago today, six lives were lost in the Lakanal tower block fire, and 6 years ago the Coroner’s special report added to calls to retrofit high-rise blocks with sprinklers – 95% still don’t! Good work + FoI to uncover this shocking story by Shadow Housing Minister @LabourSJ https://t.co/a8la6WdWJB
— John Healey MP (@JohnHealey_MP) July 3, 2019
The big issues that impact the regeneration and delivery of social housingSPONSORED ARTICLE
