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Morning Briefing: MPs demand details of scheme to promote Universal Credit
A cross-party group of MPs has written to work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd asking for more information about a PR campaign to promote Universal Credit
In the news
The Guardian reports on the continuation of a story it broke this week, when it revealed a leaked internal document on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) taking out newspaper advertorials about Universal Credit.
The campaign aimed not to feature DWP branding and now the Work and Pensions Select Committee has written to Ms Rudd demanding to see these documents in full.
Also in The Guardian is an interesting piece on Britain’s attitude to new towns and how it has changed over the years.
The article, written by film critic Steve Rose, is based on a new compilation of archive films from the Independent Cinema Office telling the story of the post-war new town movement.
Elsewhere, the Church Times continues its coverage of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s housing commission, publishing this morning a piece by Chris Beales, a member of that commission.
He discusses some of the lessons he’s learned from working in housing for 40 years and outlines how churches can help solve the crisis.
Meanwhile, Yahoo News has published an intriguing piece by Johannes Lenhard, PhD Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge.
Dr Lenhard writes about his work on homelessness, which has been dedicated to generating a bottom-up understanding of how homeless people survive. He says he has found that most homeless people are not passively suffering but are often actively trying to make their lives better.
In local news, the BBC carries a story on City of Edinburgh Council, which is being criticised in a new report for sitting on infrastructure funding contributed by developers.
According to the report, the local authority has £2.65m of developer contributions in its accounts, of which £790,000 is more than 10 years old.
The Liverpool Echo reports that Countryside Properties and Persimmon Homes have revealed plans to build more than 1,600 homes north of Liverpool.
This has significant local interest due to Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson’s recent spat with Countryside over its role in the ongoing leasehold scandal.
Further afield, The Guardian has a piece on the story of tower blocks on the housing estate of Le Vele di Scampia in Naples, Italy, which was used as the location for the hit crime film and Italian TV series Gomorrah.
The paper tells the unusual story of how residents have led efforts to convince the city to demolish the towers and allow the residents to move out.
In more international news, the Chicago Reader has published a detailed long read on the real estate investment trust Pangaea Real Estate, which owns thousands of homes for low-income families in Chicago.
In a meticulous investigation, it reveals the questionable eviction practices of the company, which has claimed credit for reviving historically poor communities.
On social media
51 years... and we appear to have learned nothing.
— Phil Murphy 💚 (@MancCommunities)
Neglectful or just careless? t.co/LRUhm5CIbO>51 years... and we appear to have learned nothing.
— Phil Murphy \uD83D\uDC9A (@MancCommunities) May 16, 2019
Neglectful or just careless? https://t.co/LRUhm5CIbO
